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.
On Silvertown Way, the cranes stand high
Quiet and gray against the still of the sky
They won't quit and lay down though the action has died
They watch the new game in town on the Blackwall side
From the poisonous drains a vision appears
New circle of cranes, a new reason to be here
A big silver dome rising up into the dawn
Above the church and the homes were all the silver is gone
If I'd a bucket of gold, what would I do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
A silver dawn steals over the docks
A truck with no weels up on cinderblocks
Men with no dreams around a fire in a drum
Scrap metal schemes are rusted over and done
If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
When you're standing on thin and dangerous ice
You can knock and walk in for citizens' advice
They'll tell you the where you can turn, where you can go
There's nothing they can tell me I don't already know
If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
From the Caning Town train I see a billboard high
There's a big silverplane raising up into the sky
And I can make out the words 'seven flights every day'
Says six of those birds are bound for JFK
If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
And I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Quiet and gray against the still of the sky
They won't quit and lay down though the action has died
They watch the new game in town on the Blackwall side
From the poisonous drains a vision appears
New circle of cranes, a new reason to be here
A big silver dome rising up into the dawn
Above the church and the homes were all the silver is gone
If I'd a bucket of gold, what would I do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
A silver dawn steals over the docks
A truck with no weels up on cinderblocks
Men with no dreams around a fire in a drum
Scrap metal schemes are rusted over and done
If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
When you're standing on thin and dangerous ice
You can knock and walk in for citizens' advice
They'll tell you the where you can turn, where you can go
There's nothing they can tell me I don't already know
If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
From the Caning Town train I see a billboard high
There's a big silverplane raising up into the sky
And I can make out the words 'seven flights every day'
Says six of those birds are bound for JFK
If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do
I'd leave the story untold Silvertown blues
And I'm going down in Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
Going down Silvertown
Down in Silverdown
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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,
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.
My maternal Great Grandmother lived in Silvertown in the '20s & '30s, my mum still has vivid memories of visiting her as a child just before WW2. The area had many problems including an explosion in an armaments factory in WW1 that killed many and hundreds of men had to queue up for work outside the docks during the Depression. It was also heavily bombed during WW2. Silvertown way is a long road that runs roughly east to west, north of the Thames past the Royal Victoria & Royal Albert Docks. Mark asks: If I'd a bucket of gold what would I do? Leave the story untold. If he had a lot of money he wouldn't be telling this story, he'd have just left. Later he adds: If I'd a bucket of gold, silver would do? He wouldn't need a lot, he'd just go anyway. But he doesn't, so he can't. Even when he goes to the CItizens Advice Bureau they don't tell him anything new. He's heard it all before. The glamour of long distance flights just rubs it in. Flour mills, sugar refineries, docks and chemical companies used to line the Thames & provide manual work which has now all gone. But then, nothing stays the same.