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.
I am a man
Cut from the know
Rarely do friends
Come and then go
She was a girl
Soft but estranged
We were the two
Our lives rearranged
Feeling so good that day
A feeling of love that day
Chorus:
Twisting and turning
Your feelings are burning
You’re breaking the girl
She meant you no harm
Think you’re so clever
But now you must sever
You’re breaking the girl
He loves no one else
Raised by my dad
Girl of the day
He was my man
That was the way
She was the girl
Left alone
Feeling the need
To make me her home
I don’t know what, when or why
The twilight of love had arrived
Chorusx2
Cut from the know
Rarely do friends
Come and then go
She was a girl
Soft but estranged
We were the two
Our lives rearranged
Feeling so good that day
A feeling of love that day
Chorus:
Twisting and turning
Your feelings are burning
You’re breaking the girl
She meant you no harm
Think you’re so clever
But now you must sever
You’re breaking the girl
He loves no one else
Raised by my dad
Girl of the day
He was my man
That was the way
She was the girl
Left alone
Feeling the need
To make me her home
I don’t know what, when or why
The twilight of love had arrived
Chorusx2
Lyrics submitted by dsfire, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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Like dsfire said, I think he played her for sex. But I think she had no one in the world and wanted a relationship. So he led her on for a while because he didn't want to have to deal with her. He thought he was tho sh*t for scoring with her, but now he realizes she is going to keep clinging to him, and he'll have to tell her how he really feels. He feels guilty because she just wanted love ('meant you no harm'). She's destroyed because she believed that he cared for her. maybe?
i think that everyone mostly has it right about him being a player and u get this from the lines " raised by my dad girl of the day" which basically shows his dad taught him to play the ladies and he 's met this girl and he feel in love with her and she desperately loves him backl but in tha end he jsut can't break the mold of being a player , it's all he knows- which is proven in the line "feelings are burning" which shows he can't stya tied down. So instead of breaking his player pattern , his breaks the girl. I don't know, maybe i got that completely wrong, But it was worth a shot.
@roxyglamour And now, so many years later, I would like to say that even now the song hasn't changed its meaning. I agree with you!
@roxyglamour i agree but him still being a player but regretting the break up with the one he loved the most form the line (He loves no one else).
beautiful song. dont think it is necesarily about taking a girls virginity... i always interpreted the breaking as in breaking her emotionally..like the expression, breaking the horse. breaking its spirit. crushing the girl.
this song is so fucking good, i love it no matter what the meaning. speaking of the meaning... its a pretty sad one... i love slow chilli pepper songs... ...:::lex:::...
I read Anthony's biography, Scar Tissue, a couple weeks ago. He did lose his virginity at an early age, like twelve or thirteen, to his one of his father's young girlfriends. He wasn't forced to do it -- his father had been raised in a very religious, restricted home and had his first time with a prostitute, so he didn't want Anthony to go through anything similiar. Anthony told his father he liked the girl, and wanted to have sex with her, and it happened. I don't think this song is about that specific event. He mentioned that when he wrote this song, he was just thinking about past patterns and the girls he may have hurt, partly due to his father's example.
in scar tissue, ak talks about his girlfriend at the time when he wrote breaking the girl. if i recall correctly it was Claire Essex. she had a hard childhood and was abandoned by her dad and got heavily into drugs (soft but estranged). when ak was with her, he was sober and she unknowingly laid all her problems on him (she meant you no harm), and although he loved her, it was too difficult to look after her and hav a healthy relationship at the same time. breaking the girl is about the pain he caused her when he was forced to break up with her (now you must sever, your breaking the girl). he still loved her (he loves no one else) but she was totally dependant on him and drove them apart with her addiction. well i think thats all i can remember. i must read it again. peace. jf rocks
yeh it's definately about a player guy who falls in love with a girl.... And I agree with the theory about being taught by his father that it's okay to cheat etc.
On the Funky Monks RHCP video they talk about this song and how it's about un-virgining a girl. Thats waht Anthony says but it might have more than one meaning. Whatever the meaning a great Chili's song.
I think rchpbek got the closest to my interpretation. Ya see Anthony moved out to California to live with his dad when he was just a little kid and his dad introduced him to this fast-paced life of drugs and girls. A lot of girls came through his dad's place and the song is about an early encounter with one of them. I think I once read that he lost his virginity at age 13 or something.
i read somewhere that anthony's dad made anthony have sex with his dad's girlfriend and that is what the song is about...but i dunno if there is any truth to that