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.
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the veins meet yeah,
No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now
No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the things meet yeah
You know I can't change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no,
I can't change
Can't change my body,
No, no, no
(You've got to change your violence,) Got your sex and violence,
Melody and Silence
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you've ever been down?
Try to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the veins meet yeah,
No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
Well I never pray
But tonight I'm on my knees yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airways are clean and there's nobody singing to me now
No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change
I can't change
'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Try to make ends meet
Try to find some money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
Where all the things meet yeah
You know I can't change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no,
I can't change
Can't change my body,
No, no, no
(You've got to change your violence,) Got your sex and violence,
Melody and Silence
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you've ever been down?
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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"
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."
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
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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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is a brilliant song. It is about the feeling of being trapped and powerless to change your behavior or your life due to circumstances beyond your control. It is about the sense of desperation you feel as your life passes before your eyes and you struggle unsuccessfully to control and shape it. It is about the perpetual conflict between the path you want to follow and the path you are compelled to follow.
Walking down a busy London street is a metaphor for how he feels about his life. He walks down the street and is almost hit by a passing car, runs into people, walks over a car hood that is in his path, etc. As a result everyone is annoyed — even angry with him. When a young woman confronts him physically he calmly and resolutely moves forward along his path without a trace of animosity or anger. People are critical and disdainful of the path he is walking — insisting he should be able to avoid these obstacles— to choose a better, safer and more conscientious path to walk. But he feels completely powerless to change his speed and direction. His path is mandated and not chosen by him.
He knows emphatically that he could be different — be a better person and live a different, more meaningful life. He knows if it were merely up to him he could change (“I can change, I can change, I can change”), but the circumstances of his life have cast him into a rigid mold that keeps him on a steady trajectory, limiting his choices. It isn’t his lack of ability, intelligence, imagination or flexibility that is holding him back (“I’m a million different people from one day to the next”) but the circumstances of the culture / world into which he was born.
He wants more meaning in his life. But the overriding importance of the pursuit of making a living is always threatening to squeeze out his uniqueness, nullify his aptitudes and mold his path to a formal structure of daily life that he had no part in designing. He wants to be a better person. Yet, he continually finds himself walking down the same familiar self-destructive paths, despite his effort to avoid them. There is never a time when he can break free of this mold because he is stuck in a pattern of behavior until he dies.
He can’t accept this. Because this is the only life he will ever have, he is pressed with frequent internal anguish. He is on the verge of breaking and is walking through life in a fog. He doesn’t generally pray, but he is getting desperate. He gets down on his knees to pray — if only to hear the sound his own voice recognizing the frustration he feels. Any sound of compassion - any recognition of his pain - is better than the silence. He prays sincerely, earnestly and desperately. While he is pleading and making his case, his prayer is like a melody that helps him to feel better. It is a song that clears his mind, grounds him and makes him feel like he can break free of his mold and change his life. But it is a false hope. When he finishes praying there is only silence. God does not answer him. The airwaves are clean without a trace of anything but static. For all his singing, no one is singing to him now. He has no idea what to do and finds himself just as discouraged and helpless as before. There must be more to life than this (“Vanity, vanity: all is vanity and striving after the wind” ).
This experience is a microcosm for the whole of his life — a Bittersweet Symphony. There are periods of clarity, beauty and temporary relief in his life. Yet, it is all encapsulated by an overall theme that is heart rending — like waking suddenly from a warm, peaceful dream to find that you are back in cold, dark room — unchanged and unmoved by your dreams.
He can’t accept the path his life has taken, but he has no choice. He will be in perpetual conflict with his situation. He is immobilized in his mold and has no choice but to continue down this path, accepting all its adverse consequences, until it the path finally comes to an end at the place “where all things meet” - Death.
I LOVE your description...its my description on roids, if i had read this first, I would not have written my description after, brilliantly well told!
1 word: BORDERLINE..everything here above is true. It's all about a good friend of mine..and he is fighting against "where all things meet". He is the most brave guy I ever did meet..
Superb elucidation!
Mate, I read your text a thousand times, Bittersweet Symphony is my favourite song in the world and I think your explanation is 99% correct. Richard Ashcroft have depression, he takes Prozac for his depression but he writes a lot of songs about happiness, hope, believe that's is possible and theses kind of things... So the way you explain this song seems like just a sad song but I think its a sad and a happy song, this song always give me hope when I'm down so I don't think the song is a sad song, maybe a song about reality. And I think that one thing that can prove my theory is the Chrous, Richard Sings: No change, I can't change<br /> I can't change, I can't change<br /> But I'm here in my mold<br /> I am here in my mold<br /> And I'm a million different people<br /> From one day to the next<br /> I can't change my mold<br /> No, no, no, no, no<br /> I can't change<br /> I can't change<br /> <br /> And I think that sometimes he didn't sing ''can't'' he sings ''can'', I think thats the thing about life, sometime you think you're can't do something and sometimes you think you can do. Like in their gig on Glastonbury 2008, I think Richard Sings:<br /> You know, I CAN change<br /> I CAN change, I CAN change<br /> But I'm here in my mold<br /> I am here in my mold<br /> And I'm a million different people<br /> From one day to the next<br /> I can't change my mold<br /> No, no, no, no, no<br /> I can't change<br /> I can't change<br /> <br /> So I think he sings that he know he's walking in a road that he didn't want go, and sometimes he think it's impossible go to another direction, but he have hope he will go to that road he want to go and that maybe his troubles won't dissapear but that's, life it's not just sweet, life is bitter too and that's what makes life extraordinary.<br /> <br /> I really want a answer of you, I will be really glad to know if you agree or not with me
Thank you for inspiring me to write my college entrance essays in which I wrote about my lifelong struggle to find out who I really was in a world which a dual-life is inevitable. In fact, the college that I sent it to liked it so much, I was awarded a scholarship money to pay for housing and tuition! This post makes has helped me move along a thin boundary of life in which we endlessly oscilliate between a life of regret and satisfaction.
General Comment:<br /> I agree on your interpretation except for this part.<br /> <br /> "I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down<br /> You know the one that takes you to the places <br /> Where all the veins meet yeah"<br /> <br /> The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord, that is where all the veins meet. I believe this part of the song says he'll take you down the only road he's ever been down, which is his mind/brain.
@akingry Amazing interpretation. I've listened to Bitter Sweet Symphony countless of times. It has always been my all times favourite however never actually understood the meaning deeply. Til now, when I actually am experiencing these painful feelings of hopelessness, of struggling without a way out and total trapped, I know that I understand every single words of the song to the heart deeply. I know I have to change, need to change, want to change but can't. I'm powerless, feeling so terrible, so guilty and in pain when all I can do is watch my life goes down the destructive path. No one understands, they feel tired, disappointed, and decided to give up on me. No one understands why can't I just "snap it out", just be better and do things. I've been so lost and can not even understand myself either. Now when I once again came across the song, found your explanation and realised all of my struggles, I feel deeply relieved. <br /> Thanks for the amazing, powerful interpretation.
@akingry I made an account just so I could tell you how beautifully written this interpretation was. And your interpretation seems to align with mine also, especially when watching the music video with it. You can even see some demarcation in his life with certain interactions; the girl checking him out could be a hookup or a relationship he had, the girl yelling at him a breakup, or what a breakup would look like, it was shot a lot like what a breakup in movies looks like, and the dark car pulling up and him seeing his own reflection in the dark glass: a death? a near death experience? <br /> <br /> This music video, for its simplicity, is endlessly fascinating.
@akingry - You nailed it. Bro. Fantastic interpretation.
@akingry ok I want to caveat on one thing... it's a visual cue from the video... at the closing of the song, the other band members join up and form a United front. This suggests that with the help of those on your life's journey, sometimes change is not needed or impended. He's in his mold, but that's where he's comfortable, at this time... just a thought
@akingry <br /> Beautifully and thoroughly interpreted! Thank you so much for this :)