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.
And something warm and soft just passed through here
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifles through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In a dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When your world of bore
Forces through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Tempering lullaby
Like a fractured tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes, I'd have to say I like my privacy
Did you know you're on closed-circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mom and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the boys aren't there
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Tempering lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his bargain of pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name
And in the morning when I find I've lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifles through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In a dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When your world of bore
Forces through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Tempering lullaby
Like a fractured tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes, I'd have to say I like my privacy
Did you know you're on closed-circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mom and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the boys aren't there
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Tempering lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his bargain of pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name
And in the morning when I find I've lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
Lyrics submitted by christsizeshoes, edited by DutchLyric, PaulZero, flameisgone
Deadwing Lyrics as written by Gavin Richard Harrison Colin Edwin Balch
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
All right, here's my interpretation of this song. First of all, I have read the 15 aviliable pages of the script and the rest of the album's lyrics, and I can tell that Elizabeth (the woman) meets David (the man, whose name is also mentioned in 'Lazarus') in a the last train of the night
And from the yellow windows of the last train A specter from the next life breathes his fog on the pane I look with you into the speeding black rain Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for her name
After that, something happens that leads them into a romance, but as you can clearly find in the other songs' lyrics, she leaves him really quickly or is only using him, while David really falls in love with her. Many phrases in this song relate to the script:
Voices through the floor (David's neighbors' voices can be heard through his apartment's ceiling) Unexpected news Wearing high-heeled shoes (Elizabeth appears at the train station suddenly, wearing high heels)
With the cancer threat In a cigarette (Elizabeth is a smoker, and references to cigarettes are also found in 'Open Car')
And in the morning when I find I've lost you I throw a window open wide and step through (As I said, she doesn't really care about him, but he is in a real crush)
I don't think Deadwing is about incest...I think it's a beautiful romance story with a tragic end for him. That's why a new version of 'Shesmovedon' is also included in the album, because the lyrics fit in very well. You know Steven, always making sad compositions. Anyway, I hope you liked this interpretation, and if you'd like to read the script, feel free to email me at josemariacastillo@hotmail.com, and I'll send it over to you.