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.
Yesterday, forget it
Tomorrow is, nada
The present is, right here, through the breath, watch it
Atheist Jesus piece, hangin' on a cross
We sit and discuss God on lawn chairs
About how we got here,
What it is, what it isn't, shit
Fate versus faith, scrimmagin' with coincidence
Leave out the market and hold up on the business end
Focus on the genuine, with everything else, you can shed the skin
I was a couple moves away from being dead
In that ER overdosin', eyes bleedin' red
I fell in love, made an album, got a buzz
Lost it all, sobered up and guess what?
Now we meet again
And I'm back, finally just laughin'
Expectations are resentments waiting to happen
Studying the dharma, karma of Vipassana practice
Bahá'u'lláh, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop and I'm traveling
Learnin', yes, reflectin' on what matters
People, permanence, lack of attachments
It's space and time, a couple man-made distractions
The measure of a spirit that no human can ever capture
Church, this booth is my Vatican
I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it
Student of the breath, brick beats and balancin'
Desire versus truth until I finally find happiness
I was put here to do something before I'm lyin' in that casket
I'd be lyin' on the beat if I said I didn't know what that is
The world's a stage and we play a character, I found him
It took me 20 something years and a bunch of shitty sound checks
I'm not gonna be content, until I find gratitude
Regardless of my sales or the record deals they're handin' you
If the next generation takes our legacy and samples you
We'll have a bunch of mp3's and misled kids to pass 'em to
I use my veins to create the color I paint from
Delve into something 'til my heart becomes my paint brush
I told my mama I'm not stoppin' 'til my name's up
Thinkin' those comments on that blog is gonna save us
Searchin' for everything but Gods and validation
Get insecure and then we start blamin' the haters
Used to look to women to fill a part of me that was vacant
Truth, the only thing that I ever used in moderation
So I stare into this paper instead of sitting at a cubicle
Take all ugly shit inside and try to make it beautiful
Use the cement from rock bottom and make it musical
So the people can relate to where I've been,
Where I'm going, what I've seen, what I've heard
From the guts, fuck the glory
Just a person on a porch putting it all into recording
Many in my past and many that came before me
I just keep walkin' my path and blessed to share my story
Tomorrow is, nada
The present is, right here, through the breath, watch it
Atheist Jesus piece, hangin' on a cross
We sit and discuss God on lawn chairs
About how we got here,
What it is, what it isn't, shit
Fate versus faith, scrimmagin' with coincidence
Leave out the market and hold up on the business end
Focus on the genuine, with everything else, you can shed the skin
I was a couple moves away from being dead
In that ER overdosin', eyes bleedin' red
I fell in love, made an album, got a buzz
Lost it all, sobered up and guess what?
Now we meet again
And I'm back, finally just laughin'
Expectations are resentments waiting to happen
Studying the dharma, karma of Vipassana practice
Bahá'u'lláh, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop and I'm traveling
Learnin', yes, reflectin' on what matters
People, permanence, lack of attachments
It's space and time, a couple man-made distractions
The measure of a spirit that no human can ever capture
Church, this booth is my Vatican
I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it
Student of the breath, brick beats and balancin'
Desire versus truth until I finally find happiness
I was put here to do something before I'm lyin' in that casket
I'd be lyin' on the beat if I said I didn't know what that is
The world's a stage and we play a character, I found him
It took me 20 something years and a bunch of shitty sound checks
I'm not gonna be content, until I find gratitude
Regardless of my sales or the record deals they're handin' you
If the next generation takes our legacy and samples you
We'll have a bunch of mp3's and misled kids to pass 'em to
I use my veins to create the color I paint from
Delve into something 'til my heart becomes my paint brush
I told my mama I'm not stoppin' 'til my name's up
Thinkin' those comments on that blog is gonna save us
Searchin' for everything but Gods and validation
Get insecure and then we start blamin' the haters
Used to look to women to fill a part of me that was vacant
Truth, the only thing that I ever used in moderation
So I stare into this paper instead of sitting at a cubicle
Take all ugly shit inside and try to make it beautiful
Use the cement from rock bottom and make it musical
So the people can relate to where I've been,
Where I'm going, what I've seen, what I've heard
From the guts, fuck the glory
Just a person on a porch putting it all into recording
Many in my past and many that came before me
I just keep walkin' my path and blessed to share my story
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I absolutely love this, and the lyrics are amazing, they really speak to you. I really hope this guy gets more popular, he's one of the only real rappers out there
And now he is more popular. Hopefully people dig deep into his cataglog and not just listen to thrift shop all the time.
This song is amazing. It actually drove me to tears once I finally realized it's meaning. It's difficult to comprehend fully without the actual experience of Vipassana meditation but I fully recommend looking into the practice and you'll realize on another level how incredible this song is.
*searching for everything but god's validation not gods and validation. little thing that changes the entire meaning of the song, lol.
Oh and it's actually
"People, IMpermanence, lack of attachments"
Impermanence in Buddhism is a concept which indicated one of the laws of nature of all phenomenon in the universe .i.e., all matter is subject to change, all mental processes are subject to change and nothing remains the same and hence everything is impermanent. The implication of impermanence is that since everything in the human experience is impermanent, every experience is bound to be unsatisfactory and hence that cannot be considered as belonging to oneself.
the line says "Studying the Dharma, Karma of vipassana practice" NOT "Studying the Dharma, Karma of a pastor and his practice"
why the fuck would he be mentioning a pastor in a song that is clearly about meditation?
this song is dope macklemore is the shit yo
"truth--the only thing that i ever used in moderation"
shit is ill.
and it's "bahá’u’lláh, Buddha, God, to the mountaintop and I'm traveling" NOT gautama buddha, god...etc.
Favorite Lyric:
"I don't control life, but I can control how I react to it"
"Vipassan? is commonly used as a synonym for vipassan?-meditation, in which satipatthana, four foundations of mindfulness or anapanasati, "mindfulness of breathing," is used to become aware of the impermanence of everything that exists." i love this song, how often does a popular rapper talk about Buddhism. this is amazing and perfectly summarizes, in my opinion, the Buddhist basics in a really cool way