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.
So amused, the six street peddlers come to sing your blues
The money spent, to dam the rivers of your discontent
You got your invitation to the bachelor's ball
And you stay out till the sun comes creeping up your bedroom wall
Ivory tower, you sit and wile away the idle hours
Skin and bones, the city streets below just weep and moan
But from your window above, you only hear the rain
you touch the world through a glove, it's so much easier than feelin pain
And they're inventing hunger in the grey of dawn
As I sit among your parliament of pawns
Just growing younger with every yawn
And in the ashes of the cities that you've burned
We'll sit and wait for your return
So composed, wake on the floor in your designer clothes
And so refined, you think the country is just a state of mind
switch like a switchblade my love, cut the young man down
You've been to heaven above, but your feet have never touched the ground
And we brought you roses in eternal bloom
While you stand before us in your royal plume
Holding a torch to your silver spoon
And in the ashes of the cities that you've burned
We'll sit and wait for your return
The money spent, to dam the rivers of your discontent
You got your invitation to the bachelor's ball
And you stay out till the sun comes creeping up your bedroom wall
Ivory tower, you sit and wile away the idle hours
Skin and bones, the city streets below just weep and moan
But from your window above, you only hear the rain
you touch the world through a glove, it's so much easier than feelin pain
And they're inventing hunger in the grey of dawn
As I sit among your parliament of pawns
Just growing younger with every yawn
And in the ashes of the cities that you've burned
We'll sit and wait for your return
So composed, wake on the floor in your designer clothes
And so refined, you think the country is just a state of mind
switch like a switchblade my love, cut the young man down
You've been to heaven above, but your feet have never touched the ground
And we brought you roses in eternal bloom
While you stand before us in your royal plume
Holding a torch to your silver spoon
And in the ashes of the cities that you've burned
We'll sit and wait for your return
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
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
In the second verse, it's "Ivory tower, you sit and while away the idle hours"
My guess for the 5th verse is <br /> "While your stand before a sin; your royal bloom"<br /> <br /> This song in my opinion is such a great song with all the characteristics we've come to know from his lyrics with the two gallants. He sticks to his strengths especially in his comprehension of human emotion and dynamics. He's giving into the emotion of falling in love despite understanding that it is not a means to an end unlike most songs that tend to promise or conjure up an idea of a happy ending. Where I love this song though is his tone of an almost detached party. To me, it sounds like he is explaining to an ignorant and guilty party but instead of an angry or vengeful intonation like you'd expect in this situation, he has a somewhat reserved understanding. This is interesting because this would hint that he is a witness with divine understanding however, his showing such pity for human suffering and use of 2nd person is contradictory showing very human characteristics.<br /> I think we've all been there or will be there where you let someone break your heart (often along with other guys and/or girls leaving "cities that you've burned to the ground") who doesn't understand the destruction that they're causing. And this is where this song especially shines.... in that situation, after first impulses of wanting to reflect the pain you felt upon your attacker, you might not even blame them in the end. You come to an understanding that this is an age old conflict as a part of the human experience as falling in love. It's in that you neither dismiss the experience as trivial nor dwell upon it as if the gods themselves are singling you out for unique despair like the way you feel when it first happens. He also did a beautifully poetic and very accurate description of the women who burn our cities down.. At least in my experience, it's her beauty that draws you in, perhaps also her holding a royalty-esque image in your mind for whatever reasons, you unknowingly hold some ideals that she has knowledge of something you don't have but desperately want/need. When this inevitably proves to be false, and the most intimate exposure you have sacrificed or invested emotionally (in the hopes of some fairy-tale epiphany you thought she could bring to light), that which is the most anybody has to offer is gone and treated as common as it truly is contradicting everything we are taught of being special and the hero in the movie of our life. The cities burn because it is challenging the foundation we have built our entire belief system and understanding of the world upon. While our cities are burning, to our upmost frustration find that that the arsonist (whom we have been taught should be punished for their actions) is not only not pitying you but is ignorant to the ashes and sin that sit at her feet.<br /> However, with the passing of time, holding such a pessimistic idea of the world becomes tiring and disheartening preventing you from enjoying the few delivered promises in life. So what Adam demonstrates, with imagery more descriptive than words outside of metaphors could possibly accomplish, in this song is taking a classic romanticism point of view. He does so by remembering the pain and absurdity of the event, taking action by informing her of what happened and warns not to do the same to more "switch like a switchblade my love, cut the young man down"<br /> but most definitively of romanticism is in his chorus <br /> "And in the ashes of the cities that you've burned<br /> We'll sit and wait for your return" <br /> meaning that despite knowing that what he had strived for will never be fulfilled to the extent he once thought possible, he fell so hard in love with the concept itself (and the fact that belief in something non-existent is better than not believing because in believing you enable yourself open during the process and life in general) that he shamelessly decides to allow himself, along with others finding themselves victims of similar circumstances, to hope for the impossible when he says that "we'll sit and wait for your return"