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 heard a place not too far from here
Is handing out answers
About why we are here
And it's a small town in a small world
And the congregation's small too
But somehow I think they're telling the truth
And in the same small town there is a girl
She's a good looker but she's mad at the world
And she's wondering about tomorrow and why she's here
She's sick and tired of using her sleeve to wipe her tears
And oh oh,
You can tell by the look that's in her eyes
She's not that well
She's wishin' someone would close their eyes
And picture this for just a moment to their selves
And oh, at least that's what they say
At least that's what they
that's what they say
that's what they say
At least that's what's they say
She sits alone
She's a re-run queen
The sun shines through her window
Enough to make out her figurine
The neighbors look at her strange
'cause she's lived there her whole life
And they still don't know her name
She likes to keep to herself
'cause she can't find nobody else
And you can tell by the look that's in her eyes
She's not that well
She's wishing someone would close their eyes
And picture this for just a moment to their selves
And at least that's what they say, yeah
At least that's what they
That's what they say
That's what they say
And at least that's what they say,
Yeah, yeah
[Repeat: x4]
What they say
And I don't care
[Repeat: x4]
What they say
And I don't care
[Repeat: x4]
What they say
And I don't care
No
She wanders through the town
To find this place she's heard about
Thinking maybe they can figure out what's wrong, oh
They greet her with a smile
Saying they've been waitin' quite some while
Just to let her know she's worth more than she's ever dreamed of
And her heart opens wide
And for the first time in her life
She feels the touch of Jesus deep inside, oh
she wonders what went wrong
In a town where nothing's going on
And thinks of all the others that she knows
[Repeat: x9]
And she's sad
[Repeat: x7]
Want to leave out her name
[Repeat: x7]
No
She wanders through the town
To find this place she's heard about
Thinking maybe they can figure out what's wrong
They greet her with a smile
Sayin' they've been waitin' quite some while
Just to let her know she's worth more than she's ever dreamed of
Is handing out answers
About why we are here
And it's a small town in a small world
And the congregation's small too
But somehow I think they're telling the truth
And in the same small town there is a girl
She's a good looker but she's mad at the world
And she's wondering about tomorrow and why she's here
She's sick and tired of using her sleeve to wipe her tears
And oh oh,
You can tell by the look that's in her eyes
She's not that well
She's wishin' someone would close their eyes
And picture this for just a moment to their selves
And oh, at least that's what they say
At least that's what they
that's what they say
that's what they say
At least that's what's they say
She sits alone
She's a re-run queen
The sun shines through her window
Enough to make out her figurine
The neighbors look at her strange
'cause she's lived there her whole life
And they still don't know her name
She likes to keep to herself
'cause she can't find nobody else
And you can tell by the look that's in her eyes
She's not that well
She's wishing someone would close their eyes
And picture this for just a moment to their selves
And at least that's what they say, yeah
At least that's what they
That's what they say
That's what they say
And at least that's what they say,
Yeah, yeah
[Repeat: x4]
What they say
And I don't care
[Repeat: x4]
What they say
And I don't care
[Repeat: x4]
What they say
And I don't care
No
She wanders through the town
To find this place she's heard about
Thinking maybe they can figure out what's wrong, oh
They greet her with a smile
Saying they've been waitin' quite some while
Just to let her know she's worth more than she's ever dreamed of
And her heart opens wide
And for the first time in her life
She feels the touch of Jesus deep inside, oh
she wonders what went wrong
In a town where nothing's going on
And thinks of all the others that she knows
[Repeat: x9]
And she's sad
[Repeat: x7]
Want to leave out her name
[Repeat: x7]
No
She wanders through the town
To find this place she's heard about
Thinking maybe they can figure out what's wrong
They greet her with a smile
Sayin' they've been waitin' quite some while
Just to let her know she's worth more than she's ever dreamed of
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what did she say?!?!? that is so totally bothering me, it sounds like he's saying something but also like he's just making weird vocal noises...hmm