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.
When all of your flaws and all of my flaws
Are laid out one by one
The wonderful part of the mess that we made
We pick ourselves undone
All of your flaws and all of my flaws
They lie there hand in hand
Ones we've inherited, ones that we learned
They pass from man to man
There's a hole in my soul
I can't fill it, I can't fill it
There's a hole in my soul
Can you fill it? Can you fill it?
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground
Dig them up; let's finish what we've started
Dig them up, so nothing's left untouched
All of your flaws and all of my flaws,
When they have been exhumed
We'll see that we need them to be who we are
Without them we'd be doomed
There's a hole in my soul
I can't fill it, I can't fill it
There's a hole in my soul
Can you fill it? Can you fill it?
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground
Dig them up; let's finish what we've started
Dig them up, so nothing's left untouched
Ooh
Ooh
When all of your flaws
And all of my flaws are counted
When all of your flaws
And all of my flaws are counted
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground
Dig them up. Let's finish what we've started
Dig them up. So nothing's left untouched
Ooh
Ooh
All of your flaws and all of my flaws
Are laid out one by one
Look at the wonderful mess that we made
We pick ourselves undone
Are laid out one by one
The wonderful part of the mess that we made
We pick ourselves undone
All of your flaws and all of my flaws
They lie there hand in hand
Ones we've inherited, ones that we learned
They pass from man to man
There's a hole in my soul
I can't fill it, I can't fill it
There's a hole in my soul
Can you fill it? Can you fill it?
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground
Dig them up; let's finish what we've started
Dig them up, so nothing's left untouched
All of your flaws and all of my flaws,
When they have been exhumed
We'll see that we need them to be who we are
Without them we'd be doomed
There's a hole in my soul
I can't fill it, I can't fill it
There's a hole in my soul
Can you fill it? Can you fill it?
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground
Dig them up; let's finish what we've started
Dig them up, so nothing's left untouched
Ooh
Ooh
When all of your flaws
And all of my flaws are counted
When all of your flaws
And all of my flaws are counted
You have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve
And I have always buried them deep beneath the ground
Dig them up. Let's finish what we've started
Dig them up. So nothing's left untouched
Ooh
Ooh
All of your flaws and all of my flaws
Are laid out one by one
Look at the wonderful mess that we made
We pick ourselves undone
Lyrics submitted by mmmusicj13
Flaws Lyrics as written by Daniel Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think that it means that he (the singer) has been ridiculed or insulted because of his flaws, so he tries to hide them (and I have always buried them deep beneath the ground). He meets someone (the person he is addressing) who accepts their flaws and doesn't care about them (you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve) and they don't want him to be perfect, convincing him to accept himself (Dig them up. Let's finish what we've started, Dig them up. So nothings left untouched) . So they start to help him accept himself and his flaws (there's a hole in my soul I can't fill it I cant fill it, there's a hole in my soul can you fill it can you fill it) And the song shows how we all pick ourselves apart and try to be perfect when we should just accept ourselves.( look at the wonderful mess that we made, we pick ourselves undone)
@Jaybird1217 This may well be what it makes you think about, but I don't find this very true to the lyrics themselves. Where you you get the idea that he has been ridiculed? Or that the other person doesn't want him to be perfect or convincing him of anything?
I think the song's actually pretty straight forward. The lyrics talk about the flaws of both parties being "laid out one by one" and "[lying] there hand in hand". I feel that its simply the writer of the lyrics expressing that they feel comfortable taking the flaws that they "buried deep beneath the ground" and putting them out in the open and being okay with the other person seeing them. The other person is already comfortable with how they, themselves, are. Tl;dr, the song is about finding someone that you can be honest and yourself with, flaws and all, and the other gives that right back, and you both are comfortable with the transaction.
Dan (writer/singer) said in an interview that it is a song about two people having a conversation about their flaws; one person is self-conscious and the other isn't. He said its frustrating when people interpret their [Bastille's] songs as love songs :) this is the interview (if the link copied properly) bcove.me/bodk8db5
If you haven't heard this song on Piano then you really should... it's absolutely beautiful.
youtube.com/watch
I personally think that this song is about a man who has many personal flaws, flaws that he has learned and flaws he has inherited. Meaning that he has been through tragic or unfortunate events that he has witness or been involved with. He feels that he has a "hole" inside of him, and it's because he has repressed feelings that he doesn't want to deal with.
An example could be thinking you have a strong relationship with a loved one but then finding out they are cheating or lying to you, causing you to now suffer from the "flaw" of not being able to easily trust.
But then he meets this special person who also has flaws, but they "wear them on their sleeve" and aren't afraid of them. That person is fully aware of their own personal problems, but isn't afraid to admit it. This person encourages the singer that it's good to face your internal struggles and bring the surface so you can finally deal with hidden emotions or thoughts.
@courtneyjoriem Perfect Explanation!!
It's basically saying that perfection is overrated and that flaws make life interesting.
This is a pretty simple meaning, but a good one. The narrator isn't perfect, but he wants to be, he wants to fit in. So he hides all his flaws. As a result, he isn't someone, he's a blank face in the crowd. And with some inspiration, he decides that it's time to show his true colors, release the burden of hiding his flaws
I think the song is written buy someone who has many flaws am he 'burys them ' so he doesn't need I see them
But hen he meets someone who ' wears their flaws on their sleeve ( self harm ) so he decides it's enough!!!
They both confront their flaws ' dig them up ' and they become at peace with who they are ' we need them to be who we are '
@Charlotte sullivan Awesome Comment...I wouldn't have thought of it that way
I think the song is all about the perspective of the singer with regard to his and his partner's flaws.
Let's start with the line, "you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve and I have always buried them deep beneath the ground." To bury something means to hide something where nobody has to see it, and only you can find it. The singer has always pushed his flaws out of the foreground, out of his perspective. On the other hand, he notices that his partner (romantic or not, called only by "you") allows their flaws to be seen—they are up for conversation, everybody can access them.
But the song itself presents an abrupt change in perspective. The singer now wants to lay out all of his flaws, analyze them, and figure out how to fill the hole in his soul. But it seems like by taking this first step toward becoming aware and up front about his own flaws, leaving nothing undone, the singer starts to take his self improvement and self awareness seriously, beginning a journey on which he never could have embarked without the grace of the other person, who, by wearing their flaws on their sleeve, brought the singer to want to uncover his own.
Finally, and this is more of a question, there's a strong motif of holes in the song. First with the idea of burying flaws, digging them up, and then the hole in the soul of the singer which must be "filled." Does anybody have an idea of what to make of this?
@redsoxfan3189 You speak and explain yourself so well. I agree with you.
I always thought that it was about a couple, the girl was always talking about her flaws and things she didn't like about herself like many girls do (you have always worn your flaws upon your sleeve) and he would always deny them and acted like she was flawless (and I have always buried them deep beneath the ground). Then he came to realize that nobody is flawless (they pass from man to man) without our flaws we wouldn't be ourselves. (We need them to be who we are). So he decides to longer hide her flaws away but make her accept them. Her flaws make her who she is and he wouldn't want to change that about her.