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 been watching me fall for it seems like years
Watching me grow small, I watch me disappear
Slipping out my ordinary world, out my ordinary eyes
Yeah slipping out the ordinary me into someone else's life
Into someone else's life
There's a thin white cold new moon and the snow is coming down
And the neon bright Tokyo lights flicker through the crowd
I've been drifting around for hours and I'm lost and I'm tired
When a whisper in my ear insatiable breathes
"why don't you follow me inside?"
Yeah the room is small, the room is bright
Her hair is black, the bed is white
And the night is always young
Is always young, always young
The night is always young
Yeah I've been seeing them strip to the bone in the mirror on the wall
Seeing her swallow him whole like it's not me at all
She holds out her hands and I follow her down to my knees
And the sucking inside insatiable smiles
"You will forget yourself in me"
Yeah the room is small, the room is bright
Her eyes are black, the bed is white
And the night is always young
And the night goes on and on
And the night is always young
And the night is never over and over and over and over and over
And this it's gone
And this it's gone
Yeah then it's gone
Yeah it's a cruel mean cold new day and outside the snow is still coming down
And in the blood red Tokyo bed I watch me coming round
She pulled him down for hours
Deeper than I've ever been
And as I fall in the mirror on the wall
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
Yeah I've been watching me go for it must be years
Watching me get slow, I watch me disappear
And one day, yeah I know, I won't come back at all
And always over and over in his ordinary eyes
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
Watching me grow small, I watch me disappear
Slipping out my ordinary world, out my ordinary eyes
Yeah slipping out the ordinary me into someone else's life
Into someone else's life
There's a thin white cold new moon and the snow is coming down
And the neon bright Tokyo lights flicker through the crowd
I've been drifting around for hours and I'm lost and I'm tired
When a whisper in my ear insatiable breathes
"why don't you follow me inside?"
Yeah the room is small, the room is bright
Her hair is black, the bed is white
And the night is always young
Is always young, always young
The night is always young
Yeah I've been seeing them strip to the bone in the mirror on the wall
Seeing her swallow him whole like it's not me at all
She holds out her hands and I follow her down to my knees
And the sucking inside insatiable smiles
"You will forget yourself in me"
Yeah the room is small, the room is bright
Her eyes are black, the bed is white
And the night is always young
And the night goes on and on
And the night is always young
And the night is never over and over and over and over and over
And this it's gone
And this it's gone
Yeah then it's gone
Yeah it's a cruel mean cold new day and outside the snow is still coming down
And in the blood red Tokyo bed I watch me coming round
She pulled him down for hours
Deeper than I've ever been
And as I fall in the mirror on the wall
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
I'm watching me scream
Yeah I've been watching me go for it must be years
Watching me get slow, I watch me disappear
And one day, yeah I know, I won't come back at all
And always over and over in his ordinary eyes
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
I'm watching me fall
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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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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
I Can't Go To Sleep
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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.
Head > Heels
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Well, at the top level, it's pretty obviously about the narrator (remember, a song or poem in the first person isn't always necessarily about the person who wrote it) being seduced by a prostitute (most likely having stumbled into a red-light district late at night...I don't think I need to point out the imagery...definitely putting this one on my "sexy songs" playlist <g>), but the people who think it's about addiction certainly have a point.
I would say this song is multilayered — like much of Smith's poetry, and whether or not the outer layer is about him (it could easily be just a metaphor and not based on reality at all), the deeper layers probably are.
I find it intriguing how he feels like the character (Smith himself or otherwise) watching himself get corrupted by this sexy girl, as though he were a third party (spying on them or something — nothing here suggests a threesome).
The girl comes across as so irresistible...kind of like a hard (i.e., addictive) drug. When you first try drugs you always feel young and healthy and in control. Same with a young man's first sexual experience ("deeper than I've ever been before)...especially a jaded, manipulative woman (like say, a prostitute). Even though he feels like she's giving him a wonderful experience, watching from the perspective of his future self he feels like he's just watching himself "fall."
And then there's layer three...Smith's career. Here he is, looking back in time on his innocent young self, back in the '70s when he and his friends had just formed the band Easy Cur e. He probably thought that performing before an audience was great fun, and if he had fantasies of being a rock star, of going on tour and having fans all over the world, he could only imagine that being even more fun. He had no idea how stressful it could be. And then there was when they released their first studio album, "Three Imaginary Boys." He had no idea how to deal with record company executives, for example, how to stand up for himself when they wanted to place limits on his creativity or wanted the Cure to be more "commercially viable" as they viewed it (this was a problem that a lot of non-mainstream bands had in the '80s).
On another note...I've always been curious about why there are so many Japan references in Robert's songs. Anyone know anything (or have any ideas) about that?