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.
You said you hate the sound
Of the busses on the ground
You said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town
I said pretend it's whales
Keeping their voices down
Such were the grounds for divorce I know
On the radio
And the bouncing bodies' drone
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
I said look at the clouds
It's a show all on its own
Such were the grounds for divorce I know
But the darling is dead
We hit her on the head
It looked like a wedding cake
Though the darling is dead
We hit it on the head
It looked like a newlywed
But look at the lovers
And they way they stand
And the way they move and the way move their hands
And look at their babies
And their tiny little hands
And the way they get loved and the way they get loved oh
Oh look at the lovers
And they way they stand
And the way they move and the way move and the way move their hands
Said you hate the sound
Of the busses on the ground
Said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town
Said pretend it's wales
And keeping their voices down
Such were the grounds for divorce i know
Looked like a newlywed
On the radio
And the bouncing bodies' drone
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
Said look at the clouds
It's a show all on its own
Such were the grounds, such were the grounds, for divorce I know
Of the busses on the ground
You said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town
I said pretend it's whales
Keeping their voices down
Such were the grounds for divorce I know
On the radio
And the bouncing bodies' drone
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
I said look at the clouds
It's a show all on its own
Such were the grounds for divorce I know
But the darling is dead
We hit her on the head
It looked like a wedding cake
Though the darling is dead
We hit it on the head
It looked like a newlywed
But look at the lovers
And they way they stand
And the way they move and the way move their hands
And look at their babies
And their tiny little hands
And the way they get loved and the way they get loved oh
Oh look at the lovers
And they way they stand
And the way they move and the way move and the way move their hands
Said you hate the sound
Of the busses on the ground
Said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town
Said pretend it's wales
And keeping their voices down
Such were the grounds for divorce i know
Looked like a newlywed
On the radio
And the bouncing bodies' drone
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
Said look at the clouds
It's a show all on its own
Such were the grounds, such were the grounds, for divorce I know
Lyrics submitted by FuneralCatering
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
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.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
FuneralCatering, he was not embarassed, he was frustrated that she doesn't understand and it was the end. Anyways, the whole article is here cokemachineglow.com/feature/interview/wolfparade.html
Such were the grounds for divorce (I know)=my love
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone I said look at the (clouds)=sky
But look at the lovers (And they way they stand)=in the telephone stands
And look at their babies (And their tiny little hands)=playing in the sand
"Spencer discussed that lyric in an interview recently. Apparently, he was with a girl who was complaining about the screeching sound buses make, and he told her to pretend they're just big singing whales floating around the city. She told him it was stupid, and I guess he was pretty embarassed about it or something, because he didn't want to elaborate on it to the interviewer. "
haha, this confirms what i was going to write. The song is about an eccentric guy with a girl always telling him his thoughts and ideas are dumb. So the grounds for divorce are his strange thoughts and eccentricities. This is obviously your typical unartistic, girly-girl who can't appreciate a good random thought. Good riddance. Maybe he dumped her anyway :)
I am pretty sure he sings:
"but the darling is dead, we hit her on the head, etc etc"
this is an amazing song, good job on the lyrics.
Good call, that makes a lot more sense
Dude, you got the most important lyric wrong. He sings:
"So pretend it WHALES, keeping thier voices down"
Whales not wheels. This changes the entire meaning of the song. It juxtaposes nature agaisnt technology, and this is the main theme of the song.
j-rob, i would have to disagree
it's talking about a bus anf the different features (brakes, WHEELS), how would "whales" fit into that concept? sorry, but i think you're completely wrong
i think i agree with j-rob. it clearly sounds like "whales" even though it would be easy to say "wheels" (on both the ep and the album). i think the parallel is drawn between buses and whales (which are of similar sizes, at least).
J-Rob is absolutely right... imagine the "scraping" of bus brakes on a shoddy city bus. It's easy to draw a comparison with the "voices" of a whale, because whales use high frequency vocal emissions to communicate. How would pretending the squealing of breaks is the squealing of wheels console someone who was feeling disdain for technology? Escape from the real world is in the abstract, and escape from the manmade world lies in nature, is what that portion of the song is trying to say, I guess. But sometimes I think Wolf Parade lyrics are partially improvised or just random.
J-Rob is right, Spencer discussed that lyric in an interview recently. Apparently, he was with a girl who was complaining about the screeching sound buses make, and he told her to pretend they're just big singing whales floating around the city. She told him it was stupid, and I guess he was pretty embarassed about it or something, because he didn't want to elaborate on it to the interviewer. Anyway, I also changed "but the darling is dead" back to "over the dialing he said", as much as that suggestion made sense during the second repetition, it didn't really during the first.