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.
Wear the crown made of thorns on the day I was born
By the light of a cold television
And I remember the boss in his uniform
As he marched from the field of vision
Well he didn't come home and it was just us alone
The brat and the widowed civilian
Then one April night after Ma took her life
I fell down the street to oblivion
And I took what the dumpsters were giving
And I did my best to survive
'Cause I figured that life's for the living
While you're alive
While you're alive
Bring out the gin and the small violins
I'm a raging success as a failure
And it's colder than hell in this cardboard hotel
Which I share with a chronic embezzler
So I beat my retreat down collister street
To one of my holy places
And they tangled my wings with wire and string
But I'm spinning in a whirlpool of faces
And I'll take what the dumpsters are giving
And I'll do my best to survive
'Cause I still think that life's for the living
Yes I still think that life's for the living
And I'll take what the dumpsters are giving
And I'll pray every night to St. Giles
But I still think that life's for the living
At least for a while
At least for a while
By the light of a cold television
And I remember the boss in his uniform
As he marched from the field of vision
Well he didn't come home and it was just us alone
The brat and the widowed civilian
Then one April night after Ma took her life
I fell down the street to oblivion
And I took what the dumpsters were giving
And I did my best to survive
'Cause I figured that life's for the living
While you're alive
While you're alive
Bring out the gin and the small violins
I'm a raging success as a failure
And it's colder than hell in this cardboard hotel
Which I share with a chronic embezzler
So I beat my retreat down collister street
To one of my holy places
And they tangled my wings with wire and string
But I'm spinning in a whirlpool of faces
And I'll take what the dumpsters are giving
And I'll do my best to survive
'Cause I still think that life's for the living
Yes I still think that life's for the living
And I'll take what the dumpsters are giving
And I'll pray every night to St. Giles
But I still think that life's for the living
At least for a while
At least for a while
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Hopeful perseverance in the face of mortality - at least for a little while...