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.
I'm sittin' at a coffee table, unable to see straight
Watchin' parallel lines unwind and undulate
Behind the rain-streaked windowpane, the scene's bleak
Another train leavin' home,
Conceding defeat with a low moan
Hangin' in A sky, made of stone
Everybody's leavin' home, I called my man Jerome
To come meet me in the twilight zone
Leave your mobile phone at home and come alone
I bought him coffee and a snack,
Settled back, started speakin'
He was tweakin' with the peak of his cap
While I'm seekin' to discover what it takes to stay sober
Not cover my mistakes,
Try to maybe make sense of the evidence
It's over, she's gone for good
Why should I lie, singin' a killer's lullaby
Identified by the dying ring of her goodbye
The last thing you hear before your life disappear
Now it just gets worse, like my stomach 'll burst,
Feel like I've been cursed.
With seven centuries of bitter memories
And inadequacies, previous he's and she's
I'm movin' round this old house for the last time
Scene of my past crimes, been here for lifetimes
Hearin' the chimes of the old clock that used to mock
You got eternity for takin' stock,
This place is like a padlock
You look shocked.
Trust me, nothing ever moves but the dust,
There's just us and I'm here to torment and tease
And that's how it was for centuries
Me and my memories, till you brought the keys
Took the couple of Saturdays
I moved in runnin' from tragedies and boozing
Seven hundred years since I came here
You appear, same hair, same quizzical stare
I couldn't get near,
And the sheer frustration was more than I could bear
I was really cursed, thought I'd been through the worst part
That was just the first part, just the start
Every night I'd be sittin' with dread pickin' my heart
In case the man she'd been chasin' gets to first base
An' I just can't escape, I'm in bad shape
You making love to someone else is more than I can take
And so I make all the movement I can to no avail
Scream and yell, sinkin' deeper into my personal hell
I'm getting heated, I'm sorry, have another coffee
I needed to release my sparrow chest from just a piece of this pressure
Unless an escape route is found,
I'm going down underground
Into lifetimes of pain, it's absurd
The heaviest chain is contained is the sound of one word
So I'm referred back to hell, huh
Just as well, I hate needles an' get twinges at the thought
Of syringes
J, I'm going insane with shame
I dream and watch her makin' love over and over again
With what I call a farmer's swain
Unintelligent, pea-brained retard who's dick is always hard
Oh God, of course I'm jealous, fellows,
Oversexed flexing his pec's
Jesus, what's he going make her do next?
I'm mad vex, the way she gently scratches his chest
You used to do that to me back in 1253
Pity me, while you lie with your lover
I stare and suffer in despair while you ruffle his hair
Unaware of who else is there
I move quick, I want to try my trick one last time
You know it's possible to vaguely define my outline
When dust move in the sunshine
So I'm tryin' to change, vibrate myself to near-human pitch
Which reminds me how I used to come unstitched
And switch 'round the house in a blind rage
It took years and an ocean of tears to find the key to this
Cage
And write another stage into a new age,
It's difficult to gauge
But I know that I'll see you again, on that you may depend
I just don't know how or when
Sleep on, my lost love on gone
Jerome took me home under steel skies
Knowing I'm prone to dramatize but unknown for telling lies
And what I verbalize he can see behind my eyes
The why oh why's that identify killer lullabies
And he surmised
No surprise couldn't hear that
Closed my eyes as he steered that old black BM home again
Not knowing how and not knowing when.
Watchin' parallel lines unwind and undulate
Behind the rain-streaked windowpane, the scene's bleak
Another train leavin' home,
Conceding defeat with a low moan
Hangin' in A sky, made of stone
Everybody's leavin' home, I called my man Jerome
To come meet me in the twilight zone
Leave your mobile phone at home and come alone
I bought him coffee and a snack,
Settled back, started speakin'
He was tweakin' with the peak of his cap
While I'm seekin' to discover what it takes to stay sober
Not cover my mistakes,
Try to maybe make sense of the evidence
It's over, she's gone for good
Why should I lie, singin' a killer's lullaby
Identified by the dying ring of her goodbye
The last thing you hear before your life disappear
Now it just gets worse, like my stomach 'll burst,
Feel like I've been cursed.
With seven centuries of bitter memories
And inadequacies, previous he's and she's
I'm movin' round this old house for the last time
Scene of my past crimes, been here for lifetimes
Hearin' the chimes of the old clock that used to mock
You got eternity for takin' stock,
This place is like a padlock
You look shocked.
Trust me, nothing ever moves but the dust,
There's just us and I'm here to torment and tease
And that's how it was for centuries
Me and my memories, till you brought the keys
Took the couple of Saturdays
I moved in runnin' from tragedies and boozing
Seven hundred years since I came here
You appear, same hair, same quizzical stare
I couldn't get near,
And the sheer frustration was more than I could bear
I was really cursed, thought I'd been through the worst part
That was just the first part, just the start
Every night I'd be sittin' with dread pickin' my heart
In case the man she'd been chasin' gets to first base
An' I just can't escape, I'm in bad shape
You making love to someone else is more than I can take
And so I make all the movement I can to no avail
Scream and yell, sinkin' deeper into my personal hell
I'm getting heated, I'm sorry, have another coffee
I needed to release my sparrow chest from just a piece of this pressure
Unless an escape route is found,
I'm going down underground
Into lifetimes of pain, it's absurd
The heaviest chain is contained is the sound of one word
So I'm referred back to hell, huh
Just as well, I hate needles an' get twinges at the thought
Of syringes
J, I'm going insane with shame
I dream and watch her makin' love over and over again
With what I call a farmer's swain
Unintelligent, pea-brained retard who's dick is always hard
Oh God, of course I'm jealous, fellows,
Oversexed flexing his pec's
Jesus, what's he going make her do next?
I'm mad vex, the way she gently scratches his chest
You used to do that to me back in 1253
Pity me, while you lie with your lover
I stare and suffer in despair while you ruffle his hair
Unaware of who else is there
I move quick, I want to try my trick one last time
You know it's possible to vaguely define my outline
When dust move in the sunshine
So I'm tryin' to change, vibrate myself to near-human pitch
Which reminds me how I used to come unstitched
And switch 'round the house in a blind rage
It took years and an ocean of tears to find the key to this
Cage
And write another stage into a new age,
It's difficult to gauge
But I know that I'll see you again, on that you may depend
I just don't know how or when
Sleep on, my lost love on gone
Jerome took me home under steel skies
Knowing I'm prone to dramatize but unknown for telling lies
And what I verbalize he can see behind my eyes
The why oh why's that identify killer lullabies
And he surmised
No surprise couldn't hear that
Closed my eyes as he steered that old black BM home again
Not knowing how and not knowing when.
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"I had all and then most of you"
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Didn't you miss out a verse here? After "syringes" it goes:
J - I'm going insane with shame I dream I watch her makin' love over and over again With what I call a farmer's swain, unintelligent Pea-brain retard whose dick is always hard, oh God Of course I'm jealous, fella's oversexed flexing his pecs Jesus what's he gonna make her do next? I'm mad vexed; the way she gently clutches his chest Used to do that to me back in 12 53 Pity me while you lie with your lover I stare and suffer in despair while you ruffle his hair Unaware of who else is there
..then it goes into "I move quick..."
Not only that, there's a verse at the end (at least on the album version) that goes:
Jerome took me home under steel skies Knowing I'm prone to dramatise But unknown for telling lies And what I verbalise he can see behind my eyes The why-oh-whys that identify killer lullabys, he surmised No surprise couldn't hear that, closed my eyes As he steered that old black BM home again Not knowing how and not knowing when...
This is my favorite song. I've listened to it literally thousands of times and know it by hart and it still puzzles me.
It seems that the narrator has killed some female companion ("try to maybe make sense f the eveidence, It's over. She's gone for good. Why should I lie singing a killer's lullaby?"), and in the shock of the feeling he goes to a bar with Jerome and tells his story.
What puzzles me is how the "ghost" part ties in. I mean: "I'm movin' round this old house for the last time Scene of my past crimes, been her for lifetimes" ... "Seven hundred years since I came her you appear Same hair, same quizzical stare" ... "the way she gently clutches his chest used to do that to me back in 1253"
So, it almost sounds like he (the narrator) is a ghost: "I move quick I wanna try my trick one last time you know it's possible to vaguely define my outline, when dust move and the sun shine".
But is it that, or is it just a hallucination, an exagerated feeling of overwhelming guilt? It does say earlier "FEELS like I been cursed with seven centuries of bitter memories".
In the end Jerome drives him home and the song ends with "12:37" which sounds almost like an alarm clock or something. So, was this all just some dream or hallucination. Is the narrator just jealous and/or missing someone and this was all a vivid dream that felt like a "twilight zone"?
Thoughts?
I love this song. I like your ghost interpretation phlojo, but if you take it a little farther as I have the all the 'ghost stuff' makes more sense.<br /> <br /> Maxi (the vocalist) frequently seems to tell stories with his lyrics, and they aren't necessarily his own stories or even true stories. One interesting thing to consider here is that Maxi is a Buddhist. In Buddhism stories are considered to be of great value, some traditions don't even distinguish the value of a 'true' story from a 'fictional' story as even a 'true' story is only as true as the storyteller's memories, perceptions, willingness to be honest and the number of people the story has been passed through. Buddhists also often believe that the truth is something humans are incapable of recognizing except (perhaps) at the utmost height of human enlightenment.<br /> <br /> Considering this I believe that this particular story can be taken from two different yet ambiguous perspectives that both would be fitting to the lyrics.<br /> <br /> I believe that the narrative character either is a vampire 'cursed' with a hellish eternal life, or is a psychotic delusional who believes he is a vampire. The delusional also fits because while the lyrics state that Jerome is tweaking, that doesn't mean it's tweak the narrator is "learning to be sober" from, it could be he went off his physically addictive medications. This comes to mind considering the absolute hell a good friend of mine has had when ever lowering the dosage of his Zyprexa (an atypical anti-psychotic for schizophrenics) which also frequently resulted in recccurance of his hallucinations until he accustomed himself to the new levels.<br /> <br /> After a (real or imagined) 700 years the narrator has found his last true love (either herself being a vampire as well, or perhaps more likely her reincarnation, which seems more fitting to the line "I know I'll see you again, on that you can depend, I just dont know how or when.")<br /> <br /> the narrator stalks the woman (either invisible as some fables say vampires are capable of and then just showing enough of himself to show a faint outline, or stalking her by more conventional means from a vantage imagining the scenario in a different way that is more fitting to his delusion.)<br /> <br /> Eventually at some point the narrator kills the woman out of jealousy.<br /> <br /> Now as he realizes what he's done and that he is going to be alone (romantically) for who knows how long he calls his friend and confesses the given story.<br /> <br /> His friend is in disbelief about points of the story and drives him home. With the delusional interpretation home may well be an mental ward for all we know.<br /> <br /> Anyways, take it or leave it, but that's the way I have always interpreted the song's story and I don't see anything too contradicting in the lyrics.
This song is a trip! So sick!
I consider it's about jealousy... nice song from Maxi Jazz!
I think this song is purely about jealousy to the point where he feels he's in hell and he only appears to have got over it in the last part of the song. And he's told Jerome everything.
Lyrically this song is awesome. I went through similar feelings...
In my opinion, this man in the middle ages was cursed by someone/thing for stealing ("You got eternity for takin' stock") and his curse was to be reborn every time aware of his past lives, and he's being living so for the past 700 years, and at the time he's singing this, it's 199-something, 700 hundred years after 1253.
The curse is that even though time passes, the people he knew back in the 13th century, mostly his friend Jerome and the girl he loves, are reborn as well, but they have no idea of that, and he's bound to relive all the same moments over and over ("With seven centuries of bitter memories", "Trust me, nothing ever moves but the dust", "Seven hundred years since I came here/You appear, same hair, same quizzical stare").
Now, because his love for his girl is kind of "eternal", he's always managed to be with her in every other past life with the exception of this one. She told him on the phone she didn't love him anymore and that it was over between the two of them ("Identified by the dying ring of her goodbye"). She fell in love with someone else, the "farmer's swain", and it's killing him ("You making love to someone else is more than I can take").
It's likely he killed her or him (because of all the "killer" references) and he confessed to Jerome ("what I verbalize he can see behind my eyes/The why oh why's that identify killer lullabies/And he surmised") and Jerome is probably driving him to the cops where he'll be put in jail ("home under steel skies") and he'll be sentenced to death by lethal injection ("I hate needles an' get twinges at the thought of syringes")