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.
Seventeen, the only way I had a car
Is after I dropped my Momma off where she needed to go
It had four bald tires
With the ceiling falling and the windows stuck
But the only thing I cared about was the radio
We turned it on, turned it up to 10
And everybody would jump on in
Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find something on the radio
A real, real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio
Grabbed my girl
We looked for somewhere to watch the stars
A perfect place to put it park and take it slow
She sang along
To even the ones that she barely knew
Still sounded good, a little louder too
But we didn't care
I looked at her, she looked at me
I'll never forget that melody
Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find something on the radio
A real, real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio
Hey ya'll be quiet, that's my favorite song
Hey man, turn it up loud
Come on, come on, come on
Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find something on the radio
A real, real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio
Is after I dropped my Momma off where she needed to go
It had four bald tires
With the ceiling falling and the windows stuck
But the only thing I cared about was the radio
We turned it on, turned it up to 10
And everybody would jump on in
Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find something on the radio
A real, real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio
Grabbed my girl
We looked for somewhere to watch the stars
A perfect place to put it park and take it slow
She sang along
To even the ones that she barely knew
Still sounded good, a little louder too
But we didn't care
I looked at her, she looked at me
I'll never forget that melody
Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find something on the radio
A real, real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio
Hey ya'll be quiet, that's my favorite song
Hey man, turn it up loud
Come on, come on, come on
Ridin' down the highway
Who wants to be the DJ
I'll find a spot on the side of the road
You find something on the radio
A real, real good song
We'll know it when it comes on
We had no money and no place to go
All we needed was a radio
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Radio Lyrics as written by Darius C. Rucker Ashley Gorley
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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