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.
Is there anybody going to listen to my story
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl
You want so much, it makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day
Ah, girl, girl
When I think of all the times
I tried so hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry
And she promises the earth to me
And I believe her
After all this time I don't know why
Ah, girl, girl
She's the kind of girl who puts you down
When friends are there
You feel a fool
When you say she's looking good
She acts as if it's understood
She's cool, ooh, ooh, ooh
Girl, girl, girl
Was she told when she was young
That pain would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
To earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead?
Ah, girl, girl, girl
Ah, girl, girl
All about the girl who came to stay?
She's the kind of girl
You want so much, it makes you sorry
Still you don't regret a single day
Ah, girl, girl
When I think of all the times
I tried so hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry
And she promises the earth to me
And I believe her
After all this time I don't know why
Ah, girl, girl
She's the kind of girl who puts you down
When friends are there
You feel a fool
When you say she's looking good
She acts as if it's understood
She's cool, ooh, ooh, ooh
Girl, girl, girl
Was she told when she was young
That pain would lead to pleasure?
Did she understand it when they said
That a man must break his back
To earn his day of leisure?
Will she still believe it when he's dead?
Ah, girl, girl, girl
Ah, girl, girl
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"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."
Mountain Song
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In my honest opinion, I don't think this song is to do with drugs at all - especially not heroin or cocaine. That came later. The Beatles, at this time, were smoking pot consistently, even in the studio. It is quite obvious that they are inhaling, not exhaling, and I think they were just doing this to mess with the censors and see how far they could go. The same with the tit tit tit noise. It actually IS tit tit tit, not doot doot doot. George Harrison even said that they were trying to see how far they could go w/ the censors again. All these people saying that it couldn't be tit tit tit are wrong. It is.
My interpretation of this song isn't drugs, it's actually about a girl. It's like when you're so in love with someone, no matter how horrible they are to you, you stay with them because you're too attached. If you confront them about it, they promise to change. 'She promises the earth to me and I believe her, after all this time I don't know why'. It's basically a song about a girl who is slightly ignorant, who takes people for fools and messes with people, seeing how far she can push them, and maybe if something drastic like death occurred, she'd only start to believe how bad she was.
Girl is a sort of love song, I suppose he's saying how much he loves her and the sighing 'Ah, girl' is basically a sort of painful yet affectionate way. It's a beautiful song. But it's not about cocaine.