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.
You remind me of a snowflake
That falls while comets hit the earth,
Destroying buildings and trees.
But you are so light in the air,
You never disrupt a thing.
Orenda, if you were here
I could walk through you,
Orenda.
In my bed at night I dream you're a ghost
That only cats can see.
Some nights you talk to me.
Some nights you sing me to sleep,
While moonlight showers the room.
Orenda, if you were here
I could walk through you,
Orenda.
In dreams I dance with you.
We dance the best in the kitchen.
While murderers and rapists surround the house.
We don't care,
Because our house is made of feathers.
They wouldn't dare.
In dreams I dance with you,
Though our bodies are made out of wood.
That falls while comets hit the earth,
Destroying buildings and trees.
But you are so light in the air,
You never disrupt a thing.
Orenda, if you were here
I could walk through you,
Orenda.
In my bed at night I dream you're a ghost
That only cats can see.
Some nights you talk to me.
Some nights you sing me to sleep,
While moonlight showers the room.
Orenda, if you were here
I could walk through you,
Orenda.
In dreams I dance with you.
We dance the best in the kitchen.
While murderers and rapists surround the house.
We don't care,
Because our house is made of feathers.
They wouldn't dare.
In dreams I dance with you,
Though our bodies are made out of wood.
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
wow i love this song. clever.
This song gets all random in the end and it is BEAUTIFUL. Actually the whole thing is beautiful, the imagery of a dainty crystal snowflake that falls while chaos and destruction is going on symbolizing the perfect loveliness of a certain person despite the tragedies that go on daily. And they dance despite the horrors outside their house of feathers, they will not be disturbed.
i love the imagery the first verses bring about in my mind, slow motion polarized film closeup shot of a single snowflake falling amidst the world ending.
to me, it's about a person you consider your calm center in a world of chaos, but also someone who you have to dream into being, because you can't be with them in reality for whatever reason. distance, death, still in the closet, etc.
"in my bed at night I dream you're a ghost that only cats can see some nights you talk to me some nights you sing me to sleep while moonlight showers the room,"
that reminds me of memories of people you bring about before you fall asleep at night. why? because when you remember someone, it's almost as if they're with you...at least, in thought. that's how i imagine memories. they're like ghosts of people, or rather, ghosts of what they were to you, anyway.<p><b><i>Edited by delial on May 28 2008, at 03:10AM</i></b></p>
really good song the last part is kinda strange but i think its the best part, he uses really good imagery
This song just seems like a perfectly normal love song.
Well, normal by of Montreal's standerds anyways.
the lyrics at the end always through me off, but then I realized it's supposed to be describing the dream. Once you look at it that way, the absurdity makes total sense.
Who is Oranda?
^i have always assumed that the song was referencing orenda fink?
The last part is just poetry. Even if you think we can't (Though our bodies are made out of wood ), we will be happy.