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.
And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
Was the hardest part
And the strangest thing
Was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start
I could feel it go down
Bittersweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the cloud
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out
And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
You really broke my heart, oh
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
And that was the hardest part, oh
I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it's all about
I wonder what it's all about
Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do, it's just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and it's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Yeah that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
Was the hardest part
And the strangest thing
Was waiting for that bell to ring
It was the strangest start
I could feel it go down
Bittersweet I could taste in my mouth
Silver lining the cloud
Oh and I
I wish that I could work it out
And the hardest part
Was letting go, not taking part
You really broke my heart, oh
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
And that was the hardest part, oh
I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're silver lining the clouds
Oh and I
Oh and I
I wonder what it's all about
I wonder what it's all about
Everything I know is wrong
Everything I do, it's just comes undone
And everything is torn apart
Oh and it's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
Yeah that's the hardest part
That's the hardest part
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To me this song is about losing someone who very close to your heart, even if he never was yours.
When you meet someone very special.. and you know from the first moment you look into her eyes that she is that person. She's the one for you and this is the person you want to have for your whole life. It doesn't matter if you're too young for it. Your'e so enchanted and you don't care about anything. You can wait for her your whole life.. you're waiting for the bells to ring.. you're waiting for some sign... a little sign from her to let you know about her feeling toward you.
BOOM. somehow.. for some reasons.. you can't have her.. She's letting you go. And you can't do nothing about it. You can't change her mind. You can't understand why she's letting you go. This moment, The most painful freezing moment when you realize that the person of your dreams is slipping out of your hands and you can't do nothing about it.. This is the hardest part when you have to let it go without taking part.
You feel the sadness go down in your stomach.. you look back to those days when you had this hope that maybe one day she will be in your harms.. you still can feel the bittersweet taste that she left in your mouth.
Everything is torn apart when she's not beside you... You're blaming yourself.. YOU ALWAYS WONDERING WHY.. WHY... WHY?
This is the most bittersweet song i've ever known.. about broken heart.. and the sweet feeling you can still taste from the love you lost.
Who knows... maybe one day she will be in my harms.. Until then.. always in my dreams..
@Blackfield True interpretation... you have hit the spot
I'd like to add something to your beatiful interpretation. I guess you missed this side of the song because...you maybe too young to know it.<br /> I think they even named the song after the fact that every part of loosing someone you love is hard, so the author keeps telling us which is "the hardest part" and he he goes on describing moments of pain...all of them anyone who'd ever been through this can easily recignised, even feeling the dread again...<br /> So I think the main message of this song is that every dammed part of breaking up is hard, so painfully hard.
i like this song, a lot. but i had to laugh, cuz the first thing i though about when i sang it to myself, was relating it to eating sumthin good, then going to the bathroom. "I could feel it go down You left the sweetest taste in my mouth" - can feel the food goin down, tasted so good. "Oh and I... I wish that I could work it out" - after eating it, you really had to go....
but then you get to the rest of the song, and you find out thats not what its about! great song though!
I agree with StephMLow...it seems to be about letting someone (or something) go, because you think it's best, even though it's painful. I find it especially pertinent because I'm a Catholic teen and have been considering joining the priesthood when the time comes to get a job/figure out my vocation. I've felt "called" to the priesthood lately (though it's entirely possible I'm not, still), but becoming a priest would require a painful sacrifice, namely celibacy. I'd have to "let go" of the possibilty of ever loving someone in the romantic sense. That would be the hardest part.
i love this song, the new album is fantastic... chris' voice just sounds perfect in this song.. "And the hardest part Was letting go, not taking part You really broke my heart, oh..."
i love it
To me this song is about a guy leaving his bride to be at the alter, even though it's the hardest part he knows its the only way they can both be happy.<br /> I got this meaning through the lyrics <br /> <br /> "And the strangest thing<br /> was waiting for that bell to ring<br /> It was the strangest start"<br /> <br /> the whole start to their new life together just didn't seem right, it feels strange listening to those joyous church bells ring while the emotional tension between this couple contrasts that happiness.<br /> <br /> "I could feel it go down"<br /> <br /> He knew that their relationship was already falling apart, and as he walked to that alter hearing those strange bells he already sensed that this was a bad descision.<br /> <br /> "Bittersweet, I could taste in my mouth"<br /> <br /> The bittersweet taste of regret lingers on in his memory as he recounts the day he left her there.<br /> <br /> "I wish that I could work it out"<br /> <br /> In retrospect he wished that they could have gotten married and worked past their problem, but clearly that didn't happen.<br /> <br /> "And the hardest part<br /> Was letting go, not taking part<br /> You really broke my heart, oh..."<br /> <br /> Finally the most meaningful lyric in this song. It shows that it was she who betrayed him, and even though he knew this he still contemplated going through wtith the wedding, that's why he was there on the day the weddding bells sounded.<br /> <br /> "I wonder what it's all about”<br /> Here he contemplates why she betrayed him in the first place.<br /> <br /> “Everything I know is wrong<br /> Everything I do, it just comes undone<br /> And everything is torn apart<br /> <br /> Oh and it's the hardest part<br /> That's the hardest part<br /> Yeah that's the hardest part<br /> That's the hardest part”<br /> <br /> And finally the most heartbreaking part of the whole song, where he first places the blame on himself in the first paragraph lyrics. Then after his self blame session he tells us that everything was torn apart beyond repair, and the hardest part was to make the decision to walk away for both their sakes. That my friends is the hardest part, or at least my interpretation of it.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Post Reply
read briseis and tell me what u think
Chris Martin on the song: "It seemed too sunny, but then the album's called X&Y, it's about contrasts, so when we started putting it together it seemed needed. It's very necessary now."
read briseis and tell me what u think
uhm, i'm sorry but it sounded really despressive/regretful<br />
An Amazing song! Probably the best song on the album aswell as swalloed in the sea which is also a Great song.
Amazing song that adds a lot of depth to the album, in my opinion. It's become a personal favorite of mine, since it describes a situation from my past to near perfection. Aside from that, the way it's sung is just amazing.
This is such a great song. It really tells of Chris's love for his wife, and gives a loving view of what a man thinks of and goes through when his wife is pregnant. So great!!!!
Wow, I was searching for something (or someone) to confirm my gut feeling that this is about pregnancy/giving birth. And you did! Totally agree with you.
To me it's letting go of someone who you love and you know it might be the best for you to let them go. You see the relationship crumble but you want them to know they left a sweet taste in your mouth and you aren't bitter or angry.
read briseis and tell me what u think
A great song... one of my favorites on the new album probably the second best but thats me