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.
Not talkin' 'bout a year
No not three or four
I don't want that kind of forever
In my life anymore
Forever always seems
To be around when it begins
But forever never seems
To be around when it ends
So give me your forever
Please your forever
Not a day less will do, from you
People spend so much time
Every single day
Runnin' 'round all over town
Givin' their forever away
But no not me, I won't let my forever roam
And now I hope I can find my forever home
So give me your forever
Please your forever
Not a day less will do, from you
Like a hand-less clock with numbers
An infinite of time
No not the forever found
Only in the mind
Forever always seems
To be around when things begin
But forever never seems
To be around when things end
So give me your forever
Please your forever
Not a day less will do
From you
No not three or four
I don't want that kind of forever
In my life anymore
Forever always seems
To be around when it begins
But forever never seems
To be around when it ends
So give me your forever
Please your forever
Not a day less will do, from you
People spend so much time
Every single day
Runnin' 'round all over town
Givin' their forever away
But no not me, I won't let my forever roam
And now I hope I can find my forever home
So give me your forever
Please your forever
Not a day less will do, from you
Like a hand-less clock with numbers
An infinite of time
No not the forever found
Only in the mind
Forever always seems
To be around when things begin
But forever never seems
To be around when things end
So give me your forever
Please your forever
Not a day less will do
From you
Lyrics submitted by dragonflower44
Forever Lyrics as written by Ben Harper
Lyrics © O/B/O DistroKid, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
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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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.
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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”
ok so this song will make just about anyone cry if they listen to it. i mean cmon now...its such a good song that anyone can relate to. the best lyrics of the song are "Forever always seems to be around when it begins but forever never seems to be around when it ends So give me your forever " Everyone always dives into a relationship with the high hopes of "this is the one i'll be with forever...but then (if) it ends you feel betrayed by your hearts thoughts of "forever". but at the end of that lyric, the part where he says "so give me your forever" its like he is submit to the other persons idea of forever..whatever it may be.
yea... this is my future WEDDING SONG
FOREVER is a proverbial to love, yes. But what kind of love? The love of a person here or the love of a lost one? I can go either way on this song, it's brought tears to my eyes, thinking of my brother who past. But I also think, it is of a loved one here on this earth as well. So anyway you look at it, you are all right. It's your interpretation and what the song means to you. I know if I feel something in a song, I whole heartedly stick with it. Yet at the same time, I'm completely open minded as well. Songs can have dual meanings I think.
i love the fact that he acknowledges the fact that forever is sort of an abstract idea that no one can really grasp. in reality, when does something really last forever? it seems the last thing that anyone can accurately describe, let alone predict or create. i agree with trauma -- best line for sure. life is so fragile and sooo temporary that "forever" really isn't applicable to anything, save perhaps the idea of love, which i think is a point he makes. rad song....
@fireygoddess - have to disagree. Just because we can’t wrap our heads around forever doesn’t mean it’s a figment of our imaginations that doesn’t exist, because according to the Bible, it most assuredly does. I don’t know ????????♀️ about somethings that last forever, but every single human being who has lived, is living or will live in the future will live forever. The Bible expresses that as fact in no uncertain terms. The fact that some people refuse to believe it doesn’t make it any less true. The only question ????????♀️ about eternal life after death is where and with whom you will live and you have only this one life to make that eternal decision. I hope and pray all who read this comment will make the right decision because you’ll have to live with it FOREVER!
this song is so lovely. i love the beginning lines. it makes me wish i was some where lying in some one's arms.
Its such an amazing song...I LOVE it...you can listen to it anytime, when you're sad, happy, just relaxed...sigh so good. and i totally agree with you emo12PUNK12metal.. -future wedding song. Definetly. Very hip song..
-Mia*
i agree with boarder punk.. an anytime song. : )
this song effects me in a couple different ways. first, i found out my boyfriend at the time when i heard this song was diagnosed w/ cancer. he was given a year. the song starts out..."I'm not talkin bout a year". it crushed me, and i really went into a deep depression because of all the things going on in my life, and the song triggered how much i realized that no one can promise forever. it was crazy to think that i was in a relationship w/ a guy i truly admired, and one day, he found out he didnt have forever. we decided to continue our current relationship as friends becasue he was goin to be busy w/ family, etc. then, the song meaning changed drastically about a month ago when i was saved. "born-again" in the christian faith. i broke down again listening to this song, but this time realizing that god had a purpose for my life, and that he wanted me forever....no on sundays, not on the weekends, not giving my forever away to anyone else. All i know is that i have an amazing hope and now a purpose in life that has given me more peace than anything i've ever experienced. i'm not trying to offend anyone....but i do believe in having faith, and i believe that to find urself, u have to find a place to put ur faith. find a bible, and if it doesnt answer every one of ur questions, then get back to me, becasue jesus christ is my best friend, and i couldnt imagine where i'd be w/ out him. "come to me all who are weary and burdend, and u will find rest for your souls." go, find it, its in there
Its a song that makes me cry... forever, something you want to give to the person you love the most...Now I hope this forever for me will last indeed, I really hope so. Ben, you're so incredible, I love your work!
I have given my forever away to a friend of mine, our favourite song is this one... I hope that the meaning of the word stays as powerful and "Forever always seems to be around when it begins but forever never seems to be around when it ends " this part of the lyrics won't be true... but mostly it is...