The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Soon you'll be burning orphanages down
Watching ashes scatter all over town
And when the smoke gets too close to the ground
You'll see blue trampling over grey and green over brown
And you'll be cutting ears off of dead men
Pumping shells into the carcass for hours on end
Then you'll swear that we've always been friends
And be unable to conceive it could ever happen again
Of course, you have never been to blame for the various horrible things that you did
You may have gotten away with them too, if not for those meddling kids
The lump in your throat, the ache in your bones
They are nobody's fault but your own
And whatever amount you paid
For your many distractions, well, it was too much
And at the end of the day
To whatever extent you hate yourself, it isn't enough
And we can no longer afford
Waiting for someone to lift this terrible swift sword
In our basements, we all look so bored
We've never seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
There will be parties, there will be fun
There'll be tall gallows for everyone
And we will all be sleeping easy
Upon the sinking of the sun
But there's only one dream that I keep close,
And it's the one of my hand at your throat
I will not deny my humanity
I'll be rolling in it like a pig in feces
Because there's no other integrity
In awaiting the demise of our species
May you endure every indignity knowing all the while that life will go on
And when it ends, may you have nothing to say, except that it took too long
And may I be there somehow
Asking, "Where are all your friends now?"
Watching ashes scatter all over town
And when the smoke gets too close to the ground
You'll see blue trampling over grey and green over brown
And you'll be cutting ears off of dead men
Pumping shells into the carcass for hours on end
Then you'll swear that we've always been friends
And be unable to conceive it could ever happen again
Of course, you have never been to blame for the various horrible things that you did
You may have gotten away with them too, if not for those meddling kids
The lump in your throat, the ache in your bones
They are nobody's fault but your own
And whatever amount you paid
For your many distractions, well, it was too much
And at the end of the day
To whatever extent you hate yourself, it isn't enough
And we can no longer afford
Waiting for someone to lift this terrible swift sword
In our basements, we all look so bored
We've never seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
There will be parties, there will be fun
There'll be tall gallows for everyone
And we will all be sleeping easy
Upon the sinking of the sun
But there's only one dream that I keep close,
And it's the one of my hand at your throat
I will not deny my humanity
I'll be rolling in it like a pig in feces
Because there's no other integrity
In awaiting the demise of our species
May you endure every indignity knowing all the while that life will go on
And when it ends, may you have nothing to say, except that it took too long
And may I be there somehow
Asking, "Where are all your friends now?"
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
"Richard" is a song on Billy Bragg's first album that has the chorus, "There will be parties, there will be fun, there will be prizes for everyone."
Richard III is a Shakespeare play, genius.
...and the song's called Richard II, dickhead. and before you start throwing around the insults, I realize Richard II is also a Shakespeare play. also, the album The Monitor contains many references to Billy Bragg's music, and this is clearly one of them. thanks for the reference, grnbean.
the song's called Richard II
This song is fucking amazing. Titus never ceases to dazzle me with their pure fucking energy and epicness.
Not sure if this song is about the protagonist dealing with the reality of killing a fellow man, or if he's actually talking about someone else.
As the entire album is supposed to be based on the US civil war, "blue trampling over grey" seems like it would be witnessing union troops 'trampling over' confederacy troops - the colours of their respective uniforms.
"green over brown" is less clear - the only thing I can I can think of is grass growing over the mud of the battlefield.
You are halfway home with the "green over brown" lyric. I think it is the grass growing over the dirt/mud/soil lying atop their graves.