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.
Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading
And everywhere I look, there's a dead end waiting
Temperature's dropping at the rotten oasis
Stealing kisses from the leprous faces
Heads are hanging from the garbageman trees
Mouthwash, jukebox, gasoline
Pistols are pointing at a poor man's pockets
Smiling eyes ripping out of his sockets
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Love machines on the sympathy crutches
Discount orgies on the dropout buses
Hitchin' a ride with the bleedin' noses
Comin' to town with the briefcase blues
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading
Ghetto-blastin' disintegrating
Rock 'n' roll, know what I'm saying?
Everywhere I look, there's a devil waiting
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Devil's haircut in my mind
Devil's haircut in my mind
Devil's haircut in my mind
And everywhere I look, there's a dead end waiting
Temperature's dropping at the rotten oasis
Stealing kisses from the leprous faces
Heads are hanging from the garbageman trees
Mouthwash, jukebox, gasoline
Pistols are pointing at a poor man's pockets
Smiling eyes ripping out of his sockets
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Love machines on the sympathy crutches
Discount orgies on the dropout buses
Hitchin' a ride with the bleedin' noses
Comin' to town with the briefcase blues
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading
Ghetto-blastin' disintegrating
Rock 'n' roll, know what I'm saying?
Everywhere I look, there's a devil waiting
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Got a devil's haircut in my mind
Devil's haircut in my mind
Devil's haircut in my mind
Devil's haircut in my mind
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
To quote Beck from his special appearance on Futurama:
"See, Bender, you have you write about what you feel. Like, when I wrote Devil's Haircut, I was feeling... wait... What is that song about?"
on wikipedia it says that its about his past addictions to vicodin... which i havent read his bio, but i didnt know he had addictions to vicodin.... and its wikipedia that said so haha. I thought that it was just kinda like a jekyll and hyde thing... kinda... like he tries to stay away but "everywhere I look there's a devil waiting" and then he turns devious. Its a good song anyways whatever it means.
"Stealing kisses from the leperous faces" haha, lyrical genious? or old fool rambles? Beck would be the greatest rambling old grandpa. Haha.
This song obviously means, where ever he turns he's tempted to commit a sin..."everywhere I look there's a devil waiting."
Ahh, agreed. I've been listening to Beck since I was, like, two years old. You know, I often try to come up with lyrical interpretations of his songs, but I'm simply not that creative! His songs are just too awesomey weird. And I'm rather saddened that hardly anyone's commented on any Beck songs- he rocks my freaking WORLD. Haha. Oh well. He has originality like you wouldn't believe.
To me this song is about deterioration, the devils are dismantling all creation, there are many references to stagnant locations, which now seem to be rotting away. Lives in slumps (dropouts, briefcase clutchers, etc.). I don't have many ideas for what the devil's haircut could possibly refer to, maybe a perceived status quo (that of human nature or modern society) that rather than maintaining the world is leading it into a gradual decline. Something's wrong 'cause my mind is fading =? theres a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that the world is fractured and in decline?
Mouthwash jukebox gasoline Mouthwash =? A vague attempt to stave off the deterioration, hardly enough to have any real effect on its own. jukebox =? the pointless endeavors people pursue to while away their time in as enjoyable a way as possible gasoline =? peoples consumption and major contribution to the deterioration.
Rock 'n' roll, know what I'm sayin' =? maybe his realization that there is little that can be done to prevent it and you may as well get on with your life, theres no one he could tell who would listen or understand or have the power to do anything about it. Maybe a prediction of the chaos to emerge from the collapse.
I like the suggestions of a rebellion motif because it fits the lyrics however it doesnt fit the music/singing, he sounds so calm up untill the end, which seems to fit a sudden collapse better than a gradual buildup of tension. Also, he doesnt really seem to feel trapped as one of the pen pushers or even with them so much as just tagging along and observing them, describing them as briefcase blues rather than attributing the blues to himself. hitchhiking. On the other hand if you do look at it in the rebellion terms, the hitching a ride with the bleeding noses bit could be a reference to the desire to climb the social and/or corporate ladder.
This is probably mostly me and may have little to do with the song, but its what I think when I hear it.
also I agree with doodoodoo, there are lots of reasons an artist might want to claim it has no meaning (avoid having to explain it, or meaning is to personal to share openly
I feel as though this is song about the singer walks into a town full of anarchy and crime. The events lead am impression on him that begins as a meer thought("Got a Devil's Haircut in my mind").But by the end of the song,when Beck begins to scream the chorus, it seems as though the man has succumb to the discord of the town and is now a part of it to his horror
I'm tired of idiots saying Beck's songs are just rambling nonsense, just because you're not artistic enough to understand them doesn't mean they don't mean anything, like the beatles' I am the Walrus.
I ripped this off wikipedia because I decided to do some research on it instead of pulling random opinions from my own ass.
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The song is dotted with references to the wandering disorientation that comes with touring, such as "coming to town with the briefcase blues".
Beck himself has talked about the meaning of "Devils Haircut" on a few occasions. In one interview, he claimed that it was "a really simplistic metaphor for the evil of vanity". He said of the song: “ I don't know if I ever had any youthful purity, but I can understand that you might be tempted to make commercial shit and compromise to do it. I try not to compromise on anything. I think we associate becoming an adult with compromise. Maybe that's what the devil is. In "Devils Haircut", that was the scenario. I imagined Stagger Lee... I thought, what if this guy showed up now in 1996... I thought of using him as a Rumpelstiltskin figure, this Lazarus figure to comment on where we've ended up as people. What would he make of materialism and greed and ideals of beauty and perfection? His reaction would be, "Whoa, this is disturbing shit".
@B0NG They're not rambling nonsense, but they're not straightforwardly sensible, either. They're about something in that they came out of a certain state, and listening to them can lead you to understand and experience a bit of that state.<br /> <br /> So, he wrote this song thinking about the disorientation of being a touring musician, and the disorientation of unexpectedly being a minor star (as he said elsewhere), and the disorientation of traveling in general, and also thinking about compromise, and the line between growing up and selling out, and how drawing that line in the wrong place has affected our society, and how it's made even your own city disorienting, and the evil of vanity, and so on.<br /> <br /> Most of that is there to find in the song if you look hard enough, and, maybe even more importantly, it's also there to affect you if you just listen. But Beck isn't even thinking about "How do I get these ideas into my listeners' minds", he's just thinking about the ideas themselves, and writing what flows from them into the restrictive structure of song lyrics, and the result is something that gets the ideas into his listeners' minds.
No, but they sound like rambling nonsense, while not being which just adds to the experience
ah i love beck..i've been listenin since i was about 7..he is great..i love the drums in this song and the fx
this was SUCH a great song live... if you ever get the chance, GO SEE BECK LIVE!!!!!!!!!! it was one of my all time fav concerts and i didnt think i was even that huge of a Beck fan.... it was just sooo entertaining! you will love it!!
this was SUCH a great song live... if you ever get the chance, GO SEE BECK LIVE!!!!!!!!!! it was one of my all time fav concerts and i didnt think i was even that huge of a Beck fan.... it was just sooo entertaining! you will love it!!