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.
Still, by the windowpane
Pain, like the rain that's falling
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
When, when was the night so long?
Long, like the notes I'm sending
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
Pain, like the rain that's falling
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
When, when was the night so long?
Long, like the notes I'm sending
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
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Love those seagulls by Adrian! Yes, beautiful chord sequences.
This strikes me as a story of longing, of a Japanese woman who has travelled to the USA on a long business trip, separating her from her partner back home. She sits in the chair of her hotel room at night, gazing out the window over a bleak, rainy, foreign city. She wishes she could be back home, or have her partner with her, but knows she can't, and just has to sit it out until they can reunite. Deep down, she fears that maybe it will be too long; maybe they won't.
"Please wait."
Ya, but - inpraiseoffolly I think you might give some credit to the way Adrian Belew etc has managed to make music express the emotion of what is not being laid out clearly by the lyrics.
In fact, the great lyrics often leave the meaning to be decided on by the listeners, or that they lyrics could be interpreted differently for each listener, for them to apply to their own lives or experiences [like "Stairway to Heaven"?]
I picture an old black woman sitting there, waiting, waiting... probably waiting to die of old age... the "sad america" she sees out her front door..
Whatever, it is a beautifull song.
Beautiful song. One of my favorites from King Crimson. Matte Kudasai - Please Wait For Me in Japanese.
Also really like the high kind of sound that keeps coming back, i think it's a guitar. Anyway, i think it's a beautiful song. One of my favourites from the album.
I think it could be about the Statue of Liberty.
This must be about a Japanese woman who lives in America now and is lonely.
Japanese because of the 'matte kudasai', which means"'please wait'.Clearly she waits on the phone: 'she waits in the air'. Obviously she is trying to contact family or a friend in Japan. She is not a traveller like a tourist or a business woman: it is HER sad America.
Why she sleeps in a chair is not clear. Maybe she had to wait very long. But then this story must have happened a long time ago, when you had to wait on the phone at long distance calls. It may also explain why she gets an operator on the phone: 'please wait'. She is waiting quite some time: 'still by the window pane'.
"She sleeps in a chair"\n"She waits in the air",\n\nMaybe she\'s on a plane? A plane is one of few places where you\'d be likely to sleep in a chair - and pretty much the only place where you would be able to wait in the air.
Very nic e musically, poor lyrically (and that's more than it deserves).