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.
How do we agree?
How do we exceed?
Places that our lives have taken
Sharpened instruments
Failed experiments
Faces of the occupation
Boxing helps. I guess, I think it toughens your mind
I think you push yourself beyond certain limits, past
The worst thing in the world is to be in a fight and to get tired
You don't want to get tired in a fight
Say that you can show me
You don't know me
You want to live oh
Say that you can own me
You think you know me but you're wrong
No matter how much natural ability you have
There's a lot of working at it
You know, you don't need, Muhammad Ali was a great fighter
But if he didn't train as hard as he did, he
You'd never hear the name Muhammad Ali become
You have to train hard
You have to devote yourself one hundred percent
You can't be a success if you don't have any part of it
Like if you don't have discipline. You need discipline
You need discipline to do things
And the discipline is you do it without things, you know?
No matter if we say we believe this, we believe that
You know there's certain things we believe
But just how strongly we believe is a matter, you know
It's what we want to believe
A force much stronger than us, a power
A power much more powerful, you know? But we still don't know
No matter how much we think we believe
We still tremor at the thought of dying
We shiver almost died, you know?
There's something out there
But just to me it's like the great unknown. You know? I don't know.
One of the most important things in life
Is to have people who care about you, and you care about
You know Love is the magic word, it is, you know?
If it wasn't for love I wouldn't be here today
How do we exceed?
Places that our lives have taken
Sharpened instruments
Failed experiments
Faces of the occupation
Boxing helps. I guess, I think it toughens your mind
I think you push yourself beyond certain limits, past
The worst thing in the world is to be in a fight and to get tired
You don't want to get tired in a fight
Say that you can show me
You don't know me
You want to live oh
Say that you can own me
You think you know me but you're wrong
No matter how much natural ability you have
There's a lot of working at it
You know, you don't need, Muhammad Ali was a great fighter
But if he didn't train as hard as he did, he
You'd never hear the name Muhammad Ali become
You have to train hard
You have to devote yourself one hundred percent
You can't be a success if you don't have any part of it
Like if you don't have discipline. You need discipline
You need discipline to do things
And the discipline is you do it without things, you know?
No matter if we say we believe this, we believe that
You know there's certain things we believe
But just how strongly we believe is a matter, you know
It's what we want to believe
A force much stronger than us, a power
A power much more powerful, you know? But we still don't know
No matter how much we think we believe
We still tremor at the thought of dying
We shiver almost died, you know?
There's something out there
But just to me it's like the great unknown. You know? I don't know.
One of the most important things in life
Is to have people who care about you, and you care about
You know Love is the magic word, it is, you know?
If it wasn't for love I wouldn't be here today
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American Town
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Well those aren't the lyrics I submitted. Part of the second verse is wrong and most of the spoken parts have changed. I'll post what I had below. Chuvalo's parts are in the brackets.
[Boxing helps. I guess... I think it toughens your mind. I think you push yourself beyond certain limits, past certain limits as a fighter. The worst thing in the world is to be in a fight and to get tired. You don't want to get tired in a fight.]
You say you can show me, but you don't know me You won't and never will You say that you can owe me, you think you know me But you're wrong
[No matter how much natural ability you have, there's a lot of work in it. You know, you don't need... Muhammad Ali was a great fighter but if he didn't train as hard as he did, he would never be the Muhammad Ali that he did become so... you know, you have to train hard, you have to devote yourself one hundred percent.]
[You can't be a success if you don't have any part of it. Like if you're not disciplined. You need discipline. You need discipline to do things. And the discipline, you can do without things, you know?]
[No matter if we say we believe this, we believe that, you know... there's certain things we believe. But just how strongly we believe is a matter, you know... it's what we want to believe. A force much stronger than us, a power... a power much more powerful, you know? But we still don't know. No matter how much we think we believe, we still tremor at the thought of dying. You know, mostly we shiver, it's, uh, like I'll die, or once, my opponents have died, or almost died, you know? There's something out there. But just to me it's like the great unknown. You know? I don't know.]
[One of the most important things in life is to have people who care about you, and that you care about, you know? Love is the magic word, it is, you know? If it wasn't for love I wouldn't be here today.]