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.
We put our coats on and get in the car
We traveled for hours but we didn't get far
Well I guess your legs were too short back then
Couldn't quite reach the pedals but we had fun to pretend
Our one day trip to Disneyland
And now that you're older you can finally see
These things we've imagined were never to be
Well I guess you've realized there's truth out there
And it's more than I can offer to stay unaware
Of these great things that aren't really there
Last week we went for real this time
Crying faces and crowded lines
Of people craving for something more
Yes, something we had so long ago
And you realized it seemed better when you weren't here before
Yes, sometimes things are quite better
Just lying on the floor
Of the garage with our naive hopes
It ain't something we are waiting for
When you realize life has to offer nothing more
Than these things that already have been lived before
In time I'll know that there's more
Now Disneyland doesn't seem to matter
No more
We traveled for hours but we didn't get far
Well I guess your legs were too short back then
Couldn't quite reach the pedals but we had fun to pretend
Our one day trip to Disneyland
And now that you're older you can finally see
These things we've imagined were never to be
Well I guess you've realized there's truth out there
And it's more than I can offer to stay unaware
Of these great things that aren't really there
Last week we went for real this time
Crying faces and crowded lines
Of people craving for something more
Yes, something we had so long ago
And you realized it seemed better when you weren't here before
Yes, sometimes things are quite better
Just lying on the floor
Of the garage with our naive hopes
It ain't something we are waiting for
When you realize life has to offer nothing more
Than these things that already have been lived before
In time I'll know that there's more
Now Disneyland doesn't seem to matter
No more
Lyrics submitted by mister care-too-much
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This song is so terribly sad.
The first verse describes a beautiful scene in which the two protagonists, as children, try to bike to Disneyland. Of course, they don't make it, but they have fun pretending they actually went there.
The second verse talks about becoming older and losing the idealistic perspective they had as children ("These things we've imagined were never to be"). When you grow up, your perception of the world changes and you can never experience things in the innocent and happy way you did as a child. Perhaps, suggests the speaker, it was better to never experience things that way to begin with, if it only gets crushed later.
In the third verse, the protagonists finally go to Disneyland as adults and it is nothing how they thought it would be as children -- there are crying kids and lines everywhere. And the people in the lines are "craving...something we had long ago." In other words, the people wish to reclaim the happiness and the simplicity of the world they had as children.
"And you realized it seemed better when you weren't here before Yes, sometimes things are quite better Just lying on the floor Of the garage with our naive hopes" This might be the saddest part of the song. Sometimes, the way you imagine something to be turns out better than the thing itself. Your expectations disappoint you, especially when you're young and naive and concocting wonderful visions in your head.
The last verse is also heartbreaking. As adults, they realize their lives have become the same as others', going through the same routines at similar jobs, day in and day out ("these things that already have been lived before"). In time they'll know there's more to the world than childish fantasies. And Disneyland doesn't matter any more.