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.
In December, drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
In December, drinking horchata
Look down your glasses at that Aranciata
With lips and teeth to ask how my day went
Boots and fists to pound on the pavement
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
You'd remember drinking horchata
You'd still enjoy it with your foot on Masada
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh, you had it but oh, no, you lost it
Looking back, you shouldn't have fought it
In December, drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Years go by and hearts start to harden
Those palms and firs that grew in your garden
Are falling down and nearing the rosebeds
The roots are shooting up through the tool shed
Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went
Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh, you had it but oh, no, you lost it
You understood so you shouldn't have fought it
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
In December, drinking horchata
Look down your glasses at that Aranciata
With lips and teeth to ask how my day went
Boots and fists to pound on the pavement
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
You'd remember drinking horchata
You'd still enjoy it with your foot on Masada
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh, you had it but oh, no, you lost it
Looking back, you shouldn't have fought it
In December, drinking horchata
I'd look psychotic in a balaclava
Winter's cold is too much to handle
Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Years go by and hearts start to harden
Those palms and firs that grew in your garden
Are falling down and nearing the rosebeds
The roots are shooting up through the tool shed
Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went
Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Oh, you had it but oh, no, you lost it
You understood so you shouldn't have fought it
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten
Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Lyrics submitted by ElleDriver, edited by dodgerblue
Horchata Lyrics as written by Christopher William Tomson Christopher Joseph Baio
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
This song seems to be about finding love and it "dying." The beginning is about exotic things and places, like horchata (a drink), pincher crabs (on a beach somewhere), and Masada (a part of Israel, I believe). "Winter's cold is too much to handle" by himself, so he has someone with him. This could explain that they're with each other more for comfort than for actual love. "Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten" is the feeling of love. Everyone's been thru that feeling where they can't find anyone else and they're alone.
Things get bad.
The balaclava is a ski mask, an international sign of a criminal. "Years go by and hearts start to harden / Those palms and firs that grew in your garden / Are falling down and nearing the rosebeds / The roots are shooting up through the tool shed / Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went / Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement" This should be self-explanitory. They had a "garden" of beautiful firs and rosebeds but it's falling apart and turning ugly. Those same lips that he loved are soon the lips he "buried," or murdered. He broke up with her. "Oh you had it but oh no you lost it / You understood so you shouldn't have fought it. " She saw it coming but she still disagrees and protested.
That's my take! AMAZING song! I like it more than anything on the original LP!!
a balaclava is not a ski mask. It's basically a hood, but no facial coverings. So it is not an "international sign of a criminal". It was named after the village, Balaclava, because that is what the soldiers wore during the Battle of Balaclava, so it is more like a sign of a soldier.
you both have points, but a balaclava is what people call ski masks, even though it isn't correct according to the dictionary it still is socially correct.
masada is a fort outside of jerusalem...
@TheNipper: Yes, it is, I learned about the siege of Masada in history last year. I think this song is a continuation of the whole intercultural relationship thing in "M79" and "Campus"... with the middle eastern reference to Masada... and did anyone catch that they used an oboe in this song, or something that sounds like it, which is normally used to create an Egyptian or Middle East type of sound in the orchestra? When I first heard this song that jumped out at me - it sounds Arabian. Just wondering...
I think it's saying "I'd look psychotic in a balaclava" because it's talking about being somewhere warm in december, not somewhere that people need to wear any kind of gear to stay warm.<br /> <br /> The reference to cracks in the sidewalks I think is more about a relationship that turned from a beautiful flower into a weed that's coming up in the cracks, not necessarily about a murder at all
I agree with most everything said- what with balaclava definitions, etc and I also believe this to be about some sort of relationship starting to deteriorate..what stood out to me after giving this a good listen to were the lines, <br /> <br /> "Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went<br /> Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement"<br /> <br /> I remember somewhere reading that Ezra has a "preference" or whatever for Kate Nash? These seemed to me almost a direct reference to her's 'Foundations', which also was a song about a relationship going sour.<br /> <br /> "My fingertips are holding onto<br /> The cracks in our foundation<br /> And I know that I should let go, but I can't<br /> And every time we fight, I know it's not right".....<br /> <br /> Just my two cents
For me this song is reflecting being young, and in a relationship with your life time partner. Like experiencing exotic and new things, but now, its time to settle down and start the “adult” stage of a person’s life.
In December drinking horchata I'd look psychotic in a balaclava Winter's cold is too much to handle Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals
Here, a person is trying to reminisce about his/her youthful days but drinking an “exotic” drink like horchata in the beginning of winter. He/she looks “psychotic,” because obviously it’s the drink is out of place for the type of situation he/she is now in their now settled adult residence. Winter becomes unbearable, and wishes for more of his/her traveling days to new places "pitcher crabs".
In December drinking horchata Look down your glasses at that Aranciata With lips and teeth to ask how my day went Boots and fists to pound on the pavement Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
The part of: “With lips and teeth to ask how my day went/ Boots and fists to pound on the pavement resembles how being in young and in a relationship is like. For most couples starting out, constant communication is something beginning couples have. Asking questions like “how is your day?”and “how are you feeling?” basically being intuitive of your significant other’s life. Then these questions and answers become routine, which I guess “Boots and fists to pound on the pavement” comes in, because these sessions of Q and A become aggravating and annoying to a person.
Next the part: “Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten/Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on” is basically the part of the beginning of a relationship and having innocence. The “feeling that is forgotten” could mean many things like traveling to new places when you’re were a child and have amazed and fun it was. Or it could mean rediscovering or reminiscing what love really is with your partner is. The chairs and sidewalks part could state how easy it is in beginning. A foundation is set for a person, and as time goes on that foundation is lost.
You'd remember drinkin horchata You'd still enjoy it with your foot on masada
Rembering being young again.
Winter's cold is too much to handle Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on Ooh you had it but oh no you lost it Lookin back you shouldn't have fought it
I’m going to concentrate more on the last part of: “Ooh you had it but oh no you lost it/Lookin back you shouldn't have fought it.” This could mean a relationship is becoming more and more stale, and that “love” is now becoming lost. It also, makes a point of never letting go of your youthfulness and innocence. As people become settled, they lost that edge to them and become quite boring.
In December, drinkin horchata I'd look psychotic in a balaclava Winter's cold is too much to handle Pincher crabs that pinch at your sandals Years go by and hearts start to harden Those palms and firs that grew in your garden Falling down and nearing the rose beds The roots are shooting up through the tool shed Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement
Beginning with: “Years go by...through cracks in the pavement,” the settling has finally sunken in. Those times of being young and in love are gone. Thus, leading our couple’s hearts “to harden.” The young love “palms and firms,” are now “fallowing down and nearing the rose beds” is nearing is time. The foundation of their relationship is now breaking with “roots shooting up” and “cracks in the pavement”. “Those lips and teeth asked how my day went,” now you can notice its now the “ask” is now “asked” and now the couple has very little interest in each other’s lives. Now their relationship is now “going through the motions” and doesn’t resemble at all the beginning of their relationship.
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on Oh you had it but oh no you lost it You understood so you shouldn't have fought it
Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten Chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on
Man, I need a horchata after this one.
I have no idea what this song is about but I love it. At first I thought it was about falling in love with someone for the first time (Here comes a feeling you thought you'd forgotten..) but the lyrics at the end make it seem like a murder (Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went/Are shouting up through cracks in the pavement). Maybe about both? Anyways, great song and can't wait for Contra.
Personally, I think this song is about a man who is outside in his yard in December remembering a wife that has died. He thinks about all the fun they had on past vacations. He probably hasn't kept up her garden after her passing so it's unkempt and there are roots growing through the cracks. He's reminded of her and how she'd ask him how is day went. Basically he's reliving a happy moment in his life while feeling lonely and nostalgic on a cold winter's day.
I kind of thought of it that way too!<br /> Nice explanation.
I think people take this song as someone in a warm climate during December talking about a time he had in a cold climate. I disagree. I think the reason why the narrator is drinking Horchata in the cold is because the person he ends up referring to used to do so. It's just a strange thing the couple liked to do together. I think this is pretty apparent from the second verse where the other person is looking down on another summer drink while wearing boots. Boots are usually only worn in winter, so it leads to me conclude that they were just drinking cold drinks in winter--something that really isn't that strange.
So he's drinking Horchata and while he's drinking he's remember how he felt when he was with this person. The "chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on" line is pretty indicative of that time during love where everything feels incredibly new. Even something as simple as walking down the street feels new and beautiful.
Unfortunately for the narrator, despite loving how he felt, he fought his feelings and everything turned sour. The sidewalks that felt so new and wonderful scream at him and everything he created fell apart.
I really like the last line, "You understood so you shouldn't have fought it." It's interesting to me because it suggests that the narrator knew that he was in love and enjoyed their couple quirks, and yet still tore the relationship apart. The song is kind of like narrator slapping himself, saying what an idiot he was for letting this strange, beautiful person go.
It is worth noting that when I heard this song for the first 10 times, I did not immediately jump to the conclusion about it being a romantic relationship. I just thought it was about any deep emotional relationship. I also thought it might be about a family because it is set in December. Now I would say it was about a romantic relationship, but it is vague enough to be applied to many circumstances.
thanks
really? the song is simple... its just about the seasonal changes.. winters cold is to much to handle.. pincher crabs that pinch at ur sandals (is just the cold winter.. sandals refering to spring/summer).. i'd look phsycotic in a balaclava (in winter).. here comes a feeling you thought you'de forgotten (winter to spring).. chairs to sit and sidewalks to walk on (spring/summer)... you'de remember drinking horchata (winter)... you'de still enjoy it. years go by and hearts start to harden (life)... Those palms and firs that grew in your garden are falling down and nearing the rosebeds (fall- plants are dying)... oh you had it but o no u lost it (summer to fall to winter) :(
song is genius i love it! but i don't think it goes any deaper.. i heard the ppl from vamp are assholes so why would they give a fuck about a girl/breakup... other songs by them have personal meaning but i don't think this song really does
According to the bastion of knowledge that is Wikipedia, horchata is a drink of Spanish or Valencian origin that is traditionally "served ice cold as a natural refreshment in the summer."
This little bit of knowledge, reinforced by the rest of the verses that the beverage is featured in, suggests that the speaker is in a warm climate (pincher crabs, reluctance to wear a balaclava, "winter's cold is 2 much 2 handle, et al.)The speaker seems to be running away from something/someone in a colder realm.
The "murder" interpretation is interesting -- especially with the last line "you understood so you shouldn't have fought it." Not sure if that's what VPW is going for, but it makes for a chilling listen.
Looking at the lyrics again, I'm inclined to agree that there is a death involved here. It might not have been a murder (although I can't rule it out--maybe someone else can shed some light?) but the lyrics definitely do suggest a death or disappearance. The tensing of the lyrics--all the "you'd"s--and the last verse, along with all the references to body parts make it seem like someone's dead and no longer possesses the "lips and teeth to ask how my day went". <br /> <br /> Only thing I'm hung up on is if the "you" in the song refers to the same "you" throughout, or if it jumps around. Same with "December". Any ideas?
Did you really have to wikipedia what horchata is?
The taste of horchata conjures up places and things from his past, but ultimately memories of these things are only longings for a time that just can't be brought back.
I definitely agree with the last two posts; Horchata = Vampire Weekend's madeleine.
it's about moving to a warm place (California is most of the inspiration for this album) from a cold place, the irony of enjoying a cold drink in december, and realizing that the move to this place initially seemed great (horchata) but ultimately didn't solve the bigger problems (things fall apart, inevitably).