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.
We sat upon your bed,
You said the things you said
And I could not believe that you seem so naive
We exchanged our poetry,
You seem to think a lot like me
I'll guess I'll just assume that we could talk about most anything
Then I asked have you ever felt abandoned?
Felt so lost that you were stranded,
Just like all the walls are closing in
And you were left inside
Have you ever felt like your days were numbered?
Stuck under a tree in thunder
Seems to be no way out!
But there is One when in doubt
Ready for another day
Slowly watch ya waste away,
Having fun, being cool
Like we did in high school,
Elementary romance feeling nervous at the dance,
Crack a smile hold it down,
Whatever the circumstance,
Sex, drugs, had to be cool,
All the things we learned in school,
Typical teenage machines,
Anyone tell me what this means?
I could learn, I could try,
Never really had an alibi
Wish I did, that?s no lie
Everybody's asking
(chorus)
Why
When you feel like you can't fly
You gotta know I got the answer for ya baby,
Drives ya crazy, it's not over
there's so much more to life then this
Why?
When you feel like you can't cry
You gotta know I got the answer for ya baby,
Drives ya crazy it's not over
there's so much more to life then this
- Music interlude -
Things seem so hallucinary,
In the corners of my mind they scare me,
I know ya never meant to desert me,
Just like ya never really meant to hurt me
Then I ask have you ever felt abandoned?
Felt so lost that you were stranded,
Just like all the walls are closing in
And you were left inside
Have you ever felt like your days were numbered?
Stuck under a tree in thunder
Seems to be no way out
But there is One when in doubt
And you ask
(chorus)
So much more to life than this
You said the things you said
And I could not believe that you seem so naive
We exchanged our poetry,
You seem to think a lot like me
I'll guess I'll just assume that we could talk about most anything
Then I asked have you ever felt abandoned?
Felt so lost that you were stranded,
Just like all the walls are closing in
And you were left inside
Have you ever felt like your days were numbered?
Stuck under a tree in thunder
Seems to be no way out!
But there is One when in doubt
Ready for another day
Slowly watch ya waste away,
Having fun, being cool
Like we did in high school,
Elementary romance feeling nervous at the dance,
Crack a smile hold it down,
Whatever the circumstance,
Sex, drugs, had to be cool,
All the things we learned in school,
Typical teenage machines,
Anyone tell me what this means?
I could learn, I could try,
Never really had an alibi
Wish I did, that?s no lie
Everybody's asking
(chorus)
Why
When you feel like you can't fly
You gotta know I got the answer for ya baby,
Drives ya crazy, it's not over
there's so much more to life then this
Why?
When you feel like you can't cry
You gotta know I got the answer for ya baby,
Drives ya crazy it's not over
there's so much more to life then this
- Music interlude -
Things seem so hallucinary,
In the corners of my mind they scare me,
I know ya never meant to desert me,
Just like ya never really meant to hurt me
Then I ask have you ever felt abandoned?
Felt so lost that you were stranded,
Just like all the walls are closing in
And you were left inside
Have you ever felt like your days were numbered?
Stuck under a tree in thunder
Seems to be no way out
But there is One when in doubt
And you ask
(chorus)
So much more to life than this
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great song. it seems that it is about someone he got close with and he realized how naive that person by what they had said and they did all these things in high school to be cool and they felt trapped but he told them that there was more to life than that, that there is Jesus.