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.
Run away from all your boredom
Run away from all your whoredom and wave
Your worries, and cares, goodbye
All it takes is one decision
A lot of guts, a little vision to wave
Your worries, and cares goodbye
It's a maze for rats to try [Repeat: x2]
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
Sick and tired of Maggie's farm
She's a bitch, with broken arms to wave
Your worries, and cares, goodbye
It's a maze for rats to try [Repeat: x2]
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die [Repeat: x3]
Burn away
Run away [Repeat: x2]
Run away from all your whoredom and wave
Your worries, and cares, goodbye
All it takes is one decision
A lot of guts, a little vision to wave
Your worries, and cares goodbye
It's a maze for rats to try [Repeat: x2]
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
Sick and tired of Maggie's farm
She's a bitch, with broken arms to wave
Your worries, and cares, goodbye
It's a maze for rats to try [Repeat: x2]
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die [Repeat: x3]
Burn away
Run away [Repeat: x2]
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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i disagree, it seems clear to me that its a simple song about how people are trapped like rats in their everyday lives, "slave to the wage" means that and rats are a common representation of poitless and borring lives, like lab rats-they are bred to live in cages and die for no good reason.
Can I just add that the maggie's farm comment could be a reference to the Bob Dylan song called that which is along the same lines.
It seems to me someones stuck in a path that they dont want to be on, and if they try to get away they keep getting stuck in something else. Theyre sick of what theyre doing and every time they try to leave it they get lost..but im not sure
I think this song is about being a slave to money, as the name implies. It speaks in the first paragraph about how you could just run away from it all. Your boredom, whoring of the system, and in doing so throw away all your worries or cares. We worry everyday about our money, it's always on our minds. I think he's saying that if we stopped worrying or stopped caring about it we'd have better lives. <br /> <br /> The chorus talks how we're all just rats in the race to die. You could say retirement I guess, but after retirement that's all you have left... death. I think he means to signify that you get one shot at life, and to spend it worrying bout money all the time is sad.<br /> <br /> I think the section about Maggie's Farm could in someway refer to either the Queen of England directly or the figurehead of the Queen of England. Placebo is a European band, so I could see them saying something about the UK. I think by farm it's referring to the job market. By saying her arms are broken I believe this may be to signify how she is sitting at the top of the hierarchical ladder and it's almost impossible for her to wave her worries or cares goodbye(broken arms).<br /> <br /> That's my take.
This song is about the monotony of the daily grind (the "Rat Races") and how people should break away from it and kiss their "worries and cares goodbye". As mentioned, Bob Dylan wrote a song called "Maggie's Farm" which is along the same lines ("I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more"). Suggesting Placebo drew from this song for the idea for this one.
I guess this song is about how people can get tangled up in their lives. Stuck with their jobs. Doing every day the same thing. Beautiful song.
Even though the answer to the problem of the song is helpful (Wave worries goodbye) the song is a cautionary tale because it emphasizes what will happen if you don't take responsibility for your own happiness: You are just a rat in a race to die = you will work your ass off and time will fly until you die.
yeah. I also think it's a song about love and how it's a maze for rats to try, but also a race for rats to die. Life is just a race to your death indeed, so the best thing to do is have some fun (run away from all your boredom). The whoredom is about selling yourself (by working) and the alienation that can come with going to work. If you think about life that way, it's easier to relativate your problems and wave them goodbye. End of the story?
May I correct myself .. obviously, I didn't mean to write "love" in the first sentence.. instead: it's a song about life .. but I think the clever reader already figured that out.
Stuck in a dead end job, but he's telling you that all you have to do is make a choice and go for it to get out. The video for this song visually supports that as well, as the woman in the office leaves in a rocket.
Molko actually had a job shredding paper for a firm, but was fired after a day when he tried to shred other thigns and eventually broke the thing by shoving a ruler down it. It's a song that needed to be written really, for everyone whos job makes them want to kill themselves
I believe that the message is essentially a positive one. To make an initial choice leads to further choices that can change the course of one's life. He states the negatives in chasing money and how it can drain the life out of you so much that all you become is routine. To realise this, it will allow you to make the choice to "run away" from it.