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.
Once there was a way
To get back homeward
Once there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles await you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Once there was a way
To get back homeward
Once there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
To get back homeward
Once there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Golden slumbers fill your eyes
Smiles await you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Once there was a way
To get back homeward
Once there was a way
To get back home
Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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”
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
First time I heard this song I cried so much, including it's lead onto carry that weight and the end. These three songs just seem like the perfect illustration of life and death. We grow from childhood where we're too old to be comforted by our parents and sung a lullaby. There's no one to kiss us better when we scrape our knee. Things get harder, there's pressure and stress that we have to carry as weight on our soldiers until we die - but in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make, and the lives you touch on the way, and the people who touch you make it worth it. To be fair, I know nothing about life. I'm only fifteen. :S, but that's my interpretation for you. :)
If you wee truly only 15 at the time you wrote that, you have more wisdom and insight than the majority of those your own age. Well said.
@clockworkdolly but know you re 28, what do you think about your beautiful interpretation ? I’m 35 know and thing still perfect.
The song is based on a poem by by 17th century poet Thomas Dekker. Also, Paul saw a song called Golden Slumbers in his step-sister's songbook, but he was unable to read the music so he just rewrote it with his own music and lyrics.
This song is so beautiful...Paul's voice on this song brings me to tears every time I hear it.
I think Paul wrote Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End as a catharsis for the impending breakup of The Beatles.
I think McCartney wrote “Golden Slumbers” to try to express his sadness and hurt (and maybe even depression) at the breakup of the Beatles, and to try to soothe himself at the same time. He’s doing this with a song that is supposed to be a lullaby. A lullaby implies someone who is comfortable, singing a soothing song to someone in need of comforting. The person he is trying to comfort in addition to us, however, is himself. The person singing is also the one feeling the hurt, so Paul’s performance of the song is an emotional dichotomy, one part comforting (“sleep pretty darling do not cry”) and one part pain (“Golden slumbers fill your eyes”) and sadness (“Once there was a way to get back homeward“). That’s part of why this recording is so special.
On “Carry That Weight“, Paul is conveying anger and blame, whether it’s toward John, Yoko, or Allen Klein, (or all of the above,) before the song heads back to sadness with the reprise of “You Never Give Me Your Money“.
On “The End“, Paul comes to terms with the end of The Beatles and tries to help the fans do the same by performing a final number with rotating solos to close out a magnificent career for the group. The fans don’t know quite yet that this is the end, but Paul knows they soon will. And the final line expresses so well the impact of The Beatles, "and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make".
Interestingly, this series of songs also represented my personal feelings after John Lennon’s murder. In my sadness and shock, I instinctively wanted to hear these three songs.
The whole Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End was a great way to end the Abbey Road album. It's only fitting for a great band like the Beatles ( the greatest ever) to end their musical career with a song like The End.
The first time I heard the last trilogy of songs on Abbey Road I cried....I wanted to go home to my friends, but that was past and I could not go back. To this day I cry when I hear this song. Along with Blackbird, In My Life this trilogy of tunes these mean the most personally to me
A Londoner born c. 1570, Thomas Deker was the author of The shoemaker's Holiday (1600) The Pleasant Comedy of Old Fortunatus (1600) The Honest Whore (1604) The Gull's Hornbook (1609) The Roaring Girl (1611), and the posthumously published The Syn's Darling (1656).
Awe, when I first moved..I listened to this song, and as soon as I heard "Once there was a way to get back homeward. Once there was a way to get back home." I cried lol. I love this song.
I had always known about this song having been a beatles fan since I was ten! However it only took on any significance for me in the past few months. Drinking a lot and smoking too much weed, arriving back at my flat in a depressed state I started playing beatles tunes. This one leapt out and blew me away, made me actually cry.
Its a tune I'm gonna play to my kids when I have some. Paul may be a bit of a sell out and some times his tunes do drip with insincerity, using emotion to sell but this is a true gem. Try some of the bootleg versions to find earlier takes when Paul is even more emotional, amazing stuff!
Matt
oh but dream theater? ew.