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.
Bill Horton was a cautious man of the road
He walked lookin' over his shoulder and remained faithful to its code
When something caught his eye he'd measure his need
And then very carefully he'd proceed
Billy met a young girl in the early days of May
It was there in her arms he let his cautiousness slip away
In their lovers twilight as the evening sky grew dim
He'd lay back in her arms and laugh at what had happened to him
On his right hand Billy tattooed the word love and on his left hand was the word fear
And in which hand he held his fate was never clear
Come Indian summer he took his young lover for his bride
And with his own hands built a great house down by the riverside
Now Billy was an honest man he wanted to do what was right
He worked hard to fill their lives with happy days and loving nights
Alone on his knees in the darkness for steadiness he'd pray
For he knew in a restless heart the seed of betrayal lay
One night Billy awoke from a terrible dream callin' his wife's name
She lay breathing beside him in a peaceful sleep, a thousand miles away
He got dressed in the moonlight and down to the highway he strode
When he got there he didn't find nothing but road
Billy felt a coldness rise up inside him that he couldn't name
Just as the words tattooed 'cross his knuckles he knew would always remain
At their bedside he brushed the hair from his wife's face as the moon shone on her skin so white
Filling their room with the beauty of God's fallen light
He walked lookin' over his shoulder and remained faithful to its code
When something caught his eye he'd measure his need
And then very carefully he'd proceed
Billy met a young girl in the early days of May
It was there in her arms he let his cautiousness slip away
In their lovers twilight as the evening sky grew dim
He'd lay back in her arms and laugh at what had happened to him
On his right hand Billy tattooed the word love and on his left hand was the word fear
And in which hand he held his fate was never clear
Come Indian summer he took his young lover for his bride
And with his own hands built a great house down by the riverside
Now Billy was an honest man he wanted to do what was right
He worked hard to fill their lives with happy days and loving nights
Alone on his knees in the darkness for steadiness he'd pray
For he knew in a restless heart the seed of betrayal lay
One night Billy awoke from a terrible dream callin' his wife's name
She lay breathing beside him in a peaceful sleep, a thousand miles away
He got dressed in the moonlight and down to the highway he strode
When he got there he didn't find nothing but road
Billy felt a coldness rise up inside him that he couldn't name
Just as the words tattooed 'cross his knuckles he knew would always remain
At their bedside he brushed the hair from his wife's face as the moon shone on her skin so white
Filling their room with the beauty of God's fallen light
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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.
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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.
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“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Ah, little lad, you're staring at my fingers. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil? H-A-T-E! It was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low. L-O-V-E! You see these fingers, dear hearts? These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends, the hand of love. Now watch, and I'll show you the story of life. Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t'other. Now watch 'em! Old brother left hand, left hand he's a fighting, and it looks like love's a goner. But wait a minute! Hot dog, love's a winning! Yessirree! It's love that's won, and old left hand hate is down for the count! – Preacher Harry Powell, The Night Of The Hunter
The tattooes are a little over-the-top, but the story of this song is still very palpable.
The meaning of this song can be best summed up by reciting 2 very well-know rules of how one goes about life: (1) Don't sweat the small stuff and (2) It's all small stuff.<br /> This song is about a guy who worries too much. "When he got there he didn't find nothing but road" is the perfect way to summarize it. All those worries he had in his head came to the fore, and when he tried to find the source of all the things he could not understand, he went somewhere that was familiar to him to find the answer -<br /> the road. There, he found nothing, because there was nothing to begin with.<br />
I thought this website has a good interpretation: houston.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/07-18-10-where-it-all-started-for-bruce-springsteen-the-fourth-highest-earning-musician-in-the-world-songs-40-31/
The key part: "Take “Cautious Man,” for instance, where the ambivalence on display probably was hitting close to home. Springsteen’s marital woes bubbled to the surface in the guise of a man named Billy, whose life of solitude and wandering is interrupted, against all odds, by a sudden love affair. This guy is right out of some pulpy film, what with the symbolic tattoos and his adherence to the code of the road, but all that quickly goes by the wayside when this girl comes into the picture.
Domesticity wins out.
But only for a little while. Despite all of his good intentions and efforts to stay true, the road keeps calling to Billy. Again, a dream is the turning point, and when he wakes to find his new wife “breathing beside him in a peaceful sleep, a thousand miles away,” he tears out to the highway. But even that has now lost its luster, as Billy finds no answers, just “nothing but road.”
In many ways, the song, just acoustic guitar and brooding synths, ends in the middle of the story, with Billy returning to his wife’s bedside in an ironically peaceful scene as the moon pours light into the room. We can guess how it’s going to end from the “coldness” that Billy feels, and we can extrapolate how it ended from Springsteen’s own eventual divorce. But we don’t know, and it’s the not knowing that gives “Cautious Man” its depth and unsettling sadness."
@Mark1971 exactly right. we don't know. thanks