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.
Writing down my changing dreams
They’re like waves swelling in a restless sea
The words cast adrift on scattered reams
They’re like debris washed up on a windswept beach
Or so it seems, writing down my changing dreams
Like the tide, my mind changes
And I find my plans in disarray
They’re like shattered sandcastles in my brain
And so I build them all again another day and in another way
Cos where there’s will there’ll always be a way, or so they say
But I can’t find the current of my life
I feel I’m constantly swimming against the tide
I’m tossed and turned by each new wave in my face
And each time I find I’m washed up in a stranger place
And I watch the pavement flow beneath my rhythmic feet
I row that river of people passing on the street
The faces floating past belong to worlds not mine
But the bubble lives they don’t last for long, and they’ll all burst sometime
You know that they must burst sometime, but one time
I must find the current of my life
And not be constantly swimming against the tide
I’m tossed and turned by each new wave in my face
And each time I find I’m washed up in a stranger place
They’re like waves swelling in a restless sea
The words cast adrift on scattered reams
They’re like debris washed up on a windswept beach
Or so it seems, writing down my changing dreams
Like the tide, my mind changes
And I find my plans in disarray
They’re like shattered sandcastles in my brain
And so I build them all again another day and in another way
Cos where there’s will there’ll always be a way, or so they say
But I can’t find the current of my life
I feel I’m constantly swimming against the tide
I’m tossed and turned by each new wave in my face
And each time I find I’m washed up in a stranger place
And I watch the pavement flow beneath my rhythmic feet
I row that river of people passing on the street
The faces floating past belong to worlds not mine
But the bubble lives they don’t last for long, and they’ll all burst sometime
You know that they must burst sometime, but one time
I must find the current of my life
And not be constantly swimming against the tide
I’m tossed and turned by each new wave in my face
And each time I find I’m washed up in a stranger place
Lyrics submitted by dreamweaver74
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