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.
In the suburbs I
I learned to drive
And you told me we'd never survive
Grab your mother's keys we're leaving
You always seemed so sure
That one day we'd be fighting in a suburban war
Your part of town against mine
I saw you standing on the opposite shore
But by the time the first bombs fell
We were already bored
We were already, already bored
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
The kids wanna be so hard
But in my dreams, we're still screaming and running through the yard
And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall
And all of the houses they built in the seventies finally fall
Meant nothing at all
Meant nothing at all
It meant nothing
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling and into the night
So can you understand?
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young
I wanna hold her hand
Show her some beauty before this damage is done
But if it's too much to ask, if it's too much to ask
Then send me a son
Under the overpass
In the parking lot, we're still waiting
It's already passed
So move your feet from hot pavement and into the grass
'Cause it's already passed
It's already, already passed
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
I'm moving past the feeling
I'm moving past the feeling
In my dreams, we're still screaming
We're still screaming
We're still screaming
I learned to drive
And you told me we'd never survive
Grab your mother's keys we're leaving
You always seemed so sure
That one day we'd be fighting in a suburban war
Your part of town against mine
I saw you standing on the opposite shore
But by the time the first bombs fell
We were already bored
We were already, already bored
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
The kids wanna be so hard
But in my dreams, we're still screaming and running through the yard
And all of the walls that they built in the seventies finally fall
And all of the houses they built in the seventies finally fall
Meant nothing at all
Meant nothing at all
It meant nothing
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling and into the night
So can you understand?
Why I want a daughter while I'm still young
I wanna hold her hand
Show her some beauty before this damage is done
But if it's too much to ask, if it's too much to ask
Then send me a son
Under the overpass
In the parking lot, we're still waiting
It's already passed
So move your feet from hot pavement and into the grass
'Cause it's already passed
It's already, already passed
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling
Sometimes I can't believe it
I'm moving past the feeling again
I'm moving past the feeling
I'm moving past the feeling
In my dreams, we're still screaming
We're still screaming
We're still screaming
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Light Up The Sky
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Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I love this song! Lots of interpretations here. I'm not sure what it might mean exactly, but when I listen to this song, it reminds me of back when I used to live in a suburban neighborhood over 7 years ago. It gives me a nostalgic feeling of when I was a young kid, and would run around with my friends, playing a bunch of "pretend" games. "In my dreams we're still screaming, and running through the yards". And now that I've moved miles away from my childhood friends, and now that they've grown older and moved on with their lives, even if I went back it wouldn't matter. It seems like my 9 years living there "meant nothing at all" but to have left me with memories of a world I can never relive.
This is great. This is exactly what I feel. I imagine my childhood when I listen to this song. It actually made me breakdown and cry at one point b/c I miss my old house, my old neighborhood, my old friends and their innocence, my younger sisters and their innocence, my own innocence.
This is obviously what the song is about - nostalgia for youth. <br /> <br /> What boy growing up in the '80s never imagined that eventually their whole town would be consumed in a huge war between the subdivisions?<br /> <br /> And now, like Zed says above, we can only look back. We can never GO back, because even when we visit, it's a different place now, with different kids. <br /> <br /> Half the houses they built in the seventies are already gone, and in 20 years, the other half will be gone, too. And then we'll be gone. But did it all really mean nothing? Or are our memories of growing up on dirt bikes, wasting time in the suburbs, valuable in their own right? I can't answer, and neither can the Arcade Fire... but it sure hurts your soul to think that those times are gone and will never return.<br /> <br /> Unless, maybe, you are able to watch your own child live through their own youth... and the world still holds the same beauty that it did for us. <br /> <br /> MAN, this song hurts to listen to. It's like getting kicked in the soul. And still I love it.