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.
In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time had come
In fields of swaying rape
It could not happen here
Pushed to one side with the flick of a wrist
Out of sight
And out of mind
Fallng back in fields of rape
In yellow heads of blossom
Mothers babies bleeding
You stand there laughing
Unquestioning unconfronting
Poetic lines on the art of dying
Falling back in fields of rape
That was the way
Those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
In nodding heads of rape
No mark on your spotless conscience
No blemish on your immaculate body
Untouched by sight or sound of misery
Close the eyes
Shift the responsibility
It was not you
It was not you
Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Falling back in fields of rape
It could not happen here
Pushed to one side with a flick of the wrist
Out of sight
And out of mind
Falling back in fields of rape
Poetic lines on the art of dying
Falling back in fields of rape
That was the way
And those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
In nodding heads of rape
No mark on your spotless conscience
No blemish on your immaculate body
Untouched by sight or sound of misery
Close the eyes
Shift the responsibility
It wasn't you
Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Falling back in fields of rape
Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning
In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time had come
Falling back in fields of rape
My love
And that was the way
And those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Crushed, crushed, crushed
In mud and wars
Mother children bleeding
You stand there laughing
Falling back in fields of rape
Never eating
Bags of bones dying quietly
Homeless
Drinking foul water
Sorting garbage
With flies in heat
Raped
Axed
Burned with acid
Locked away for thirty years
Thrown out of a helicopter
Forced to labour endlessly
Castrated
Burned alive
Killed so easily by firing squads
In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time has come
They're falling back
In fields of rape
In fields of rape
They're falling back
In fields of rape
My love
And this is our way
And these are the horrors
As we go a-reaping
They're falling back
In fields of rape
In fields of rape
They're falling back
In fields of rape
My darling
And crushed, crushed, crushed
In mud and wars
Still you stand there laughing
They're falling back in fields of rape
In fields of rape they're falling back
My lovers
In fields of rape the ravens
Descend. the yellow beak slashes
Corn, the sickles are sharpened
And the cattle bleed, and reaping
Time has come, our voices grow
Shriller, and our eyes glitter, but
In this last summer the Rapture
Descends, and father's mask has
Turned to grey, and mother's
Breasts are leper white, and
Children's laughter cracks, and
Reaping time has come, body and
Blood, body and blood, body and
Blood, body and mud, body and
Blood, body and mud, and
Christ's eyes, I am weary, and
Christ's eyes, I want to melt
Bleeding Jesus, be quick, be quick
(And what would you do, my gentlest
One...?)
Falling back in fields of rape
In a foreign land
Reaping time had come
In fields of swaying rape
It could not happen here
Pushed to one side with the flick of a wrist
Out of sight
And out of mind
Fallng back in fields of rape
In yellow heads of blossom
Mothers babies bleeding
You stand there laughing
Unquestioning unconfronting
Poetic lines on the art of dying
Falling back in fields of rape
That was the way
Those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
In nodding heads of rape
No mark on your spotless conscience
No blemish on your immaculate body
Untouched by sight or sound of misery
Close the eyes
Shift the responsibility
It was not you
It was not you
Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Falling back in fields of rape
It could not happen here
Pushed to one side with a flick of the wrist
Out of sight
And out of mind
Falling back in fields of rape
Poetic lines on the art of dying
Falling back in fields of rape
That was the way
And those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
In nodding heads of rape
No mark on your spotless conscience
No blemish on your immaculate body
Untouched by sight or sound of misery
Close the eyes
Shift the responsibility
It wasn't you
Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Falling back in fields of rape
Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning
In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time had come
Falling back in fields of rape
My love
And that was the way
And those were the horrors
As daddy went a-reaping
Falling back in fields of rape
My children
Crushed, crushed, crushed
In mud and wars
Mother children bleeding
You stand there laughing
Falling back in fields of rape
Never eating
Bags of bones dying quietly
Homeless
Drinking foul water
Sorting garbage
With flies in heat
Raped
Axed
Burned with acid
Locked away for thirty years
Thrown out of a helicopter
Forced to labour endlessly
Castrated
Burned alive
Killed so easily by firing squads
In a foreign town
In a foreign land
Reaping time has come
They're falling back
In fields of rape
In fields of rape
They're falling back
In fields of rape
My love
And this is our way
And these are the horrors
As we go a-reaping
They're falling back
In fields of rape
In fields of rape
They're falling back
In fields of rape
My darling
And crushed, crushed, crushed
In mud and wars
Still you stand there laughing
They're falling back in fields of rape
In fields of rape they're falling back
My lovers
In fields of rape the ravens
Descend. the yellow beak slashes
Corn, the sickles are sharpened
And the cattle bleed, and reaping
Time has come, our voices grow
Shriller, and our eyes glitter, but
In this last summer the Rapture
Descends, and father's mask has
Turned to grey, and mother's
Breasts are leper white, and
Children's laughter cracks, and
Reaping time has come, body and
Blood, body and blood, body and
Blood, body and mud, body and
Blood, body and mud, and
Christ's eyes, I am weary, and
Christ's eyes, I want to melt
Bleeding Jesus, be quick, be quick
(And what would you do, my gentlest
One...?)
Falling back in fields of rape
Lyrics submitted by Cynothoglys
Falling Back in Fields of Rape Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
Note rape also refers to a variety of grain.
It's about the horrors of war.