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.
Last night I told a stranger all about you
They smiled patiently with disbelief
I always knew you would succeed no matter what you tried
And I know you did it all in spite of me
Still I'm proud to have know you for the short time that I did
Glad to have been a step up on your way
Proud to be part of your illustrious career
And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
Late last night I saw you in my living room
You seemed so close but yet so cold
For a long time I thought that you'd be coming back to me
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
So cruel And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
They smiled patiently with disbelief
I always knew you would succeed no matter what you tried
And I know you did it all in spite of me
Still I'm proud to have know you for the short time that I did
Glad to have been a step up on your way
Proud to be part of your illustrious career
And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
Late last night I saw you in my living room
You seemed so close but yet so cold
For a long time I thought that you'd be coming back to me
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
So cruel And I know you did it all in spite of me
In spite of me
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Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
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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"
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.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Anyone else think that he's referring to someone who became a TV or movie star?
"Late last night, I saw you in my living room" - where TV's normally are "You seemed so close but yet so cold" - On the TV but not actually there?
Just something I'd thought about.
yeah i think "in spite of me" is cynical, as if he's always been nothing but an obstacle to her.
I think that he left that girl, and she handled it badly. And she used all the pain, and anger to make it. So in a way, he thinks that those bad feelings, helped her achieve her life goals.
He probably thought she would take him back if he wanted it, but realized at some point that she has moved on.
Yeah, I took it in a similar way, as well. He may have shared an experience or words of wisdom with her that no other man ever did before, and only because he felt worthy for her at the time... only to get caught off-guard when she makes a big and randomly falls off the map after developing such a rapid relationship. This is a common theme for many artists, I imagine. The amount of crazy can drive so many faces away.<br /> <br /> Also gotta remember that the song was written in the late 80's (I think), so communication was horrendous compared to how information is accessed these days. This is constant food for thought and should be respected; maybe under modern-day circumstances this song would've never been created, but be grateful how easily you can track down and revisit memory lane with an old friend... even if you treat it as a breaching of "privacy."<br /> <br /> So badabing, a dent was left in the man's soul as classes divided the couple. Man appreciates the memories but feels sorrow upon revisiting them, aching to the thought of her never coming back like the poor mutt in Futurama.
I think they loved each other and he was supportive but she left him because she wasn’t strong enough to juggle her focused successful-career-oriented discipline with his drugs-depression-insomnia-fueled lifestyle, felt herself allowing herself to slip into his shadow (as all that childhood programming demands), and wasn’t willing to let her career become roadkill..
I think he’s moved on too… but sometimes, late at night, still thinks about how it could have been, and feels the layers of anger, guilt, resentment… it feels like shes doing it deliberately to hurt him (and its easier to forget, that way), but perhaps he ultimately knows shes not, and his final thought is to mock his own cynicism.
This is one of my all time favourite songs because it hits really close to home. I think the writer was in a relationship with a very ambitious, narcissistic and ungrateful woman. He poured all of his energy into her and helping her succeed in an attempt to earn recognition and love which she didn't give (enough).
When she started taking off and outgrowing what he could do for her, her eroded with his future value to her career. He hung on to her more and more desperately, which, because she was already emotionally leaving made her more and more angry and treat him worse and worse as she began to see him as a lead weight, until she just upgraded partners and gave her "love" to someone else that was much more valuable to the next level of career success.
She just discarded him. No recognition, or gratitude, or appreciation for how big a part he played in her history and current success and only remembers how angry he made her because he was too pathetic to just let go and fade away when she was done with him.
And as he's grieving and drinking alone and telling a stranger how pivotal a role he played in this person's career advancement, he's so broken and hollow that the stranger just smiles and pity's him in disbelief.
@christopherso Remember that he's a moderately successful musician himself so this could quite easily be written about/for someone real...a letter to express that he still loves her, how important their time together was to him, wouldn't change how much he put into her, and is pathetically not angry but just hurt and confused at how she has reduced him to the anger and fighting in the final days as she was struggling with leaving him to jump to the next level of success.
I think he wrote this song from his Dad's perspective talking about him. I don't think he was ever very close to his Dad, and his Dad didn't even really know how talented his son was until he was gone. I think he wrote it partly because he didn't feel supported by his Dad, and partly hoping that deep down his Dad was proud of him and just didn't know how to show his love very well.
Is this song meant to be cynical? What I mean is, do you think the narrator is bitter when he say "in spite of me"? Obviously, thats what it seems like, but the music is so wistful and melancholy... when I first heard it I didn't pick up on the bitterness because the song is so beautiful. In any case, I guess its about an ex that he wants back, but hes bitter because shes moved on and he can't yet.
Is this song meant to be cynical? What I mean is, do you think the narrator is bitter when he say "in spite of me"? Obviously, thats what it seems like, but the music is so wistful and melancholy... when I first heard it I didn't pick up on the bitterness because the song is so beautiful. In any case, I guess its about an ex that he wants back, but hes bitter because shes moved on and he can't yet.
If he's being cynical then why is the hope of this person returning a cruel thought? No, it isn't spite as in hatred, its "You became a success despite being involved with a deadbeat like me." From the first verse it sounds like a son or daughter, and he's drunk at a bar telling a stranger how proud he is.
"In spite of me" is ambiguous. It could mean "despite me" or "to spite me". Likewise, he could be genuine in saying that he is lucky to have known and helped this person, with greater talents than his, on their way to better things; or he could be sarcastic, like, yknow, "I'm SO proud to you used me as a step up in your ILLUSTRIOUS career".
F knows which meaning was intended. But I'd like to think he was subtle enough to intend both.