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.
Huh, BOOM! Huh guess who it is?
I rock, I roll tear this motherfucker up (tear this motherfucker up)
Let's get ready to rumble!!
I come in this bitch to get paid to bust flow, I come for the gumbo
They know me for kickin' they ass from here to El Segundo
Let's get ready to rumble!
Shit sparks, spit flames the coldest thing up under the sun though
Spendin your money on them niggaz
you're wastin you time cause I'm the one hoe!
Smokin the blunt smoke, stay out of my bundle
I swung with the blast, I've never been matched
I hop on the track like a jump rope
I come with the guillotine to cutthroat
Holdin it down, fuckin why'all up
but the rest of them suckers be unsho'
Me? YEAH, I'm blessed if you don't know
Pack a big boner, heavy strutured AND hung low
Wrecking ball nuts and dick touch the flo'
If it's on yo' chest then bitch let me know!!
I hope you don't think I'm a runnin
I know you don't think I'm scared
You must of forgot who the fuck that I am
The man with the braids BEWARE!!
That's yo' ASS Mr. Postman
Got them niggaz stompin and swingin with both hands
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Bats and pipes broken bottles, glass, and knives
Jump in the mix and don't handle yo' business
and a nigga gon' turn out yo' lights!!
You'll be gettin' yo' stupid self up
askin' the people "Which one of why'all hit me?"
I don't know the way you went down looked like the ground was slippery
Attack 'em with sawed offs, and niggaz get throwed off
The party get called off, when niggaz get sawed offs
Go get my meat to meet and give me that raw dog
You, go get you a nasty, givin that pussy you bought off
I come with the real
I be with them niggaz with booted up grills
We don't do promotional shows that shit don't pay my bills
Keep it in the ballin ballin, promoters callin
Videos jumpin off nigga this the real New Orleans!
My neck of the woods, my side of the hood my part of town
Thugs, drugs, and violence why'all niggaz is watered down
When I perform I'm that calm
And I'm the shit on the record I hit the studio and show 'em!
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
I roll, we by hype
Knockin 'em out, throwin 'em away, keep 'em off
Takin 'em out, bustin they head, breakin 'em off!
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll tear this motherfucker up (tear this motherfucker up)
Let's get ready to rumble!!
I come in this bitch to get paid to bust flow, I come for the gumbo
They know me for kickin' they ass from here to El Segundo
Let's get ready to rumble!
Shit sparks, spit flames the coldest thing up under the sun though
Spendin your money on them niggaz
you're wastin you time cause I'm the one hoe!
Smokin the blunt smoke, stay out of my bundle
I swung with the blast, I've never been matched
I hop on the track like a jump rope
I come with the guillotine to cutthroat
Holdin it down, fuckin why'all up
but the rest of them suckers be unsho'
Me? YEAH, I'm blessed if you don't know
Pack a big boner, heavy strutured AND hung low
Wrecking ball nuts and dick touch the flo'
If it's on yo' chest then bitch let me know!!
I hope you don't think I'm a runnin
I know you don't think I'm scared
You must of forgot who the fuck that I am
The man with the braids BEWARE!!
That's yo' ASS Mr. Postman
Got them niggaz stompin and swingin with both hands
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Bats and pipes broken bottles, glass, and knives
Jump in the mix and don't handle yo' business
and a nigga gon' turn out yo' lights!!
You'll be gettin' yo' stupid self up
askin' the people "Which one of why'all hit me?"
I don't know the way you went down looked like the ground was slippery
Attack 'em with sawed offs, and niggaz get throwed off
The party get called off, when niggaz get sawed offs
Go get my meat to meet and give me that raw dog
You, go get you a nasty, givin that pussy you bought off
I come with the real
I be with them niggaz with booted up grills
We don't do promotional shows that shit don't pay my bills
Keep it in the ballin ballin, promoters callin
Videos jumpin off nigga this the real New Orleans!
My neck of the woods, my side of the hood my part of town
Thugs, drugs, and violence why'all niggaz is watered down
When I perform I'm that calm
And I'm the shit on the record I hit the studio and show 'em!
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
I rock, I roll
I roll, we by hype
Knockin 'em out, throwin 'em away, keep 'em off
Takin 'em out, bustin they head, breakin 'em off!
I rock, I roll
Tear this motherfucker up let's get ready to rumble!
Shuttin systems down! You ready for war?
Start somethin, start fightin
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
I Rock, I Roll Lyrics as written by Michael L Tyler Raymond Poole
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.