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 found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
We've been cast out of? Oh oh oh oh
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they've done to you
But I'll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They'll fall to ruin one day
For making us part
I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
Now we're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
What hijacked my world that night
To a place in the past
We've been cast out of? Oh oh oh oh
Now we're back in the fight
We're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh
The phone, the TV and the news of the world
Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh
Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies
Put us back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
The powers that be
That force us to live like we do
Bring me to my knees
When I see what they've done to you
But I'll die as I stand here today
Knowing that deep in my heart
They'll fall to ruin one day
For making us part
I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh
Those were the happiest days of my life
Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh
In the wretched life of a lonely heart
Now we're back on the train
Oh, back on the chain gang
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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.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
The powers that be that force us to live like we do bring me to my knees when I see what they've done to you.
But I'll die as I stand her today knowing that deep in my heart they'll fall to ruin one day for making us apart.
Exceptional lyrics. Beautiful song.
This is the portion I hold dearest in the song; a great drop of the beat / key, and the most poingnant lyric I can think of right now.
Chrissie Hynde has, in the past, commented on the lyrics of this beautiful song, which indeed expressed her feelings about the death of the great James Honeyman-Scott. She was profoundly affected by the loss and mightily pissed at how his death was sensationalized by the rags as just another rockstar drug overdose. Thankfully, JHS's legacy lives on, and he remains one of the most underrated guitarists in history, right next to Terry Kath, Danny Gatton, Maury Muehleisen and too many others to mention.
For me, this is one of those songs that reminds me of being a kid. My mother had the record and used to play it all the time and try to get me to dance with her in the living room. This song came out on their "Learning to Crawl" album in 1984. So, I would have been around 4 or 5 then.
Anyway... Seems to me that the narrator is lamenting about the lack of freedom in her life or at least inability to do what it is that makes her happy. She's caught up in the drudgery life. And there's realization that most of the expectations/dreams she had for herself aren't panning out.
She’s felt this way for a while. But... In the past there was a special person that invigorated her. During the height of their passion she felt truly happy and, for a time, anything seemed possible - a renewed sense of freedom.
But, this could not be sustained. The romance didn’t last and, eventually, when the intensity/passion gave way she found herself again a slave to the unexciting/undesired realities of her life. Also, sounds like she believes her lover’s dreams were compromised as well and this is even more disheartening because she thought that person (her inspiration) could not be defeated.
Now that time has passed, when she looks back a picture of her past lover it brings back feelings – pureness and optimism. She wants to and is fighting to get back to that place again.
Yeah, that's what I got out of it too.
The song was originally going to be about Ray Davies, leader of the band The Kinks. Hynde and Davies were a couple and had a daughter together, but the meaning of the song changed after James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist, died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 in 1982.
I heard she wrote it after the overdose of her guitar player Honeyman-Scott...Can't remember all of it. This song was their come back after that,cos they lost two key original members to overdosing before this.
Here's a comment I have on a magazine of an interview with her about this particular song: "I'd shown it to James and he liked it. Then he died, and it turned into more of a tribute to him."
I imagine that Chrissie wrote this song when she saw a photo of an old lover. It reminds her of how happy things seemed back in those days and how the rat race has driven them apart and forced them apart.
I always thought that the line was "Conformity and the the news of the world" not "The phone, the TV and the news of the world." The true lyrics make more sense.
This is Hynde's tribute to James Honeyman-Scott, the Pretenders guitarist who died of a drug overdose in 1982. Scott's death was followed by bass player Pete Farndon's 10 months later.
The picture she refers to is of Ray Davies of The Kinks (they had been together years before) but the song was changed after the death of Scott.
Definitely a boyfriend back in her younger days. That first 'love' and first everything boyfriend... This song just makes me feel love all over.