This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
We take a walk in the garden
We share the fruits of life
We lie beneath this canopy
Why did we take that bite?
We cover up our shame
We walk in black and white
We turn this ground for hunger
Why did we take that bite?
Paint me with an endless sunrise
Paint me
Paint me, open my eyes
Paint me with the color of love
You took a walk on the planet
You gave us shade and light
You create mood and substance
How can I take a bite?
Paint me with an endless sunrise
Paint me
Paint me, open my eyes
Paint me with the color of love
Paint me, mark me up,
in these frail, dot-to-dot lines
Color me from one red stream
from which all others flow
Take my black and white and yellow
brown and pink and pain and sorrow
Take my black and white and yellow
brown and pink and hate and sorrow
Paint me with an endless sunrise
Paint me
Paint me, open my eyes
Paint me with the color of love
We share the fruits of life
We lie beneath this canopy
Why did we take that bite?
We cover up our shame
We walk in black and white
We turn this ground for hunger
Why did we take that bite?
Paint me with an endless sunrise
Paint me
Paint me, open my eyes
Paint me with the color of love
You took a walk on the planet
You gave us shade and light
You create mood and substance
How can I take a bite?
Paint me with an endless sunrise
Paint me
Paint me, open my eyes
Paint me with the color of love
Paint me, mark me up,
in these frail, dot-to-dot lines
Color me from one red stream
from which all others flow
Take my black and white and yellow
brown and pink and pain and sorrow
Take my black and white and yellow
brown and pink and hate and sorrow
Paint me with an endless sunrise
Paint me
Paint me, open my eyes
Paint me with the color of love
Lyrics submitted by carboncentric
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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Taken from Skilletsizzle bible studys. theskilletsizzle.com/id78.html
"Paint deals with the slightly heady but beautiful concept of restoration of the first Adam by Jesus, the Second Adam¹. This is the real good news or gospel of Jesus Christ!
God created us to walk with him in close relationship, as sons and daughters of a wonderful daddy. Mankind spoiled this with an act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden (took the bite). Now Jesus, who is the ³second Adam² or the fulfillment of God¹s original intention, has restored that break between God and man so that we can once again partake of the divine communion with God. In the song, the speaker expresses the fallen condition of man away from God: hunger, shame, racism. Then, he/she asks in desperation and frustration why we took that bite.
Finally Jesus appears on the scene, taking a walk in our shoes as fully man and living a sinless life which we could never do. He satisfied God¹s wrath towards us and our sinfulness when he died on the cross as a sacrifice for us. He covers us and illuminates our path to God, giving color to an otherwise bleak existence. The writer begs for Jesus to paint him/her into a colorful expression of God himself, without the colors of a certain race (brown, pink, etc.) but derived from the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, whose red blood paid for restoration to the Creator.
In the end, we can celebrate the painting of God in our lives, as He restores our mistake in the Garden to what was His original intention, which is more than even Adam and Eve had experienced, being powerful agents of His eternal kingdom coming in the earth. We should see ourselves, if we are in Christ, as no less and live as none other than the sons and daughters of the reigning and coming King."