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.
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
They had defected and been excommunicated
And all the pulses were subverted
And they made sure that the obituaries
Showed pictures of smoke stacks
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
A vivid dissection that mocked
The strut of vivisection
A semiautomatic colony
And a silencing that still walks the streets
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
In the company of wolves
Was a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews
The federales performed
Their custodial customs quite well
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
They had defected and been excommunicated
And all the pulses were subverted
And they made sure that the obituaries
Showed pictures of smoke stacks
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
A vivid dissection that mocked
The strut of vivisection
A semiautomatic colony
And a silencing that still walks the streets
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
In the company of wolves
Was a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews
The federales performed
Their custodial customs quite well
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
As explained in the video for this song, this song is about something that takes place in mexico. There's factories there called maquilladoras where young women work for shitty pay. Each year, women that work there dissapear and are found months later dead. They are constantly mistreated and the government doesn't do anything, so ATDI made a song about it. Although they aren't girls...
I love seeing different perspectives
Here's my own interpretation of some of the song lyrics:
"On my way, Nails broke and fell Into the Wishing well. Wishing well. Wishing well."
"On my way" is the women's journey from birth to death
"Nails broke and fell" is the women's effort they put into the work at the factories, and their working conditions
"Wishing well" is a representation of MATERIALISM
Put this all together and you get;
All of their lives [on my way], the women have been doing hard labour in poor working conditions [nails broke and fell], for the gain of materialism that the factories represent [INTO the wishing well]. "Wishing well" can also mean the easy life these women are promised they will achieve by doing this labour.
Also these lyrics:
"Callous heels numbed in travel endless maps made by their scalpels"
"Callous heels numbed in travel" notes the hardhip of the women traveling from home to work and back each day, I don't live in Mexico, but I could hardly imagine that these women were rich, which means they must of endured the harsh terrain most likely barefoot.
"Endless maps made by their scalpels" in this line, "their", is a collective for the murderers and the paramedics/police. The murderers torture the women, then the paramedics/police cut them up later for autopsy.
Finally, I will explore the title "Invalid Litter dept."
"Litter" is a represention of the mass of dead bodies of the victims
"Invalid" means not true, correct or valid
"dept." short for department, gives the idea that "Invalid Litter dept." is an organisation
Ultimately, the title is naming the mexican police dept., "Invalid Litter dept.", because they treat the "litter" that is the bodies as if they are "Invalid".
This better help
Thanks ;3
@ninjamikey <br /> Hey i know it’s been a decade and I don’t if you skipped it BC it’s obvious but....<br /> <br /> “Invalid litter dept” sounds like<br /> invalid LETTER dept (which is a real thing)<br /> And also <br /> A place cries for justice might go to die.<br /> <br /> Hope it helps!!’<br /> Happy ATDIing!!!
@ninjamikey <br /> <br />
This song is about the murders in El Paso, Texas.
As far as i know its about the rape and murder that happens to women in juarez, mexico. the video is really powerful as well and clever because it has subtitles and explains what is happening over there in recent times......very smart and informative. at the drive-in are great for capturing things like this and explaining it.
well besides the obviuos i think this song emphasizes the fact that things like this can go so far and no one seems to care
shadowwiththeeyes.. I dont know if i'm right but the line .. on my way nails broke and fell into the wishing well... to me this kind of just means like the woman as they are being captured are making wishes to survive and nails into the wishing well is just kind of like how we throw a coin into a wishing well but he used nails to emphasize that it is a woman because they have long nails
Having loved this song repeatedly and thoroughly but never understood it, I was gratified to read about the murder meaning, as horrified as I was by the stories of those murdered women. Finally this song comes clear to me. However: "Callous heels, numbed in travel, endless maps made by the scalpels" has been a line that I sung throatily along with, feeling like it meant: I've got a lot of miles on me, and my heels are numbed and calloused because of this. Contact with others has left me traced with "maps" of lines carved by their "scalpels"- hands, words, bodies, actions. Learning about the women makes me think that the anguish in those verses is theirs, the callous heels are theirs, numbed with travel to the shitty jobs and wherever else they had to go in their lives, and the maps were carved by the bastards that hurt those women with God only knows what kind of weapons (scalpels). I hope this makes sense to somebody. Thanks for reading.
Well I beg to differ when people say that Sparta can't touch ATDI... Ever heard Collapse or breaking the broken? Anyway, this song is still amazing. I just wish there was something I could do about it...
A song about rape, and a lot more. I really love the part about "and they made sure the obituaries showed pictures of smoke stacks."
they sing about that in some other song too... one on acrobatic tenement...
"they tipped their hats, respect for the dead... in jarez, mexico, where they buried my friend"