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.
Found you when your heart was broke
I filled your cup until it overflowed
Took it so far to keep you close (keep you close)
I was afraid to leave you on your own
I said I'd catch you if you fall
And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (all)
And then I got you off your knees
Put you right back on your feet
Just so you could take advantage of me
Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me
Thinking you could live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why)
Thinking you could live without me
Live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (I don't know why, yeah yeah)
Gave love 'bout a hundred tries (hundred tries)
Just running from the demons in your mind
Then I took yours and made 'em mine (made 'em mine)
I didn't notice 'cause my love was blind
Said I'd catch you if you fall (fall)
And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (all)
And then I got you off your knees
Put you right back on your feet
Just so you can take advantage of me
Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me
Thinking you could live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why)
Thinking you could live without me
Live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why, yeah
You don't have to say just what you did
I already know (I know)
I had to go and find out from them
So tell me how's it feel (oh-whoa)
Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me
Thinking you could live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why)
I filled your cup until it overflowed
Took it so far to keep you close (keep you close)
I was afraid to leave you on your own
I said I'd catch you if you fall
And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (all)
And then I got you off your knees
Put you right back on your feet
Just so you could take advantage of me
Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me
Thinking you could live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why)
Thinking you could live without me
Live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (I don't know why, yeah yeah)
Gave love 'bout a hundred tries (hundred tries)
Just running from the demons in your mind
Then I took yours and made 'em mine (made 'em mine)
I didn't notice 'cause my love was blind
Said I'd catch you if you fall (fall)
And if they laugh, then fuck 'em all (all)
And then I got you off your knees
Put you right back on your feet
Just so you can take advantage of me
Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me
Thinking you could live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why)
Thinking you could live without me
Live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why, yeah
You don't have to say just what you did
I already know (I know)
I had to go and find out from them
So tell me how's it feel (oh-whoa)
Tell me how's it feel sittin' up there?
Feeling so high but too far away to hold me
You know I'm the one who put you up there
Name in the sky
Does it ever get lonely?
Thinking you could live without me
Thinking you could live without me
Baby, I'm the one who put you up there
I don't know why (yeah, I don't know why)
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Without Me Lyrics as written by Ashley Frangipane Amy Rose Allen
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
This song addresses one of the most common relationship pitfalls from both sides. The singer has fallen into the trap of finding someone to date who she needed to "fix." Whether or not she was happy in the relationship, she stayed because she did not believe that the other person would be okay without her. While it wasn't her responsibility to take care of them, she took this task upon herself anyway, and now seems to feel a little resentment. The singer's partner, on the other hand, is clearly taking her for granted. Now that her partner has a great life and a lot of confidence, they think that they don't need the singer anymore to complete their life. The singer laments that her partner is sitting so high that they're "too far to hold her," implying that they think they're so much better than her now and that they only look down on her. Halsey seems to be on a roll addressing these common relationship problems. Hopefully the more that we talk about them, the fewer people will fall into them.