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.
Welcome to the Holy City; the silver screen
Built with the lends of the low self esteem
A teenager's plea for meaning and means
We're selling the news
See, opinions are easier to swallow than facts
The greys instead of the whites and the blacks
If you shoot it too straight it won't come back
We're selling the news
See, money speaks volumes louder than words
And virtues with wings, maybe not quite at first
But salaries are payed with the eyes not the verbs
We're selling the news
See, all men are equal; all is for sale
A powerful dog has been chasing his tale
The lowest common denominator prevails
We're selling the news
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion
America listens as the story is told
With the eye on the truth as the story unfolds
But the ratings determine which story was sold
We're selling the news
Begging the question, mongering fears
Stroking the eyes and tickling ears
The truth is seldom just as it appears
We're selling the news
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I can see your talking heads
On the television set
On the Internet they said
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion
Substance, oh, substance, where have you been?
You've been replaced by the masters of spin
Who make good looking books and write history in
We're selling the news
The lines start to blur; I get so confused
They get shiny new models mixed up with the blues
They get binary code mixed up with abuse
The facts are simply one option to choose
When nothing is sacred, there's nothing to lose
When nothing is sacred, all is consumed
We're still on the air, it must be the truth
We're selling the news
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything I see is green
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion
Built with the lends of the low self esteem
A teenager's plea for meaning and means
We're selling the news
See, opinions are easier to swallow than facts
The greys instead of the whites and the blacks
If you shoot it too straight it won't come back
We're selling the news
See, money speaks volumes louder than words
And virtues with wings, maybe not quite at first
But salaries are payed with the eyes not the verbs
We're selling the news
See, all men are equal; all is for sale
A powerful dog has been chasing his tale
The lowest common denominator prevails
We're selling the news
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion
America listens as the story is told
With the eye on the truth as the story unfolds
But the ratings determine which story was sold
We're selling the news
Begging the question, mongering fears
Stroking the eyes and tickling ears
The truth is seldom just as it appears
We're selling the news
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I can see your talking heads
On the television set
On the Internet they said
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion
Substance, oh, substance, where have you been?
You've been replaced by the masters of spin
Who make good looking books and write history in
We're selling the news
The lines start to blur; I get so confused
They get shiny new models mixed up with the blues
They get binary code mixed up with abuse
The facts are simply one option to choose
When nothing is sacred, there's nothing to lose
When nothing is sacred, all is consumed
We're still on the air, it must be the truth
We're selling the news
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything is in-between
The fact is fiction, the fact is fiction
I wanna believe you, I wanna believe
But everything I see is green
The fact is fiction
Suspicion is the new religion
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"Meaning and means" provides word play and more accurately reflects the meaning of the song, "means" meaning a medium, tool, or ability to do something or get somewhere. Unless you're trolling. (Do you see what i did there? Wait, a meme within a meme...memeception - yo dawg I heard you like memes. Okay I'm done).