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.
A whole new world of "would"
When the bad outstrips the good
It's the reap/sow interface
That'll help you win the race
It'll help you build a rocket
Help you build a ship
There's a good chance you can help
There's a price on this return
But there's absolutely no rush
Absolutely no rush
And no time, no time, no time, no time
As the spider takes the fly
As the gray does take the dye
As the drink does numb the pain
As the songs all sound the same
With diminishing returns
And the hackneyed twist-and-turns
As the egg runs down your face
We'll still bang on the bin lids
Cause dad forgot the kids
And they throw us to the pigs
And it's hard lines, hard lines, hard lines, hard lines
It's my tail and I'll chase it if I want to
When the bad outstrips the good
It's the reap/sow interface
That'll help you win the race
It'll help you build a rocket
Help you build a ship
There's a good chance you can help
There's a price on this return
But there's absolutely no rush
Absolutely no rush
And no time, no time, no time, no time
As the spider takes the fly
As the gray does take the dye
As the drink does numb the pain
As the songs all sound the same
With diminishing returns
And the hackneyed twist-and-turns
As the egg runs down your face
We'll still bang on the bin lids
Cause dad forgot the kids
And they throw us to the pigs
And it's hard lines, hard lines, hard lines, hard lines
It's my tail and I'll chase it if I want to
Lyrics submitted by christsizeshoes
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The song seems to me to have 3 parts:
***PART 1 "A whole new world of "would" When the bad outstrips the good"
"It's the reap/sow interface That'll help you win the race"
"It'll help you build a rocket Help you build a ship There's a good chance you can help"
"There's a price on this return"
"But there's absolutely no rush Absolutely no rush And no time, no time, no time, no time"
***PART 2 "As the spider takes the fly"
"As the gray does take the dye As the drink does numb the pain"
"As the songs all sound the same With diminishing returns"
"And the hackneyed twist-and-turns As the egg runs down your face We'll still bang on the bin lids Cause dad forgot the kids And they throw us to the pigs And it's hard lines, hard lines, hard lines, hard lines"
***CONCLUSION "It's my tail, I'm gon' chase it if I want to"