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.
White page, an empty field of snow
My room is twenty-five below
This cold man chasing ghosts
A road lies underneath a buried boat
Dogs search the under forest
We scour the empty streets
The fact remains until we find you
Our lives are incomplete
Do I hear laughters through a veil of snow and ice?
Where could you be on such a lonely winter's night?
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face dreaming without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter from behind this veil of midnight?
What are you hiding in the frozen heart of winter?
Somewhere a church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
And then your trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter in the silence of the snow?
I know you're hiding in this frozen heart of winter
A midnight church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
Then the trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
I can't stop wanting you
My room is twenty-five below
This cold man chasing ghosts
A road lies underneath a buried boat
Dogs search the under forest
We scour the empty streets
The fact remains until we find you
Our lives are incomplete
Do I hear laughters through a veil of snow and ice?
Where could you be on such a lonely winter's night?
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face dreaming without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter from behind this veil of midnight?
What are you hiding in the frozen heart of winter?
Somewhere a church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
And then your trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
Do I hear laughter in the silence of the snow?
I know you're hiding in this frozen heart of winter
A midnight church bell tolls
I know you're close, your scent still warm
Then the trail turns cold, cold, cold
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
That's why I'm searching night and day
This heart's a lonely hunter
These hands are frozen fists
I can't stop thinking about you
I don't care if you exist
I can't stop thinking about you
I can't stop wanting you this way
I can't face living without you
I can't stop wanting you
Lyrics submitted by sillybunny
I Can't Stop Thinking About You Lyrics as written by Gordon Sumner
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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I read the theme of the album is migrant travelers; people sadly wrenched from all they hold familiar by war. 244 million people left their home countries according to 2015 stats. 65.3 million people are thought to be refuges on the move in 2016, many of them engaging in desperate efforts. Naturally all of this movement rips families apart. Loved ones are lost and many families and friends will not be reunited.
I hung on the lyrics for this song “I don’t care if you exist,” thinking this suggests the sheer desperation of people looking for loved ones while entertaining the sinking feeling that the ones they seek may be dead. I don’t care. I just need to know. Alive or dead, please let me find you or news of you. You permeate my thoughts.
War. It’s painful, debilitating, destructive and frightening. It’s hard to digest and yet perhaps it’s an integral part of nature that reshapes our world. Granted it shifts so many from their homes but the migration will no doubt color our future. It seems ironic to see some factions warring in a vain attempt to preserve a current political and religious regime, little realizing that their efforts are serving to reimagine what they thought they were protecting. Just as earthquakes, thunderstorms and volcanic eruptions restructure our world, so does war. I’m not cool with it, but I’m beginning to understand it. A little. My heart goes out to those ripped from their normal and I hope all loved ones who wish to be found, are.
@sillybunny I'm with ya brother
@sillybunny or sister