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.
Waiting as I'm wanting to
Speaking as I'm spoken to
Changing to your point of view
Fading as I follow you
A boyish notion of false emotion
These words are spoken despite my love
A fool's devotion was set in motion
My eyes are open now
It's a glass cage so I can't pretend
You hide beneath the physical
I see it coming but I can't defend
You cut so deep, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is
Tell me what I want to say
Save me for another day
Break me, it's the game you play
Hate me as I turn away
A boyish notion of false emotion
These words are spoken despite my love
A fool's devotion was set in motion
My eyes are open now
It's a glass cage so I can't pretend
You hide beneath the physical
I see it coming but I can't defend
You cut so deep, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is
It's a glass cage so I can't pretend
You hide beneath the physical
I see it coming but I can't defend
You cut so deep, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is
Speaking as I'm spoken to
Changing to your point of view
Fading as I follow you
A boyish notion of false emotion
These words are spoken despite my love
A fool's devotion was set in motion
My eyes are open now
It's a glass cage so I can't pretend
You hide beneath the physical
I see it coming but I can't defend
You cut so deep, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is
Tell me what I want to say
Save me for another day
Break me, it's the game you play
Hate me as I turn away
A boyish notion of false emotion
These words are spoken despite my love
A fool's devotion was set in motion
My eyes are open now
It's a glass cage so I can't pretend
You hide beneath the physical
I see it coming but I can't defend
You cut so deep, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is
It's a glass cage so I can't pretend
You hide beneath the physical
I see it coming but I can't defend
You cut so deep, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is gone
My belief is gone, my belief is
Lyrics submitted by tarelysian
Looking Glass Lyrics as written by Michael Hanmer Matthew O'halloran
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When a song really speaks to you, it's like you automatically can understand it better which is how this song is for me. Don't take the video so literal. The whole video is a metaphor. It's basically saying it's about someone who was being controlled by their significant other. He was making her (or trying to make her) into what he wanted her to be. He made her feel she wasn't good enough and was filling her head full of nails and telling her what she should and shouldn't do and how she should be. She was doing it to please him, because she couldn't see he was the bad guy. She was so enamoured by him she thought he was perfect and etc..."A fool's devotion was set in motion"...she was doing everything he wanted her to, and she was losing herself in the process. she finally opened her eyes and realized him for who he was. Realized she was doing things to try to make him love her, when he would never accept her for who she is. the teacher thing is just a clever metaphor. The masks in the video sort of represent that she was becoming like all of his other previous (and maybe even present) "toys"...just clinging to him and not seeing him for what he was...she was losing herself behind that mask...and becoming a face in the crowd so to speak
@NevermorePixie Basically my exe Carolyn Yordy. She was a total control freak! OCPD! Divorcing her her was the best Christmas present!!!
unbelieveable nobody has commented this song yet! i was in search for a new song on myspace and i looked on their profile and i went and got the album in store later on and its amazing i love every track, especially this one, and red stars
The music video explains it all.
This song is about having a crush on like a movie star or something and then finding out that they're not what you thought they were and your belief is gone.
Their album is amazing, my favs are "goodnight" , "red stars" and "unfamiliar" but i really love the lyrics of "looking glass". Seems to be about a bad relationship. At first the girl was deeply in love with the boy, even though his feelings for her weren't true (" A boyish notion of false emotion"), so she changed herself to satisfy him ("Changing to your point of view Fading as I follow you"). But with time she realizes that the boy keeps hurting her ("I see it coming but I can't defend You cut so deep, my belief is gone") and she loses faith in the relationship so she decides to end it and leave.
I think this is an absolutly great song. I like TBM songs because they make you think and they have such deep meanings to them.
I saw this video and think this song mean This girl has a crush on her teacher (obviously). She thinks he's a good teacher but all of the sudden she knows something is wrong..she can feel it but she can't see it. When she does see it with her own eyes She basically thinks to herself, "I can't pretend I didn't see that. He hides behind his good looks. I can see it but I can't stop it or defend myself from it."First she believed he was good but now she doesn't and now her believe about him is gone.**I also think it wasn't just this one girl who knew. i think this teacher is picking these girls off one by one and I think thats why she says "Save me for another day" and when he does he does this... "Break me, it's the game you play" then he ends up hating her and the rest of the girls. I dont know what "bad" thing he is doing but this is my interpretation of this song
Geez, am I the only person who liked the video? You're all looking at it very superficially. The schoolgirl/teacher theme is SYMBOLISM. He has a control over her, she is lured in with this false idea of him being amazing because he has forcefed her his lies. Her dreams of him are shattered by the end of the song. Shown in the video by the other girls falling apart around her, she sees she was not the only one to have been sucked in to his "game" The video rocks, i love most of their videos.. they are made really well. Plus.. Chibi is sooo hott. lol.
The music video doesn't suck at all. In fact, it's brilliant and described the songs well. Like someone else said, it's a metaphor... The video is not literal at all.
I think each of the class mates represent the girl, the victim, and how many times the man has hurt her.. or changed her.
In the beginning she's giving him the red apple. At the end she's giving him the black apple.. Which I think and took it as, means she's just ending it. The Poisonous apple. Rather than giving him more feed off of, she gives him something to end the deal.
i luv this song!! i had to sign this song for asl my teacher was mad at me when i told her wat it was about so me and my friend had to change it to where the concept would be the same.... we did like a pllay to where er had this one girl that i liked and i would sign to her so then during the breaks my friend would pester me to get me to tell her that i liked her and on the last instument break i tell her and she turn me down i would be heart broken and sign the last part of the song. i think the funniest thing was my teacher's reaction when i told her what it was about... yea but bad ass song
I think the song is actually about a woman trapped in an abusive relationship.
"Waiting as I'm wanted to. Speaking as I'm spoken to." This person is forcing her to stay and obey. She's not allowed to do anything without him, and she isn't to speak unless he tells her to. She has no independence from him.
"Changing to your point of view; Fading as I follow you." She is losing her identity and becoming his third arm. She isn't allowed a say nor even an opinion in anything they do.
"A boyish notion of false emotion, These words are spoken despite my love." She remembers what it was like before she met her husband/boyfriend/whoever, and speaks out once, and he displays that he doesn't love her at all, even if she still loves and needs him.
"A fool's devotion was set in motion, My eyes are open now." She realizes that this is wrong, and that society has made her into the image of woman- dependent and devoted to her man, despite how poorly she is treated.
"It's a glass cage so I can't pretend You hide beneath the physical." She's in a prison that she could very easily break out of; their relationship is thin and fragile glass. (This could also be, since the title is Looking Glass, like a mirror, and for the first time she realizes that the hurt and broken girl is her reflection, not some passerby.) He can't hide beneath the outer lies and physical beauty when she sees him for what he really is.
"I see it coming but I can't defend You cut so deep, my belief is gone." He lashes out at her and breaks her again. (She can't see the mirror anymore, as though it's just an illusion.)
"Tell me what I want to say, Save me for another day." She refuses to let him control her again, and starts to insert her opinions into his life. He's going to beat her up again, but she refuses to give in.
"Break me, it's the game you play." She's taunting him, she's getting ready to leave.
"Hate me as I turn away." She doesn't care what he does or thinks, because she's going to get him out of her life.
This was just the way I thought of it.