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Over The Falls Lyrics
They broke out in laughter again
His lip beaded with sweat as they strapped
him in
And he stood by and waited to be called
The talk was of times that'd gone by
And the quantity and quality of women
they lie
His eyes welled with wet and his mouth
had gone dry
As he stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited like the others
before
For his turn to go over the falls
He got up and tried it again
For lack of persistence is surely a sin
As he stood by and waited to be called
He looked to the lightning with glee
And admired his vessel for its symmetry
Feeling twelve units shy of a bachelor's
degree
As he stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited like the others
before
For his turn to go over the falls
His lip beaded with sweat as they strapped
him in
And he stood by and waited to be called
The talk was of times that'd gone by
And the quantity and quality of women
they lie
His eyes welled with wet and his mouth
had gone dry
As he stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited like the others
before
For his turn to go over the falls
He got up and tried it again
For lack of persistence is surely a sin
As he stood by and waited to be called
He looked to the lightning with glee
And admired his vessel for its symmetry
Feeling twelve units shy of a bachelor's
degree
As he stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited to be called
He stood by and waited like the others
before
For his turn to go over the falls
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I think that this song is about the beginnings of Les' musical career. "Stood by and waited like the others before for his turn to go over the falls" could be referring to waiting for his turn to have a shot at fame.
"Got up and tried it again for lack of per..." Les had many bands before he finally struck gold with Primus.
"Admired his vessel for it's symmetry" is probably referring to his bass.
i believe this song is about les starting his band, the first part of the first verse is obviously referring to someone being nervous, perhaps his first big show? and then "the quantity and quality of women, they lied" people always say that rockstars always have tons of(quantity) hot(quality) girls all over them, and les is seeming to not notice this in his career. then the chorus, "he stood by and waited like the others before for his turn to go over the falls" the falls being a hit or miss thing, could be a representation of fame, so he could be saying, he waited for his shot at fame, like so many other people in the music business industry. then the second verse his first attempt at fame was a flop, so he tried again and went for a degree at burklee, but before he could finish his studies, he was called to try again at fame. perhaps the lightning could be inspiration, since light is sometimes used to symbolize new ideas and such, and the vessel, going with the bass idea, would be his form of expression.
This analogy is correct except one thing: The song is about surfing as a metaphor for all of the above and more. Les also writes in the third person as someone who is listening to the song in order for the listener to identify with his message/plight because they have or are having a similar experience. But, most importantly, it is a surfing metaphor. Not sure if people got this before, just noticed it wasn't id'd in the last couple posts shown here. If you've surfed, the metaphor is obvious, and if you haven't, it's educational. WIN/WIN yeah primus!...
This analogy is correct except one thing: The song is about surfing as a metaphor for all of the above and more. Les also writes in the third person as someone who is listening to the song in order for the listener to identify with his message/plight because they have or are having a similar experience. But, most importantly, it is a surfing metaphor. Not sure if people got this before, just noticed it wasn't id'd in the last couple posts shown here. If you've surfed, the metaphor is obvious, and if you haven't, it's educational. WIN/WIN yeah primus!
Also... "Feeling 12 units shy of a bachelors degree..." Les dropped out of Berkeley to pursue Primus
This one is hard, but i think it is about les' musical career. And that it is a simile between him musical career and someone going over the falls in a vessel (Taking a chance). Didn't les drop out of berkeley or something? (12 units shy...)
The video is about a guy that built a little metal capsule and sealed himself in then went over niagra falls.It was a big event when it happened,and it has real footage of him setting off.
That seems to be the surface meaning of the song...but as for deeper meaning...
I think this song is about marriage. With marriage he's being strapped in and going over the falls, taking a big plunge. It seems one marriage might have failed, so he tried in again, and still didn't succeed
Leslooks cool playing that upright too.
It's just about persistence, they're laughing at him, they don't think he can do it, so he proves them wrong.
I for one think it's about someone waiting in line for the electric chair or lethal injection. In this case, "going over the falls" signifies death
Yeah i thought this was about death row before the i saw video now im not sure