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.
When I drink
I say things I don't want to say
I do things I don't wanna do
I talk mean to you
But if I think
I just might get something out of this
My parents taught me to learn when I miss
Just do your best
Just do your best
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
'Cause when I drink
I hear things that aren't really there
I feel things when I shouldn't really care
Have fist fights with the air
But if I think about someone besides myself
I lived through the silver and the bell
With something to tell
Just do your best
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
But when I drink
I spend the next morning in a haze
But we only get so many days
Now I have one less
Just do your best
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
Oh, at least a little better than I've been so far
I say things I don't want to say
I do things I don't wanna do
I talk mean to you
But if I think
I just might get something out of this
My parents taught me to learn when I miss
Just do your best
Just do your best
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
'Cause when I drink
I hear things that aren't really there
I feel things when I shouldn't really care
Have fist fights with the air
But if I think about someone besides myself
I lived through the silver and the bell
With something to tell
Just do your best
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
But when I drink
I spend the next morning in a haze
But we only get so many days
Now I have one less
Just do your best
It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity
Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be
At least a little better than I've been so far
Oh, at least a little better than I've been so far
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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.
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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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.
sippin on whiskey in the dark when your all alone this is the greatest drinking song ever!
I agree 100 Percent!!
I think this song has a much deeper meaning. It might sound like a fun drinking game, but I think the artist is trying to make something hopeful out of a bad circumstance--alcoholism.
He loses fists fights with the air, is mean, rude, and wakes up in a haze.
"I've been through the silver and the bells": I believe means he's been to AA meetings. Silver coins for sobriety (30/60/90 days, etc.) and bells, as many AA meetings are held in church basements, and churches have bells that go off every hour.
I think he's rejecting AA's ideas, because he said "he's lived through it", which implies a negative experience with it.
"Just do your best": No one is perfect, but do a little better, every day, for your own sanity.
This is certainly not a "happy" song-- he becomes delusional, emotional, and angry, fill of regrets. I think he's trying to make the best out of a crappy situation, with humour (the "I hear things that aren't really there-- la la la").
But he IS making the best of the situation: Have humour and do your best.
Crackerfarm posted a video of Seth visiting the Martin Guitar factory back in March and in it, he talks about his solo record, The Mourning, The Silver, The Bell; he says that the mourning is the realization that something tragic has happened, the silver is something flashy that catches your eye - something you mistakenly interpret as a tool to overcome the mourning, and the bell represents clarity. It was cool to see him discuss it aloud, as I'd been wondering about the phrase ever since I heard it.
Straight up. You don't have to be perfect. Just be the best you can.
Even though the world is messed up, there is always a glimmer of hope.