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.
What's up y'all?
Ya know, I liken this world to a sewer
'Cos all I see is rats
Yeah, I'm talking about you
Check this out
Verse 1:
Believe what ya wanna believe
Ya don't have the right to privacy, the right to freedom of speech
But I beseech the powers-that-be to bleed
When I exercise my right to be me
The right to feed on what he sees
The right to fight for freedom with animosity
In it with what for me, not with what for thee
Polity ain't civil when I institute my policy
This ain't theocracy, there wasn't a theophany
So who are you to preach? You'd probably never pass theology
Reality: we're just Rats In A Maze
Serving others' purpose for the rest of days
Taking pencil to paper with a green beret
But can't escape the capers when the ends are frayed
Perusing dossiers with a measure of apathy
And a coffee and a bagel more concerned on the staple
Of the fat rats while they break backs for the Greater Good
Righting the human condition (knock on wood)
They conforming in uniform before the break of dawn
Performing the reform in spite of scorn for the overlords
Wake up, there's a war going on
Spill the blood of the paragon to view Zion
It's an agon in the mind as much as the body
Equanimity through hypnosis? Feeling shoddy
So I snap my finger and thumb, rap with venom on tongue
Bang the war drum and empty black lungs
Come on a ride through the Dark Side of life
We grinding on a cliff edge balancing on knives
Hook:
The right to seek, the right to receive
The right to impart and the right to bleed
Crucified for our beliefs, you call that free?
That's why the rhetoric rise up and outta me
The right to seek, the right to receive
The right to impart and the right to bleed
Crucified for our beliefs, you call that free, free, free, free?
Verse 2:
Believe what ya wanna believe
The right to be silent is nothing but a government's plea
Good behaviour is nothing but a way to persuade you
Into being a slave to the machine that made you
That bade you farewell until ya meet again
Forbade you to really be free until the end
Oh, here we go with another tirade
And I ain't afraid to say that I got a lot more
This jaw won't cease at spitting it raw
'Til I'm dead, my blood on the floor
On the hands of my captors, the government whores
Our leaders are nothing but double-crossing paramours
And the people are nothing more
Than blind and stupid and led by Cupid
And led to the chair idealistic
A country of bogans so simplistic
Rats led into the maze with the promise of cheese
Now contained and chained within their own beliefs
It's their own fault; they put up the borders
Built walls with mortar and self-importance
I was about to say I broke through but check this out
I was never the Jap; I was the mushroom cloud
I was never the rat; I was just in the dark
Taking that dark room apart
Until I saw the war raging, hailing one
With the rhetoric of rebels to under the black sun
Rhetoric of rebels to under the black sun
Yeah, the rhetoric of rebels to under the black sun
What?!
Ya know, I liken this world to a sewer
'Cos all I see is rats
Yeah, I'm talking about you
Check this out
Verse 1:
Believe what ya wanna believe
Ya don't have the right to privacy, the right to freedom of speech
But I beseech the powers-that-be to bleed
When I exercise my right to be me
The right to feed on what he sees
The right to fight for freedom with animosity
In it with what for me, not with what for thee
Polity ain't civil when I institute my policy
This ain't theocracy, there wasn't a theophany
So who are you to preach? You'd probably never pass theology
Reality: we're just Rats In A Maze
Serving others' purpose for the rest of days
Taking pencil to paper with a green beret
But can't escape the capers when the ends are frayed
Perusing dossiers with a measure of apathy
And a coffee and a bagel more concerned on the staple
Of the fat rats while they break backs for the Greater Good
Righting the human condition (knock on wood)
They conforming in uniform before the break of dawn
Performing the reform in spite of scorn for the overlords
Wake up, there's a war going on
Spill the blood of the paragon to view Zion
It's an agon in the mind as much as the body
Equanimity through hypnosis? Feeling shoddy
So I snap my finger and thumb, rap with venom on tongue
Bang the war drum and empty black lungs
Come on a ride through the Dark Side of life
We grinding on a cliff edge balancing on knives
Hook:
The right to seek, the right to receive
The right to impart and the right to bleed
Crucified for our beliefs, you call that free?
That's why the rhetoric rise up and outta me
The right to seek, the right to receive
The right to impart and the right to bleed
Crucified for our beliefs, you call that free, free, free, free?
Verse 2:
Believe what ya wanna believe
The right to be silent is nothing but a government's plea
Good behaviour is nothing but a way to persuade you
Into being a slave to the machine that made you
That bade you farewell until ya meet again
Forbade you to really be free until the end
Oh, here we go with another tirade
And I ain't afraid to say that I got a lot more
This jaw won't cease at spitting it raw
'Til I'm dead, my blood on the floor
On the hands of my captors, the government whores
Our leaders are nothing but double-crossing paramours
And the people are nothing more
Than blind and stupid and led by Cupid
And led to the chair idealistic
A country of bogans so simplistic
Rats led into the maze with the promise of cheese
Now contained and chained within their own beliefs
It's their own fault; they put up the borders
Built walls with mortar and self-importance
I was about to say I broke through but check this out
I was never the Jap; I was the mushroom cloud
I was never the rat; I was just in the dark
Taking that dark room apart
Until I saw the war raging, hailing one
With the rhetoric of rebels to under the black sun
Rhetoric of rebels to under the black sun
Yeah, the rhetoric of rebels to under the black sun
What?!
Lyrics submitted by DarkSidePoet
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