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.
St. Leonard touched a philistine--a sacred tongue, a perfect rhyme
But even he was "not much nourished by modern love."
So i told her that everything she does is divine and she replied with a blank expression (an object lesson in making me feel benign)
Then whispered, "independence and indifference are the wings which allow the heart to fly."
Feelings i’ve had too often, still no plan in place to soften the inevitable blow (the rituals we know).
And with the right revolting piety of tone, the word "freedom" can make you want to lock yourself in a deep dark dungeon.
But I know everybody follows pleasure, everybody gets somewhere.
I swear, I wish I could be less aware... now it’s absolutely clear to me that solitude is not the same as singularity, but that’s not why i’m lonely.
But even he was "not much nourished by modern love."
So i told her that everything she does is divine and she replied with a blank expression (an object lesson in making me feel benign)
Then whispered, "independence and indifference are the wings which allow the heart to fly."
Feelings i’ve had too often, still no plan in place to soften the inevitable blow (the rituals we know).
And with the right revolting piety of tone, the word "freedom" can make you want to lock yourself in a deep dark dungeon.
But I know everybody follows pleasure, everybody gets somewhere.
I swear, I wish I could be less aware... now it’s absolutely clear to me that solitude is not the same as singularity, but that’s not why i’m lonely.
Lyrics submitted by NeoNess
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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.
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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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
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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.
I really like this song because I think it's a broader commentary on how modernity makes it difficult to love and achieve intimacy. As Tadhq pointed out, "not much nourished by modern love" is from a Leonard Cohen song. In that song, Queen Victoria is an obvious symbol of the Victorian age, an era known for its emotional and sexual restraint. The Victorian era is also when the Industrial Revolution occurred, which marks the beginning of modernity and helped to create the consumer culture we have in the western world.
Today, the new modernity in the western world tends to focus on upward mobility, independence, and freedom. Having such a focus on those values has had a huge impact on how we express and react to true intimacy. HD captures that perfectly with the lyrics:
"So i told her that everything she does is divine and she replied with a blank expression (an object lesson in making me feel benign) Then whispered, 'independence and indifference are the wings which allow the heart to fly.'"
Here, the speaker offers an honest expression of admiration and love, and is met with the independence and indifference that an unrelenting focus on upward mobility at all costs has taught us.
In the next stanza, we see a kind of existential terror set in when the narrator is struck with the realization of what the costs of our "freedom" really is:
"And with the right revolting piety of tone, the word 'freedom' can make you want to lock yourself in a deep dark dungeon. "
This feeling of rejection causes the narrator to feel even more alienated, as we see in the next stanza:
"But I know everybody follows pleasure, everybody gets somewhere. I swear, I wish I could be less aware."
To me, that really speaks to our consumer culture... everybody else is just able to stop thinking, buy things, engage is purely physical relationships, follow pleasure, and it seems to work for them. However, the narrator isn't able to ignore his own feelings.
The next line, I think, speaks again to how our consumer culture expresses their ideas of freedom & independence.
"now it’s absolutely clear to me that solitude is not the same as singularity, but that’s not why i’m lonely."
We think our freedom makes us "singular," unique individuals who are self-sufficient & free-thinkers. But really, we just end up "solitary," physically alone in the world and emotionally alienated & detached from others. We just end up pushing others away in order to reinforce our false ideas of independence that modernity has taught us.
The very last line ("but that's not why I'm lonely...") I think is meant to be sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek. To the narrator, it's very obvious that the cause of his loneliness is not his own doing, but representative of larger social problems. However, because people love to cling to their consumerism and modernity, if you speak out against this, people will do everything they can to make you feel like it's your problem to discount your feelings. So the narrator is effectively laying this all out there, and then bitingly saying "but that's got nothing to do with it..."