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.
It was a theme she had on a scheme he had
Told in a foreign land
To take life on earth to the second birth
And the man was in command
It was a flight on the wings of a young girl's dreams
That flew too far away
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Come from greed never born of the seed
Took a life from a barren hand
Oh, eyes wide like a child in the form of man
A prophecy for a fantasy
The curse of a vivid mind
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Whoa, your hand
Your hand
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
But you shouldn't push too hard no, no
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
Because they're only dreams
And you shouldn't push too hard no no
Told in a foreign land
To take life on earth to the second birth
And the man was in command
It was a flight on the wings of a young girl's dreams
That flew too far away
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Come from greed never born of the seed
Took a life from a barren hand
Oh, eyes wide like a child in the form of man
A prophecy for a fantasy
The curse of a vivid mind
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
China in your hand
Whoa, your hand
Your hand
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
But you shouldn't push too hard no, no
Don't push too far your dreams are china in your hand
Don't wish too hard, because they may come true
And you can't help them
You don't know what you might have set upon yourself
Because they're only dreams
And you shouldn't push too hard no no
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The Frankenstein comments I made are actually very true Apie. I followed T'pau religiously and Carol Decker herself has several times mentioned what China is all about.
If you watch Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (94') you'll understand it more I guess.
THE CHEMISTRY CANNOT BE PREDICTED: WE CANNOT KNOW WHAT WE WANT IN ADVANCE
I agree with the Frankenstein inspiration but i still think we ought to try to translate the inspiration for the song into some form of interpretation for the song :
Here’s what i think : (wonder what you think ?) The point is the potential disparity between the IDEA and the REALITY of a DREAM or DESIRE : I am talking BIG dreams/ desires: the things that we YEARN for or tell everyone we are dying for: A new life in a new country, a new job, a dream lover. There is something to be learned from knowing that an IDEA is rarely a sure guarantee of the eventual REALITY: Frankenstein was an IDEA to create F but the REALITY was so far from the IDEA. In the song the warning of such a disparity between IDEAS and eventual REALITIES is applied to a love relationship (as opposed to creating human life).
So the warning is : you might dream or desire strongly to have this big love story (IDEA) but be careful since NOBODY ever knows anyone fully until the idea is actually tried out and you both get to know each other (REALITY). Essentially, how can you know what a relationship can be in advance !
Unfortunately in life, we do often make this mistake, we run to love for either looks or security thinking the IDEA will make the REALITY, but after enough real life experiences, we learn that we just cannot ever know what we really want in advance, the ‘chemistry’ cannot be predicted (as in the story of Frankenstein)
@Makeitmeansomething <br /> Not quite sure what you mean as there is no point in having any ambition, any thought or any want if one cannot achieve at least part of that ambition. Your thoughts above seem very nilhilistic, and (sorry if I have spelt that wrong) I am not sure if people cannot have what they want - otherwise what would be the point at all? I am very positive and do not let negativity get in my way. I think goals and self determination are important and that it is only in having a personal goal and self worth does one know ones true wishes and therefore know what they want in life. <br /> <br /> This is obviously held firmly in a place and time. Some people have a different back ground, different skills, different abilities and different outlooks and these all affect not only who were are but the outcome of above.<br /> <br /> Reality is beautiful and every time I look out the window at the beautiful world and see trees and fields; I am reminded that I am fortunate enough to live in a time and place where I can see such things.<br /> <br /> I wish you luck in your life and that the individual hopes, dreams and goals that you may have - show you a way that you can achieve what you wish.<br /> <br /> x
My personal interpretation is about pushing the limits of your comfort zone. If you dream too big, you won’t have it and you will feel sad. The chorus dictates setting something on yourself - possibly a great sadness? After dreaming too big you pushed too hard and the china will break. The dreams will be shattered and you will never dream again. Having a dream is okay as long as it is manageable. By having a want or need that is too great, it will never happen and you will believe that nothing you want will ever happen, therefore breaking the “China”. The China is in your hand because you control what happens with it and whether it is a manageable option. A dream job, hone or lover is too far and when it comes to the reality, the China is broken and will never be fixed. You will always believe there is a better option out there and you have settled for second best, but the reality is you made weak China and let go, and now it is broken. You can dream, but dream small and over achieve rather than under achieve a bigger goal. Slowly work your way up to not break the China. After all, it is in your hand…
i love this song..i love her voice
It is a fantastic song. What's it all about though?
I think part of it is about Jesus coming back to earth ie being reborn "to take life on earth to the second birth"
The other theme is sometimes you wish for something and it comes true. But it doesnt turn out as you expect and gets way out of your controll. The dream turns into a nightmare.
great song, :-) just wanted to say that me and my friend used to buy our guitar strings off the keyboard player of t'pau.hes a cool dude:-) METAL
and my mom used to go to school with carol decker....hey its a claim to fame:-D
It's about Frankenstein as mentioned above - Carol Decker said in an interview once that the inspiration for the song was watching a documentary about the author and story of Frankenstein... I had to study the novel in a Uni seminar last year and we brainstormed modern Frankenstein references, and I thought of this and nobody believed my theory, so I went away and painstakingly researched the song just to prove a point and found I was right!
It was a theme she had [Mary Shelley the author] on a scheme he had [Doctor Frankenstein], told in a foreign land [it's set in Switzerland, England and Scotland]
to take life on earth to the second birth, and the man was in command [create life - make a creature/man]
it was a flight on the wings of a young girls dreams that flew too far away, and we could make the monster live again [It was Shelley's fantasy, based on the original myth of Prometheus]
oh hands move and heart beat on - now life will return in this electric storm [it's a thunderstorm which sparks the equipment that brings Frankenstein's monster to life]
a prophecy for a fantasy, the curse of a vivid mind [it was a fantasy and not even remotely possible to create a life at the time in which the book was written, but it turned out to be partly true, with cloning developments etc]
don't push too far, your dreams are china in your hand; don't wish to hard because they may come true and you can't help them; you don't know what you might have set upon yourself; china in your hand [imagining or dreaming of something could lead to it happening and it might not always be good]
come from greed, never born of the seed, took life from a barren hand [Dr Frankenstein wanted fame and recognition from his scientist peers, his 'child' wasn't conceived the usual way, and seemed to come from nothing]
on eyes wide like a child in the form of man, a story told, a mind of his own, an omen for our time [Frankenstein 'fathers' the monster but it begins life as a grown man]
we take a flight on the wings of fantasy, then you push too far and make your dreams reality, yeah china in your hand, but they're only dreams and you shouldn't push too far [fantasy is one thing, but we should be careful not to make it a reality as Dr Frankenstein did?]
Not sure exactly what the moral of the story is but I have a feeling Carol Decker would be anti-GM and against cloning. Maybe it's just 'don't get carried away by dreams, they're just dreams?
Brilliant, I never understood the meaning of that song and you totally nailed this explanation. Well done lucyb85.
Brilliant, I never understood the meaning of that song and you totally nailed this explanation. Well done lucyb85.
@lucyb85 i am sure she meant to not be tempted but the idea of writing that book was a temptation. makes me wonder if i should write my story. i will have to pray. thanks for the insight.
For me, China in your hand is about a dictatorial leader involved in a global power struggle in a dystopian futuristic world where humans have been enslaved by a totalitarian robot government. Western Europe and North America have been devastated by a 100 year conflict against the robots and the real power on the planet has shifted to the Eastern continents, where the remaining human settlements are. Already we see the possible signs of this future in our world today. In this song, T'Pau are addressing the remaining humans, urging them to fight against the "monster" of robot tyranny and start a revolutionary rebellion from China, which remains "in the hand" of human beings.
I interprete it as a more general statement: Sometimes, when your dreams become reality, they just don't turn out the way you planned them to. Or maybe they do, but you didn't think enough about the consequences.