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.
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Don't give me degeneration
Give me true communication
Don't give me sorrow
I want equal opportunity
To live tomorrow
Give me schools
And give me better books
So I can read about myself
And gain my truly looks
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me now, now?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Some of us try
As hard as we can
We don't want no sympathy
We just wanna be a man
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
We got talents we can use
On our side of town
Let's get our heads together
And get it up from the ground
When some of us make money
People hear about our people
Gotta grab out a honey
Forget about honey
Do you now, let me hear, hey
Come on, I got to have it
Come on, I need it
I got to have it, come on
I got to have it, oh, ha
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Play with your bad self
Come on, baby
Come here
Gotta get it
Got to get myself together
So many things I got to do
So many things I got to do
I don't need no help from you
Tell everybody, everybody else
All of these things, baby
I got to do it myself
Come on, hey
I got to have it
I said I, said I
Said I, said I, I
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
With you I'll sweat and bleed
To put out any fire and block off every plug
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I'm not gonna tell
You what to do
I'm not gonna raise a fuss
But before you make another move
Let's start by taking care of us
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Kids, get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Can you dig the groove?
Can you make the move?
Can you dig the say?
Can you make the pay?
Dig the groove?
Can you dig it?
Tell me, can you dig it?
Tell me, can you?
Come on now, come on now
Come on, come on, come on
Come on
Come on, all right
Come on, fly
Hey, hey, hey
Lord, have mercy
I got to have it
Got to have it
I got to have it
Don't need no cupid
Don't be no stupid
Come on
We, we don't have time to hate
We need all the time we got
To try to communicate
Come on
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Baby, baby, baby, baby
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Oh, no, no, no, no
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I'm not gonna tell you what to do
I'm not gonna raise a fuss
But before you make another move
Let's start by taking care of us
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Kids, get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door, open
Open up the door
Open up the door, hit it
Open up, here I come
Open up and let a man come in
Open up, let a man come in
Open up, let a man come in
Here I come, here I come
I'm comin' in any type of weather
Comin' 'cause I got myself together
Open up, open up, open up, up
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Don't give me degeneration
Give me true communication
Don't give me sorrow
I want equal opportunity
To live tomorrow
Give me schools
And give me better books
So I can read about myself
And gain my truly looks
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me now, now?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Some of us try
As hard as we can
We don't want no sympathy
We just wanna be a man
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
We got talents we can use
On our side of town
Let's get our heads together
And get it up from the ground
When some of us make money
People hear about our people
Gotta grab out a honey
Forget about honey
Do you now, let me hear, hey
Come on, I got to have it
Come on, I need it
I got to have it, come on
I got to have it, oh, ha
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Play with your bad self
Come on, baby
Come here
Gotta get it
Got to get myself together
So many things I got to do
So many things I got to do
I don't need no help from you
Tell everybody, everybody else
All of these things, baby
I got to do it myself
Come on, hey
I got to have it
I said I, said I
Said I, said I, I
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
With you I'll sweat and bleed
To put out any fire and block off every plug
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I'm not gonna tell
You what to do
I'm not gonna raise a fuss
But before you make another move
Let's start by taking care of us
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Do you hear me?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Kids, get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Open up the door
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Can you dig the groove?
Can you make the move?
Can you dig the say?
Can you make the pay?
Dig the groove?
Can you dig it?
Tell me, can you dig it?
Tell me, can you?
Come on now, come on now
Come on, come on, come on
Come on
Come on, all right
Come on, fly
Hey, hey, hey
Lord, have mercy
I got to have it
Got to have it
I got to have it
Don't need no cupid
Don't be no stupid
Come on
We, we don't have time to hate
We need all the time we got
To try to communicate
Come on
Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, Lordy
Baby, baby, baby, baby
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
How can I get myself together
When you keep on packing your bag?
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Oh, no, no, no, no
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
I'm not gonna tell you what to do
I'm not gonna raise a fuss
But before you make another move
Let's start by taking care of us
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door
I'll get it myself
Kids, get that education
And don't you take no more
'Cause if we gonna get
This thing together
Then you got to carry the ball
I don't want nobody
To give me nothing
Open up the door, open
Open up the door
Open up the door, hit it
Open up, here I come
Open up and let a man come in
Open up, let a man come in
Open up, let a man come in
Here I come, here I come
I'm comin' in any type of weather
Comin' 'cause I got myself together
Open up, open up, open up, up
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get ...) Lyrics as written by James Brown
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Sentric Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
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I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself) song meanings
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Self-explanatory - but if I were him, talking to the "kids", I would have stressed self-education (a la the sleevenote to "Hungry Freaks Daddy"), because we all know that state education (the compulsory/formalised kind) is inherently destructive and abusive. (To educate yourself of course you need confidence in your own intuitive self-knowledge - something that for many people is broken irreparably, early in life, by both state education and the psychological abuses perpetrated by their parents).