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.
Be still my beating heart
It would be better to be cool
It's not time to be open just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget
Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Be still my beating heart
You must learn to stand your ground
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Never to be wrong
Never to make promises that break
It's like singing in the wind
Or writing on the surface of a lake
And I wriggle like a fish caught on dry land
Struggle to avoid any help at hand
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
It would be better to be cool
It's not time to be open just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget
Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Be still my beating heart
You must learn to stand your ground
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Never to be wrong
Never to make promises that break
It's like singing in the wind
Or writing on the surface of a lake
And I wriggle like a fish caught on dry land
Struggle to avoid any help at hand
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
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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"
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Mountain Song
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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."
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."
Punchline
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
This song reminds me of a girl that is perfect which I couldn't have. I met her in real life and it was confusing. She was getting married when I met her yet I felt very close to her. So I tell myself, "Be Still my Beating heart".
@King Aragorn Do you happen to know if she is still married all these years later?
To me, this song is about having feelings for a person, but not knowing if they are mutual. It is about falling in love, while fearing a painful rejection.
I don't know who came up withthis expresion, but every once in a while you can hear people saying "be still my beating heart", using it as a saying. And everyone thinks of Sting. He might just have influenced the English language!
My wrong. Sting didn't come up with this expresion. It was a romantic female poet of the late 19th century, called Mary Elizabeth Coleridge. I found the poem in question too. It's called 'All One'
"Be still, my beating heart, be still! There is no hope for thee to-night. The fading of the wintry light Has made a blackness of the hill.
Be still, be still, my beating heart! For thee to-night there is no fear. The moon has risen white and clear, And we shall neither meet nor part."
Looks like he realy liked this poem :)
OK, I promisse not to post at this song again, but I couldn't pass this out: I was just at Sting.com, and guess what "quote of the day" was on?
"'Be Still My Beating Heart' is about trying to suppress emotion and trying to deny what's going on in your emotional life for the sake of your sanity. It's a very uptight song, but again some people thought it was very romantic. I don't think it's romantic. It's just the opposite of romantic."
Well, there you have it. I AM SO SORY! I promisse not to bother you again! I'm out. lol
I’ve always liked this song and I think it deals with how infatuation can have its way with you. The heart beats faster—it’s an effort to keep cool and not look too interested. The feelings may not be mutual. I could be taken for a fool. And books do offer advice but infatuation can easily make common sense impossible.
In infatuation, we lose control, our emotions mow down our logic and if we’ve been through this before, our cautious hearts do say, please stop before we start. I don’t want this to be a roller coaster rides.
He mentions how impossible it can be to deal with the power infatuation can exert—comparing it to the difficulty of always being right, never breaking promises, singing in the wind, etc. And yet infatuation has the upper hand—being so tantalizing we can squirm like a fish out of water, while fighting furiously to not be tossed back in.
It is a romantic song in many ways. An infatuation is an object of extravagant short-lived passion.
Looking back to see when this was released and wondering when he wrote his new-romance-Trudie-songs and also if he ever wrote about the difficult dilemma of loving two women but being infatuated much more so with one, I'm guessing that here he writes about the conflicting emotions he was feeling. And his heart won.
[Sting]: "Be Still My beating Heart" is a phrase I think I stole from Shakespeare although I've no idea from which play. When I was writing that song I was in love, and I'm still in love, which is nice.
SPIN: Did you intend 'Be Still My Beating Heart' to be a musical representation of what you were going through emotionally during all this? [When your mother died …]
STING: Yeah, I think that song is a good example to take. This as one of the songs that was "dead." But what I wanted from the song all along was not performances, not emotion. I really wanted this layer, just like a river, just loping along. Anything that stood out, like a drum beat or a guitar lick, I'd take off - anything that jumps out isn't there. I wanted this kind of tension because the song is about not wanting to lose emotional control. And that is emotional in itself - the desire to hold your emotions in is very engaging
I consider this as one of the most beautiful songs ever written! (Especially the lines "I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean, my logic has drowned in a sea of emotions" - awwwww, so beautiful)
It's often said that Sting is a little control freak and in this song I can really picture him, trying to keep his heart under control but it doesn't work out.