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've these dreams of
Walking home
Home where it used to be
And everything is
As it was
Frozen in front of me
Here I stand
6 feet small
Romanticizing years ago
But it's a bitter sweet feeling hearing
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" on the radio
And these days
I wish I was 6 again
Oh make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman
Oh, if only my life was more like 1983
All these things would be more like they
Were at the start of me
Had it made in 83
Thinking bout my brother Ben
I miss him every day
He looks just like his brother John
But on an 18 month delay
Here I stand
6 feet small
And smiling cause I'm scared as hell
Kind of like my life is like a sequel to a movie
Where the actor's names have changed
Oh well
Well these days
I wish I was 6 again
Oh make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman
Oh, if only my life was more like 1983
All these things would be more like they
Were at the start of me
If my life was more like 1983
Plot a course to the source of the
Purest little part of me
And most my memories
Have escaped me
Or confused themselves within dreams
If heaven's all we want it to be
Send your prayers to me
Care of 1983
You can paint that house a rainbow of colors
Rip out the floorboards
Replace the shutters but
That's my plastic in the dirt
Whatever happened to my
Whatever happened to my
Whatever happened to my lunchbox
When came the day that it got
Thrown away and don't you think I should have had some say
In that decision
If only my life (repeated till fade)
Walking home
Home where it used to be
And everything is
As it was
Frozen in front of me
Here I stand
6 feet small
Romanticizing years ago
But it's a bitter sweet feeling hearing
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" on the radio
And these days
I wish I was 6 again
Oh make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman
Oh, if only my life was more like 1983
All these things would be more like they
Were at the start of me
Had it made in 83
Thinking bout my brother Ben
I miss him every day
He looks just like his brother John
But on an 18 month delay
Here I stand
6 feet small
And smiling cause I'm scared as hell
Kind of like my life is like a sequel to a movie
Where the actor's names have changed
Oh well
Well these days
I wish I was 6 again
Oh make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman
Oh, if only my life was more like 1983
All these things would be more like they
Were at the start of me
If my life was more like 1983
Plot a course to the source of the
Purest little part of me
And most my memories
Have escaped me
Or confused themselves within dreams
If heaven's all we want it to be
Send your prayers to me
Care of 1983
You can paint that house a rainbow of colors
Rip out the floorboards
Replace the shutters but
That's my plastic in the dirt
Whatever happened to my
Whatever happened to my
Whatever happened to my lunchbox
When came the day that it got
Thrown away and don't you think I should have had some say
In that decision
If only my life (repeated till fade)
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
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
This song is so endearing. All the mass of worries we have now didn't exist when we were 6... How come we hurry to grow up and then wish we were small again?
i love "kinda like my life is like a sequel to a movie where the actors names have changed oh well" so true. i mean, do you get it? his life is just replaying itself over and over making the same mistakes and the only difference is it's with different people (aka actors)...i feel that. its so me.
"you can paint that house a rainbow of colors rip out the floorboards and replace the the shutters but that's my plastic in the dirt"
This strong strikes me for a number of reasons: I was 5 in 1983 so the references hit home...I remember watching the Wrapped Around Your Finger video on MTV (when they still played music). The last bit gets me because yes, someday my boyhood home will be sold but no matter how it changes, my GI Joes are still buried in various places around it. I think on a deeper level, it says that no matter what changes in our lives, there are some things about us, call them memories or what have you that will never change.
I agree. Being six, carefree, innocent, pure and happy. Those were the days.
(There are two versions of Room for Squares?)
i really wish i could be six no worries no girls or schoolwork i would just love to go back and ride my bke up and down my street playing cops and robbers with my neighbor sometimes i would go to the park with my grandfather those were the good days
when he says that he mixes his memories up with dreams...its so true i do it all the time and sometimes i just wish i could live the memories all over again. i totally realte to him...
I love the way he has taken such simple stuff and made it into an amazing song. "thats my plastic in the dirt." you know what? Whatever happend to my lunchbox. A question that does not get asked enough...
This song just makes me wish i was six again, when i didn't have anything really to worry about, except waking up late on saturday morning missing cartoons. I don't know, this song is great just like the entire room for squares cd - both versions.
I can admit, the first time I heard this song I just thought that it was one of those "easy to listen to" songs. It certainly is, but it's also a lot more than that. This song is one of my favorites from the Room for Squares album. The first time I heard it I thought "Wow, it doesn't get much better than that". "Plot a course to the source of the purest little part of me"...brillant. I love when he mentions his younger brother Ben, it really paints a picture of John Mayer as a little 6 year old kid. This song makes me feel like I'm six again..if only for a moment. I love John Mayer.
Yeah there was a release on aware records (different mixes of some songs) and after that sony picked him up, and re-mixed the cd, adding the track "3x5."
i guess its just one of those great mysteries of life..