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.
Could you whisper in my ear?
The things you wanna feel
I'll give you anything
To feel it coming
Do you wake up on your own
And wonder where you are?
You live with all your faults
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide?
Yeah, I'm gonna let it slide
Don't you love the life you killed?
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don't supposed I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
It's something I can't change
I'll live around it
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide
Ooh, slide
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything
(Yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (oh, oh slide)
Yeah, slide between the sheets of all them beds you never knew (yeah, slide)
Why don't you slide into my room
Just slide into my room
Oh, we'll run away, run away, run away
The things you wanna feel
I'll give you anything
To feel it coming
Do you wake up on your own
And wonder where you are?
You live with all your faults
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide?
Yeah, I'm gonna let it slide
Don't you love the life you killed?
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don't supposed I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
It's something I can't change
I'll live around it
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide
Ooh, slide
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything
(Yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (oh, oh slide)
Yeah, slide between the sheets of all them beds you never knew (yeah, slide)
Why don't you slide into my room
Just slide into my room
Oh, we'll run away, run away, run away
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John Rzeznik has said this song is his "Catholic school teenage sex-anthem" (or something along those lines).
Catholic girl finds a guy, fall in love, he gets her pregnant, she is thinking about aborting the baby... the Catholic church abolishes her, her parents are pissed... but the guy loves her and gives her a choice: "do you want to get married" (please the parents, do it the traditional way and stay out of trouble) "or run away" (who gives a flying fizuck what they think? let's get the hell out of here and live our life together, we don't need them! that'd be my choice).
Yep.
@punkynoisething
@punkynoisething
Very heartfelt song. ;... Thinking that a young man wants to be with his young girlfriend who is now pregnant..<br /> Parents are upset and dislike him.. Parent's encouraged an abortion for their daughter.?....,maybe? <br /> Young man & girl want to run away to where they can have a happy life as a family. <br /> Bottom line.....seems as though parents were A-Holes and did not understand how precious life is.<br />
The song is about a girl (May) who gets pregnant, has an abortion and is sent away (to a place for troubled teens?) by her Catholic parents. The guy, still madly in love, wants to run away with her & get married (if she's up for it) so they can be together.
'Do you wake up on your own? And wonder where you are...' (she's obviously not waking up in her own bed)
'Don't you love the life you killed' (the abortion she had) 'The priest is on the phone' (self explanatory) 'Your father hit the wall' (as most fathers would) 'Your ma disowned you' (self explanatory)
'Don't supposed I'll ever know what it means to be a man' (he wanted to get married & be a father but she had the abortion)
'I wanna wake up where you are' (she's off someplace else)
'What you feel is what you are and what you are is beautiful' (she doesn't feel too good about herself but he still thinks she's beautiful)
'Do you wanna get married, or run away?' (self explanatory)
Of course... I could be totally wrong!
@StainlessSteel1982 I think you hit the nail on the head with this one.
Clearly in the stanza "Don't you love the life you killed/ The priest is on the phone/ Your father hit the wall/ Your ma disowned you", the girl had an ABORTION ("the life you killed"), and her parents and parish priest are on her case about it. Generally, the song is about growing up, naivity, falling in love, and the overwhelming powerlessness you feel in those years between being a child and becoming an adult. Terrific song, great lyrics, achingly real.
Or maybe not about abortion, per se, but at least about unplanned pregnancy. "The life you killed" could be her own life... as in the way things used to be before. I could see her parents and priest being really upset about her being pregnant. As for the guy's side, he says he'll marry her, but the whole tone on his part is uncertainty ("I don't suppose I'll ever know / What it means to be a man"). He says he will marry her and give her the world, but he seems pretty unsure about that himself. Best lines of the song -- "And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete / Little pieces of the nothing, that fall". So poetic. Also one of the more mysterious ones, but I'm inclined to think it's about his promises to take care of her when/if they get married.
absolutely zero question she had the abortion...." do you love the life you killed"...cant get any more clearer than that......"i dont suppose ill ever know, what it means to be a man" , hes referring to being a dad and being responsible for a childs life/ taking care of a family....its just showing how its effecting his emotions as well, greatly enough that hes only clearly thinking in the moment...... as in the future , he obviously could have another child and family
@SweetestSiren He is uncertain of her but not of himself. He knows this is the girl for him if she will have him. The abortion is a done deal but he is saying okay but you are still everything I want with or with out the baby. The comment about not knowing if he will ever be a man is his way of echoing what her parents think of him and saying so what I'm here for you isn't that enough? Yeah her parents are mad about the pregnancy and the abortion and say he can't be a man. His answer, lets get married or run away your choice honey.
Here's what I think..
Don't you love the life you killed (she is pregnant and she is considering getting an abortion, it screwed up her life) The priest is on the phone (the church she goes to is upset) Your father hit the wall (her dad is upset) Your ma disowned you (her mom is really upset and disowned her)
Don't supposed I'll ever know What it means to be a man Somethin' I can't change I'll live around it (he's not sure of himself, that he can make a good life for her and her baby if he keeps it.. or if he'll have enough courage to keep the baby in the first place)
and I'll do anythin' you ever dreamed to be complete Little pieces of the nothin' that fall (he's ready and willing to do anything he can do for the girl and the baby even though he's not sure of himself)
Oh May Do you wanna get married, or run away? (do you want to keep the baby or abort it and run away from the responsibilities?)
Probably wrong, but I tried!
I thought the song was about a girl who slept with a bunch of different guys, one got her pregnant and because of this her parents "disowned her". She either has the baby or aborts it, and the guy who got her pregnant left her, or was never with her, and through out the entire song Rzeznik is just trying to tell her he loves her and will do anything for her, but she doesn't notice him.
the song is about Abortion..
"dont you love the life you killed"
"guess i'll never know what it means to be a man"...
obviously...
She had an abortion and now her life is all messed up and he's letting her know that he's there for her no matter what.
This about a young couple. The girl, May, gets pregnant and when the boy doesn't step up she gives up on him and gets an abortion. The boy, who is the narrator, is hard on both of them. First her: "You live with all your faults", "Did you love the life you killed?" and then himself: "Don't supposed I'll ever know what it means to be a man. Somethin' I can't change, I'll live around it". He regrets not dealing with the situation, leaving her to make a decision on her own, a decision that alienates her family and her church. He knows he'll never be able to make up for his abandonment of pregnant May. This will affect the rest of his life and his sense of manhood. However, he still desperately loves May and wants to do anything that will make her feel complete now: marriage or just going off together. He asks nothing of her, as he's been such a disappointment already, he just "wants to wake up where you are", and will never reproach her for the abortion as he knows he was equally responsible: "I won't say anything at all".
I love this song (maybe mostly the singer), but I have my doubts about the boy. He loves May, but he found a pregnancy too much to deal with. Is he just as happy now that she's not pregnant? Would he act the same again if he had it to do over? Let someone else make your hard decisions? He sounds selfish.
PS I know a few couples who ended early pregnancies because of timing issues. None of them stayed together, even after having other children, but then most couples don't last anyway, do they?
PPS I get exhausted with people trying disappear the abortion at the center of this song. It happens. I don't know if this is Johnny's history. I don't blame him for saying May "considered" abortion on "Storytellers". What's he suppose to say in this country? And May did consider it and then acted on it. Scheesh!
in no way does this song even hint that he ran away from her pregnancy or didnt / wasnt there for her at all.....it only speaks of how SHE DISTANCED herself from him and everyone else....from the first line on.... ( could you whisper in my ear, the things you wanna feel) , she wont talk to him
this song, to me, means that there is a girl with a lot of problems (her father went crazy and her mom left her) and the guy is there for her, wanting to give her anything she wants to be able to help her and he's her escape from all this, b/c everything that happened was her fault (dont you love the life YOU killed...) so he's her getaway from it all saying he doesnt care what happened, he wants her and wants to be with her