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.
Hangman, we played rubber soul with a razor blade
Behind the church, hiding place,
It was a long joke 'til the punch line came.
Can you read my mind, read my mind
Follow along to the end of the song
Hangman, we played double dutch with a hand grenade
Behind the church, hiding place.
Apathetic to the devil's face.
Wear the sheriff's badge put your toys away
They let us go saying let us pray
Hangman, we played hide and seek on the fire escape
Through the smoke we saw the flame
It was a long wait 'til the firetruck came
On the count of three
Jump with me on the count of three
One two one two three go!
Hangman, we played blind man's bluff with the ninth brigade
Throw the brick through the windowpane,
Double dutch 'til they stop the game,
'Til the cops show up, hand cuff stunned
They let us go but we lost one
Hangman ,we played blind man's bluff 'til they stopped the game
Youth without youth, born without time,
Youth without youth, can you read my mind?
Behind the church, hiding place,
It was a long joke 'til the punch line came.
Can you read my mind, read my mind
Follow along to the end of the song
Hangman, we played double dutch with a hand grenade
Behind the church, hiding place.
Apathetic to the devil's face.
Wear the sheriff's badge put your toys away
They let us go saying let us pray
Hangman, we played hide and seek on the fire escape
Through the smoke we saw the flame
It was a long wait 'til the firetruck came
On the count of three
Jump with me on the count of three
One two one two three go!
Hangman, we played blind man's bluff with the ninth brigade
Throw the brick through the windowpane,
Double dutch 'til they stop the game,
'Til the cops show up, hand cuff stunned
They let us go but we lost one
Hangman ,we played blind man's bluff 'til they stopped the game
Youth without youth, born without time,
Youth without youth, can you read my mind?
Lyrics submitted by dustybreeze
Youth Without Youth Lyrics as written by James Shaw Emily Haines
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
---Excerpts from Emily and Jimmy's commentary on this song--- soundcloud.com/metric-band/youth-without-youth-commentary
Emily: It started as just one verse - a story, a very slow, sad story about the decaying social state through the eyes of a depraved child. The song developed into several verses, which captured the growth of this child, the evolution of this child into a teenager who goes from playing simple children’s games to smashing a window with a brick and getting arrested, and being in handcuffs. So it seems to be oddly timely with the general sense of malaise and discontent, so it's kind of one those songs that wrote itself.
Jimmy: We wanted to express some sort of form of anger and resentment, and the feeling of being pissed off because you don't get to experience the youth that maybe you should feel entitled to.
Emily: Sonically, we went for kind of a seventies sleaze. It’s always a good way to disguise any kind of political statement.
Jimmy: Or morose sadness.
Together, they advise to forget the rather cynical content of the song when listening to it and to "get into the seventies sleaze. The Gary glitter beat. Put on a tank top. Put some gel in your hair. Hit the town. Dance around. Have fun."
Gotta love these two. :)
Thanks Lady! Yes, you noted that there was kind of timely evolution of a person's point of view..., yeah..:)...