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.
Love in our life is just too valuable
Oh, to feel for even a second without it
But life without death is just impossible
Oh, to realize something is ending within us
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Oh, to feel for even a second without it
But life without death is just impossible
Oh, to realize something is ending within us
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Feeling yourself disintegrate
Lyrics submitted by minette
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Despite the shortness of this song, it carries so much power. It came at just the perfect moment in my life--when depression seemed inescapable and I lost all hope at finding happiness in the future.
This song showed to me that regardless of the apparent bleakness of our existence, love and closeness to other people will help us get through, because with other people we realize that we are all in this together. Sure, we may experience a lot of hell in our lives and this may make us seem that our lives are useless--that we should simply die already--but we must realize that our lives are valuable and the love we experience within it is the best thing a man could have.
We must love everything in the world--the trees, the stars, everyone we meet--the entire experience!--because if we forget to love then we have lost the whole meaning of our lives to banality and repetition, or, worse, death.
While we constantly are "feeling [ourselves] disintegrate," this disintegration should not feel like an hopeless demotivator but rather a catalyst for our success. Because we recognize that we are, indeed, disintegrating, it encourages us to make the most of our short, yet beautiful, existence.
I just got the CD a few days ago, and suddenly I got this out of the last part of the CD:
The Gash leads from the inspirational battle hymn to the realization that someone you love is dying...that's why there's so few songs for such a long song. It's so perfectly described in the lyrics what that feels like that they don't need to elaborate (the angelic feel of the mood and melody don't hurt, either).
I don't know how Wayne Coyne's dad died, but if it was long death, possibly a painful one, these lyrics are just the wearing down of the psyche as you see someone you know and love degrade in front of you. As they degrade, so do you, in tiny little doses. But prolonged death can sometimes inspire death anxieties that laid dormant before, which in turn inspires hope, hence the beauty of the song.
After this is Sleeping on the Roof, which isn't listed because, it has no lyrics. This song is about the actual death, and in the booklet the song is subtitled with "(excerpt from "Should We Keep The Severed Head Awake??)," so I assume it's about death. This is the death. Since it's been such a long journey, it's a peaceful song instead of chaotic or abrupt. It's just simple, yet extravagantly produced; the song is aboutwhat happens when the slow, possibly painful journey towards death reaches death.
Then they spring Race for the Prize on you to cheer you back up, and also to inspire hope if the funeral dirge didn't (it did in me, but just thinking about it made me cry. My cat died on the roof, and likening the song to an actual death really cleaned out my system).
Then there's Waitin' For a Superman, to keep people holding on while they find a new Superman to lift their sun up into the sky.
Jesus Christ, if this album doesn't evoke emotion in you, you're fucking dead.
incredible song. I think Wayne wrote it about his dad dying. It kind of parallels with Waiting For A Superman. It's really a positive reflective song.
I think it flows well from The Gash, but its kind of hard to explain shortly, because it was a complicated trip, but in the shortest version possible, in The Gash, a man faded into his own imagination, and then discovered that that's all life was, this cycle of his own mind, and he was the only real human, if he indeed was real. So, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate fits perfectly. His denial is weakening (how can I live without love, when I'm the only person; how does my life exist without death?), but then he just succumbs into his mind (feeling himself disintegrate).
This song..... my..God... how... how can somebody not LOVE the Flaming Lips?
Can't get this song out of my head. It is so beautful. I played it for my mother and she actually started to cry. Not many lyrics but they are so damn profound! Love is the most valuable thing we have, and death is the only sure thing. The ending lines "somthing is ending within us" and "Feeling yourself disinegrate" are so sad and powerful. This song is truly amazing
The repeated "Feeling yourself disinegrate" is one of the best moments on this record. To me the song is simply saying that life is short, and love as much as you can cuz it's all temporary.
to me, feeling yourself disintegrate is about all the love you can have for life. nor just love for people, but for everything. clouds, air, wind, stars, animals, food, laughter , or whatever floats your boat
this is just a ridiculously good song, I can't believe that no one has posted anything about it. I actually am pretty sure that the lyrics are: Love in our life is just too valuable Oh, to feel for even a second without it But life without death is just impossible Oh, to realize something is ending within us Feeling yourself disintegrate
So yeah I think it's pretty much just about being dumped after a long time and how it feels to lose that part of you.
I understand the last repeated line as "feeling your self disintegrate".<br /> The changed meaning comes from the disintegration of one's ego... <br /> The person is saying that it is impossible for something to end, since things that are uncreated by human beings can not either begin or end (love, life, death)... It's all cyclical. <br /> Once the ego mediated self is gone, this person is finally seeing things as what they really are. A form of an enlightened state of egoless bliss.
those lyrics need correcting, i must agree with you...flaming lips are awesome...if they wold only come to Calgary SOON! god damn...