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 me
Me be
Goddamn
I am
I can
Sing and
Here me
Know me
If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away
Oh no
It go
It gone
Bye-Bye
Who I
I think
I sink
and I die
If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away
Watch me unravel I'll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, I've come undone
If you want to destroy my sweater
[I don't want to destroy your tank-top]
Hold this thread as I walk away
[Let's be friends and just walk away]
Watch me unravel I'll soon be naked
[It's good to see you lyin' there in your Superman skivvies]
Lying on the floor, I've come undone
[Lying on the floor, I've come undone]
Me be
Goddamn
I am
I can
Sing and
Here me
Know me
If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away
Oh no
It go
It gone
Bye-Bye
Who I
I think
I sink
and I die
If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away
Watch me unravel I'll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, I've come undone
If you want to destroy my sweater
[I don't want to destroy your tank-top]
Hold this thread as I walk away
[Let's be friends and just walk away]
Watch me unravel I'll soon be naked
[It's good to see you lyin' there in your Superman skivvies]
Lying on the floor, I've come undone
[Lying on the floor, I've come undone]
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by walshywalsh1
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"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
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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.
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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."
The guys in Weezer apparently have smoked a lot of weed.
So I always assumed this song was about the weird social cocoon you find yourself in when you go to a party where everybody's drunk, but you're completely stoned. The short lines “I'm me — Me be — Goddamn - I am” represents disjointed existential thinking. The singer finds his 'center' of self assurance in the fact that he is, he can, and he can sing. In this manner, he avoids stoned paranoia, and is content to just chill out. However in this situation some people, especially drunk people, will find it funny to try and disturb a drug user. The sweater is therefore the comfy high the singer is enjoying at the party, but this could potentially be ruined by others. The ease with which this is possible is represented by the simplicity of pulling a thread while he walks away. Later on the singer mentions that after unraveling his sweater, he'll be naked, and I take this to mean his ego will be fragile.
The relevance of the tank top and superman skivvies I thought was the dress of the antagonist who seeks to ruin the singer's vibe. There's hope of a peaceful resolution in that the singer doesn't want to “destroy your tank-top” (ruin his good time) and they should just be friends and walk away. The superman skivvies seems like something a 'lad' (or 'frat-boy' in the US I'd imagine) would wear to a party but be embarrassed of when he passes out drunk and his friends steal his trousers (for a joke). At the end of the song, the negative consequences of both drugs are mirrored when “Lying on the floor, I've come undone” is repeated.
Of course, it could still be about a relationship, but being Weezer I'm not so sure.
@onetwothreefourfive 'The guys in Weezer apparently have smoked a lot of weed. ' Of course they have!