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.
The hole in the floor boards
The cot near the front door
The moon was gone from sight the
World was dark as nightmares
You took all my fears and
You wrapped them in wonders
But there's no magic inside the moon
It's just a rock you can't reach
I was never the sharp knife
But I was never the dull mind
I was somewhere in between
A thorn an acquiescent
So you said it was for me
When you tried to break me
Well you can save your breath
I know, I'm not the kind you pray for
Took a river of bad blood
But now I see where we came from
Can't grow a proper branch when
Half the trunk is rotten
And you swore that it hurt you
While pushing your knife through
Well you can save your breath
I know, we're not the kind you'll pray for
The cot near the front door
The moon was gone from sight the
World was dark as nightmares
You took all my fears and
You wrapped them in wonders
But there's no magic inside the moon
It's just a rock you can't reach
I was never the sharp knife
But I was never the dull mind
I was somewhere in between
A thorn an acquiescent
So you said it was for me
When you tried to break me
Well you can save your breath
I know, I'm not the kind you pray for
Took a river of bad blood
But now I see where we came from
Can't grow a proper branch when
Half the trunk is rotten
And you swore that it hurt you
While pushing your knife through
Well you can save your breath
I know, we're not the kind you'll pray for
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Ben Cooper's done something quite special here, not just with this song or this album, but all the music he's released.
Having said this, this song is so hauntingly beautiful and he did a commentary on YouTube about the whole 'Leaves' album and here is what he said about Bad Blood:
" So Bad Blood, um... this is not the song that I thought I would finish this whole 8 year project with. I mean that definitely was not my original plan... but after a pretty big falling out with a lot of my family last year, I had been looking at my own family history, and very differently, like now I have a lot more pieces and it's... it's a very different picture than I used to see it as.
"A lot of these things were happening when I was working on this last record so I wound up weaving it directly into this story. I mean there were elements of my family all along in all of the records, but this song is the most... direct I have ever been about my own past. And yeah without getting into too many gory details it kinda covers me getting kicked out of my house at 14 after coming out to my folks and... It kinda goes into, I guess how when you don't quite fit in or play into people's narratives, even your own family's, you can become easy to dispose of, or at least that's what I read into. I mean I'm not upset I wrote this song and I'm fine with it being the end of the whole project now, but... it's definitely one I don't think I will ever play again."
I could try and break this whole song down, but I don't really think that would be fair on Ben and this whole song is pretty self explanatory especially if you listened to his NPR interview he did just after the release - npr.org/2016/04/04/472541620/when-the-page-becomes-a-mirror-radical-face
@zeroremission whether or not Ben ever intended this to be the final song for the project, to me it is a perfect summation of what this whole journey has been about. Especially that final verse. Even though this isn't my favorite song from the project, I don't think there's been a verse that Ben has sung that cut me deeper than that one.