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 was still a child when you caught me and tied me to your bed
You gave me shoes and pretty clothes, and I gave you what I had between my legs
Just a right of passage, you held me down and said
"I'm gonna be your right of passage, so boy you better spread, spread em"
You said.."run run run as fast as you can but you can't run run from the child catchers hands"
I wrote your name in my shit across the town to warn the kids of your bloodshed
When I chased you with a burning cross, my mother she wanted you dead
She said "run run run as fast as you can but you can't run run from our law given hand"
You said
"well I've got no time for victims and I don't think it was all that bad
And if you can't run to save yourself well then you deserve to be had
This is the age of constipation, this is the age of martyrdom
I think you even enjoyed it, I think I even saw you come"
You gave me shoes and pretty clothes, and I gave you what I had between my legs
Just a right of passage, you held me down and said
"I'm gonna be your right of passage, so boy you better spread, spread em"
You said.."run run run as fast as you can but you can't run run from the child catchers hands"
I wrote your name in my shit across the town to warn the kids of your bloodshed
When I chased you with a burning cross, my mother she wanted you dead
She said "run run run as fast as you can but you can't run run from our law given hand"
You said
"well I've got no time for victims and I don't think it was all that bad
And if you can't run to save yourself well then you deserve to be had
This is the age of constipation, this is the age of martyrdom
I think you even enjoyed it, I think I even saw you come"
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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"
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
this song really made me sit up straight, for once. actually, i believe this song was what ignited my love for mister wolf.
He was 15, and a guy took advantage of him. How....creepy and interesting all at the same time. I
oops...pressed enter too soon. Anyways. I like the part where he does the voice of the childcatcher...uber freaky
it sad how much i love this song, but it may in fact be a true incident that patrick wolf experienced. it may be figurative, but it still is full of intense emotion that you couldnt even judge it.
its a great song, but the lyrics are scary. if it was me i could never sing about it like he does.
I thought it was allegorical, and am bemused to see no-one else does. Surrendering sexual innocence...enduring puberty. Inevitable, intensive change.
The only things Patrick has really said in interviews about this song is that "It was at a time when i was a child and was having a relationship with a person who was still emotionally a child"
I'm not sure it's autobiographical in the way most people seem to think it is...
/\Sure it is. "A person who is STILL emotionally a child" is an adult. So it's about rape. Statutory rape. The lyrics and your quote match.
Quote from an interview: What about "The Childcatcher" - a song that has lines like "you gave me shoes and pretty clothes and I gave you what I had between my legs"? There are surely elements of abuse in there.
"Yeah - it was a certain relationship, I was 15 at the time but I was still a child. It wasn't like I was 6-years-old, I was 15. I was still mentally a child and the person knew I was still mentally a child. It's hard to communicate at the time because it's like a complicated thing, but maybe put it into the context of a child being eight-years-old or seven-years-old; it was an easy way of communicating what was actually happening. But then there's also the other side that five years later, like [when I was] 19 I wrote the second part where it comes in with the voice of the person who did the abuse, and it turns out 'Oh come on, you know, it wasn't so much an abuse, maybe you just weren't ready for it. Maybe you enjoyed it?'"
Anyway, I love this song. It's amazing how much passion he sings with. I like to listen to this song with headphones on to cancel anything out, as it's one of those songs where you keep discovering new things you didn't realise.
Where did you find that from I can't find that interview anywhere?
This song makes me mentally sick, and I love it.