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.
Old man lying by the side of the road
With the lorries rolling by
Blue moon sinking from the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky
Cold wind ripping down the alley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Deadman lying by the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Blind man running through the light of the night
With an answer in his hand
Come on down to the river of sight
And you can really understand
Red lights flashing through the window in the rain
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying in a gutter in the lane
If you're walking home alone
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around
With the lorries rolling by
Blue moon sinking from the weight of the load
And the buildings scrape the sky
Cold wind ripping down the alley at dawn
And the morning paper flies
Deadman lying by the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Blind man running through the light of the night
With an answer in his hand
Come on down to the river of sight
And you can really understand
Red lights flashing through the window in the rain
Can you hear the sirens moan?
White cane lying in a gutter in the lane
If you're walking home alone
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around
Lyrics submitted by H-bomb, edited by stephenmay47
Don't Let It Bring You Down Lyrics as written by Neil Young
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Look, guys, forget the VIetnam stuff, forget the "protest song" nonsense, forget all of this over-analysis. 23-year-old Neil Young isn't thinking about ascribing all of this symbolism to the imagery. C'mon now. He wants the lyrics to be cool-sounding, he wants the visual picture a listener might get to be graphic, and in this case, mysterious, and he wants the song to speak to people in a positive way! That's what he's done his whole life! The song has got to sound good, too. But if the lyrics aren't cryptic and maybe a little bit dark - if the song JUST sounds good - then it isn't Neil Young - it's THE EAGLES. And who the hell wants to sit around listening to the Eagles? Not me.
You've got to look at the chorus, first off, which is repeated and is the title of the song. Don't let it bring you down / it's only castles burning - like the Hendrix song "Castles made of Sand" - everything ends, everything eventually dies, everything goes back into the earth that gave birth to it. Even majestic, beautiful, powerful things like giant redwoods or manmade things like a castle. He could have said, "...it's only castles crumbling", but that wouldn't have sounded as cool. Plus, Neil has always had this theme of things burning - he likes that image. (e.g. song - "Burned", lyric from "Thrasher": "...burned my credit card for fuel..." "I Am a Child": "what is the color, when black is burned?" etc., etc.
All the other lyrics in the verses are about the passage of time: being young/growing old (another Neil Young theme e.g. "Heart of Gold", "Old Man", etc.; life/death; having sight and understanding, being blind (not literaly but figuritively) to the world around us and gaining wisdom through experience and observation after having lived and paid attention.
Neil is wanting to help us here, guys. Contibute to the betterment of human kind in some small way. If someone is bummed because they lost something or someone, or they're just lost in general, Neil has offered up this little gem to maybe shed a little light on things. Hey buddy, it's going to get better, life is like that -- but you can't give up on me, now. You're got to stay up. Have courage. After all, if you look for it, there's always a "white can lying in the gutter in the lane when you're walking home alone"
@Mrtuck "Find someone who's turning, and you will come around."<br /> <br /> Find someone to connect with, and you'll be okay.
@Mrtuck I really needed this right now, thank you!
@Mrtuck - I dont know if you'll see this 6 years later but you nailed it right there. Amazing.