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'd walk the water to get back to you
And where I was complete
We found you scattered by the highway side too
Soon to be released
Gathered the pieces up and clean the places
Where you were undone
And washed the wreckage out unfinished all the
Thoughts that we'd begun
I came to burn the sky and tear away
The beauty that it sows
If I could rape the day and find the things I thought
I'd always known
Leave it alone again tonight
I laid your arms out long untwisted there
And shaped what I could find
I made the most of it and then left the rest
The parts unrecognized
My reconstruction was the only way
For one last look at you
I lost the sense of absolution
That we never knew
Leave it alone again tonight
Leave it alone again tonight
And it takes me back from this place here
It takes me back from this place here
I came to burn the sky and tear away
The beauty that it sows
I came to rape the day and find the things
I thought I'd always known
Leave it alone again tonight
And it takes me back from this place here
From this place here it takes me over
And it might be lost in this place here
From this place here it takes me on
Tonight leave it alone
And where I was complete
We found you scattered by the highway side too
Soon to be released
Gathered the pieces up and clean the places
Where you were undone
And washed the wreckage out unfinished all the
Thoughts that we'd begun
I came to burn the sky and tear away
The beauty that it sows
If I could rape the day and find the things I thought
I'd always known
Leave it alone again tonight
I laid your arms out long untwisted there
And shaped what I could find
I made the most of it and then left the rest
The parts unrecognized
My reconstruction was the only way
For one last look at you
I lost the sense of absolution
That we never knew
Leave it alone again tonight
Leave it alone again tonight
And it takes me back from this place here
It takes me back from this place here
I came to burn the sky and tear away
The beauty that it sows
I came to rape the day and find the things
I thought I'd always known
Leave it alone again tonight
And it takes me back from this place here
From this place here it takes me over
And it might be lost in this place here
From this place here it takes me on
Tonight leave it alone
Lyrics submitted by pumpkingirl, edited by acirvin
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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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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"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."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
This song, like all of Moist, is true poetry. Like SOAD it has it's messages, but Moist hides them a lot better. The main effect of Moist is that you can listen to a song over and over, and your opinion on its meaning will change. Leave it Alone, first SOUNDS very serine and "nice" and usually you will have to have someone point out to you that the learics are very morbid. This "second shell" of the song tends to be very distastfull, being about cleaning up a car crash. But even that has it's poetry. The nest "shell" is that the song is a love story about the loss of ones loved one.
Once, I had deduced that the final "shell" was one of fate. That fate can take away what you truely love, and there is nothing you can do about it. Fate is just as final as the smear of a human body on the ashfalt after a car crash.
Lately however, there has been a certain part at the end of the song that gave me shivers in which I had to listen to over and over to see what it was. Finaly I discovered it was the diction. "From this place here it takes me OVER" The use of "over" implies a sense of uslessness and the controling nature of fate. "And it might be lost in this place here" The use of "it", being a pronown-antecedent error, gives an impression of not knowing exactly what is in control of your life. What is 'it'? What is fate? That is a scary aspect of life, which makes you "lost"? "From this place here it takes me ON" This is the line which I pinpointed my shivers to. When thinking of it I remembered it being almost yelled, but when I listened for it, it was just merely sang. This word demonstates what I know believe to be the last "shell", for as fate takes him "over", he rises up to meet it and forces fate to take him "on". This two letter word demands to take control of your own fate.
sorry for all my spelling errors, I didn't read over them. I simply wrote
it's good to see people who respect the music moist is making....i don't see enough of it where i'm from.
read Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen this song is very personal and extremely beautiful
This song is about a friend of the author(david) was abusing drugs and this is davids outlook and story on it. there it is
This song is just amazing. Like Yelraek said, the first few times I heard it, I never thought about what it meant. The lyrics are so poignant and so desperate. I really need to buy this CD. This is one of the best songs I've ever heard.
I thought I heard it was about AIDS....maybe I misunderstood or got it mixed up with another song
I don't know much about Moist; I heard this song on a sountrack, but it makes me want to listen to more of their stuff. I agree with Yelraek, at first this sounds like a calm, sweet song. I only recently started listening to the lyrics, and then it sounds like it's overtly about a car crash. I think it has more to do with a breakup or the drifting apart of two people, and the analogy of a car crash is used. I love this song--it's sung with such feeling. I think the chorus, "Leave it alone...again, tonight" is kind of about the person experiencing this hardship and sort of just making it through each day by not really dealing with the issue, not thinking about it, "leaving it alone" and obviously the "again, tonight" shows that they've been doing it for some time.