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.
Photograph, lookin' down at me
I'm lookin' at the past
Something about my family in high contrast
Something about my infancy in white and black
Something about my memories
In a photograph, a portrait of the past
Born in a flash
Oh-whoa
Polaroid, 1954, it was a
Polaroid, '55 through '56
Were all destroyed, daddy was an anarchist
We can't afford somebody catching wind of this here
Polaroid, a portrait of before
Born in a flash
Born in a flash
A little piece of the past
Born in a flash
Oh-whoa
Oh, ah-ah-ah ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Photograph, a portrait of the past
Born in a flash
Born in a flash
Born in a flash
Born in a fla-
I'm lookin' at the past
Something about my family in high contrast
Something about my infancy in white and black
Something about my memories
In a photograph, a portrait of the past
Born in a flash
Oh-whoa
Polaroid, 1954, it was a
Polaroid, '55 through '56
Were all destroyed, daddy was an anarchist
We can't afford somebody catching wind of this here
Polaroid, a portrait of before
Born in a flash
Born in a flash
A little piece of the past
Born in a flash
Oh-whoa
Oh, ah-ah-ah ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah
Photograph, a portrait of the past
Born in a flash
Born in a flash
Born in a flash
Born in a fla-
Lyrics submitted by rainbowcrayon
Born in a Flash Lyrics as written by Ryan Guldemond
Lyrics © Anthem Entertainment
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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There is an ominous tone to this song. My interpretation is that while going through some pictures he discovered a 'damning' picture of his father. The pictures following - '55 - '56 were destroyed but this image from 1954 remained and clearly showed his father as an anarchist. The lyric saying 'we can't afford somebody catching wind of this here, Polaroid" is saying that whatever is in that picture, must not ever be known. It's an awesome song, with a beautiful melody hiding the seriousness of the discovery. My absolute favourite song right now.
@Graham66 Reading this now I can't believe I didn't see this sooner!
Well, the meaning's quite obvious: old photographs that bring back a sense of nostalgia. It seems TOO obvious, actually... Maybe I'm missing something...
This ones a bit hard to decipher to be quite honest, but heres my best shot. I think its first about a wholesome scavenging through old photos, i can imagine someone happily flipping through childhood photos and possibly ultrasounds and/or post birth photos, which explains “born in a flash” being the name. Halfway through they find photos of of their father depicting him as an anarchist, i can imagine their smile fading knowing that if anyone “caught wind of this” it could be bad for him or the family. so i guess i just consider this song a small story with a tone shift in the middle as the conflict arrises. The thing is, unlike usual stories, theres no ending. Just repeating born in a flash until the song ends. That gives the song its ominous manner as theres no resolution and you're left to decide yourself what was to come. This is probably my favorite mother mother song so i just wanted to put my thoughts about it out here!