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.
[Chorus]
I don't 'give a damn'
When motherfuckers claim that they're nice, and I don't 'give a damn'
About the record deal that you signed and I don't 'give a damn'
Bout chart positions paid for a price, and I don't 'give a damn'
About all of your media hype and I don't 'give a damn'
If your publicist got betta connects and I don't 'give a damn'
About the fuckin the spot that you rep and I don't 'give a damn'
If you roll 50 deep for respect and I don't 'give a damn'
I really don't 'give a damn' bitch
[Tonedeff]
Gimme this microphone, and stand clear
As I tear into this bitch like I fucked up a papsmear
Cat's stear outta my way and split as I switch to my fast gear
The fact's clear Rappers, they act queer, lappin' up ass hair
Yappin like "That's fierce", Man, I'm agasp here
Saddened by acts whose only buzz was gotten from 50 glasses of Pabst beer
Man, I'm stacked like I jacked Sears
After I smack you with brass bats, mallets and stacked chairs
Tou can ask me if that's fair
You repeated the deeds you seen after me last year
Cheated with theivery, greed and misleading tactics, that've actually
matched rare & elusive elements of my steez
very conclusive evidence leading me back here
So I pillage like Black Beard
Hands near your bitch's brazier, until her nipples stand air
And hit some frequencies you can't hear without a bat's ear
And that serious, mad furious, amped, scary, and brash, sneering
and every fucking adjective that'll push you past fear
My wrath spares artisans who practice the craft with tact, whereas
You would never to my standards adhere
Shit, I had to hire an accountant and a cashier
Cause Tonedeff, got so many hoes riding the dick
that I'm charging 'em cab fare
And while I tap rears, rappers amass tears
As they learn how to play the skin flute
while rockin the box set from Zamphyr
With a fat kielbasa to grasp, yeah..
You bout as hip as them pink pajamas your dad wears...
laugh at your wack pair
(Bitch, I don't)
[Chorus]
[Tonedeff]
For pete's sake, I'm grief laden, need faith
Keep saying, "He's fake," when you sound commercial, like "You Can Eat Cake"
Now Please face the other town - leave..great
Beef? Hey, you wig gets pushed back more than underground released dates
Your teamplay's what we say's an exercise in simplicity
You cry whenever you miss a rerun of Felicity
You sweet as crispy crème, the media feeds you a glitzy Dream
Been taken advantage of like Giddy Teens with 50 Whisky Drinks
I'm nifty with these things. Top pick
Tonedeff : The wide receiver with elastic arms...son, you know I got this
I constantly knock shit, not superstitious
but that's part of the process, I dine, you do the dishes
Now, it's obvious right kid? Calls in tonite? Then
It's prolly your wife, so just pardon me right quick
You're hardly a fight, bitch/ Sorry? Now bite this
I'm as awnry as bikers with harleys and pipes gripped
You nice kid? You're part of the crisis..worse than a biter
You're a wack rapper's cock rider
in spite of lying, Even your stage show's disgraceful
See, you're that one nigga that's on the cell at the movies
cause whole the audience hates you
See, your folly is painful to watch, You're out for pussy?
Just stuff your face in your crotch, gargle and toss your cookies
I'm harmful to lots of persons far & near
Lace verse with so many curses that my clean versions sound like 'Paul Revere'
Now don't stall and tell me the public's got the true taste
Cause if they like you, they're dumb enough to eat a blue steak
Fuck the debate of who's real & who's fake! Cause when I'm all in your grill
Son...I really won't kill you, but you'll swear to god that I will
So just gimme a beat and a time and a place
If you hid in retreat
then I'll find you where you stay with a team of divers, grenades
And claws equipped. Nobody even bought your shit
Cause you're the type that went to an all boy school
and everybody still called you a dick
[Final Chorus]
I don't 'give a damn'
About the verse you wrote to battle me, and I don't 'give a damn'
If your jealousy makes you mad at me and I don't 'give a damn'
If you rap cause your peoples have to eat, and I don't 'give a damn'
You ain't grown out your hood mentality and I don't 'give a damn'
If you got 97inch rims and I don't 'give a damn'
About your fashion victim ass friends and I don't 'give a damn'
About all of these 5-minute trends and I don't 'give a damn'
about you I really don't 'give a damn'
Oh, word? You did time? So What
Oh Shit, he's producing it? So What
Oh Shit, he signing with who? So What
I don't 'give a damn'
When motherfuckers claim that they're nice, and I don't 'give a damn'
About the record deal that you signed and I don't 'give a damn'
Bout chart positions paid for a price, and I don't 'give a damn'
About all of your media hype and I don't 'give a damn'
If your publicist got betta connects and I don't 'give a damn'
About the fuckin the spot that you rep and I don't 'give a damn'
If you roll 50 deep for respect and I don't 'give a damn'
I really don't 'give a damn' bitch
[Tonedeff]
Gimme this microphone, and stand clear
As I tear into this bitch like I fucked up a papsmear
Cat's stear outta my way and split as I switch to my fast gear
The fact's clear Rappers, they act queer, lappin' up ass hair
Yappin like "That's fierce", Man, I'm agasp here
Saddened by acts whose only buzz was gotten from 50 glasses of Pabst beer
Man, I'm stacked like I jacked Sears
After I smack you with brass bats, mallets and stacked chairs
Tou can ask me if that's fair
You repeated the deeds you seen after me last year
Cheated with theivery, greed and misleading tactics, that've actually
matched rare & elusive elements of my steez
very conclusive evidence leading me back here
So I pillage like Black Beard
Hands near your bitch's brazier, until her nipples stand air
And hit some frequencies you can't hear without a bat's ear
And that serious, mad furious, amped, scary, and brash, sneering
and every fucking adjective that'll push you past fear
My wrath spares artisans who practice the craft with tact, whereas
You would never to my standards adhere
Shit, I had to hire an accountant and a cashier
Cause Tonedeff, got so many hoes riding the dick
that I'm charging 'em cab fare
And while I tap rears, rappers amass tears
As they learn how to play the skin flute
while rockin the box set from Zamphyr
With a fat kielbasa to grasp, yeah..
You bout as hip as them pink pajamas your dad wears...
laugh at your wack pair
(Bitch, I don't)
[Chorus]
[Tonedeff]
For pete's sake, I'm grief laden, need faith
Keep saying, "He's fake," when you sound commercial, like "You Can Eat Cake"
Now Please face the other town - leave..great
Beef? Hey, you wig gets pushed back more than underground released dates
Your teamplay's what we say's an exercise in simplicity
You cry whenever you miss a rerun of Felicity
You sweet as crispy crème, the media feeds you a glitzy Dream
Been taken advantage of like Giddy Teens with 50 Whisky Drinks
I'm nifty with these things. Top pick
Tonedeff : The wide receiver with elastic arms...son, you know I got this
I constantly knock shit, not superstitious
but that's part of the process, I dine, you do the dishes
Now, it's obvious right kid? Calls in tonite? Then
It's prolly your wife, so just pardon me right quick
You're hardly a fight, bitch/ Sorry? Now bite this
I'm as awnry as bikers with harleys and pipes gripped
You nice kid? You're part of the crisis..worse than a biter
You're a wack rapper's cock rider
in spite of lying, Even your stage show's disgraceful
See, you're that one nigga that's on the cell at the movies
cause whole the audience hates you
See, your folly is painful to watch, You're out for pussy?
Just stuff your face in your crotch, gargle and toss your cookies
I'm harmful to lots of persons far & near
Lace verse with so many curses that my clean versions sound like 'Paul Revere'
Now don't stall and tell me the public's got the true taste
Cause if they like you, they're dumb enough to eat a blue steak
Fuck the debate of who's real & who's fake! Cause when I'm all in your grill
Son...I really won't kill you, but you'll swear to god that I will
So just gimme a beat and a time and a place
If you hid in retreat
then I'll find you where you stay with a team of divers, grenades
And claws equipped. Nobody even bought your shit
Cause you're the type that went to an all boy school
and everybody still called you a dick
[Final Chorus]
I don't 'give a damn'
About the verse you wrote to battle me, and I don't 'give a damn'
If your jealousy makes you mad at me and I don't 'give a damn'
If you rap cause your peoples have to eat, and I don't 'give a damn'
You ain't grown out your hood mentality and I don't 'give a damn'
If you got 97inch rims and I don't 'give a damn'
About your fashion victim ass friends and I don't 'give a damn'
About all of these 5-minute trends and I don't 'give a damn'
about you I really don't 'give a damn'
Oh, word? You did time? So What
Oh Shit, he's producing it? So What
Oh Shit, he signing with who? So What
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Give a Damn Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © TUNECORE INC, TuneCore Inc.
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
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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.