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,
I wanna love somebody
I hear you need somebody to love
Oh, I wanna love somebody
I hear you're looking for someone to love
'Cause you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend
And I need to
Be back in the arms of a girlfriend
I didn't know nobody
And then I saw you coming my way
Oh, I didn't know nobody
And then I saw you coming my way
Don't you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend?
Oh, 'cause, honey, believe me
I'd sure love to call you my girlfriend
Alright
Don't you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend?
Oh, 'cause, honey, believe me
I'd sure love to call you my girlfriend
'Cause you got a good thing going, baby
You only need somebody to love
Oh, you got a good thing going
You're only looking for someone to love
'Cause you need to
Get back in the arms of a good friend
And I'm never gonna set you free
No, I'm never gonna set you free
I hear you need somebody to love
Oh, I wanna love somebody
I hear you're looking for someone to love
'Cause you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend
And I need to
Be back in the arms of a girlfriend
I didn't know nobody
And then I saw you coming my way
Oh, I didn't know nobody
And then I saw you coming my way
Don't you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend?
Oh, 'cause, honey, believe me
I'd sure love to call you my girlfriend
Alright
Don't you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend?
Oh, 'cause, honey, believe me
I'd sure love to call you my girlfriend
'Cause you got a good thing going, baby
You only need somebody to love
Oh, you got a good thing going
You're only looking for someone to love
'Cause you need to
Get back in the arms of a good friend
And I'm never gonna set you free
No, I'm never gonna set you free
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Girlfriend Lyrics as written by Matthew Sweet
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Actually, this is basically a blues. If you pay attention to the verse pattern, it follows traditional blues format, and it's basically a song about trying to win a girl over who he likes. Pretty simple.
Robert Quine rocks the guitar on this track!
He was awesome.
madman8199 is right. You first two tried to read way too deep into the song. He really is trying to convince her that, "Hey, we're in the same boat here. You've got nobody right now and you want someone and I want someone, why not?" But he wants it more and he doesn't let on until the very end.
But I find the ending stanza too creepy ("I'm never gonna set your free")--almost possessive-ish and/or stalker-ish!
I can really identify with this song. He's talking about a girl he's in love with, and he's convinced they would be perfect for each other. Unfortunately, he's never gonna set her free, which means that he knows that it's never gonna happen between them.
Actually, this is basically a blues. If you pay attention to the verse pattern, it follows traditional blues format, and it's basically a song about trying to win a girl over who he likes. Pretty simple.
While I can see the possessiveness angle, the lyrics probably shouldn't be taken too seriously. It is, as was previously mentioned, a relatively basic blues song (one that seemingly wouldn't receive any popular attention or radio airplay, but thankfully did).
It's funny how getting divorced can effect your mind. Matthew seems to have regressed to the mind of a 17 year old here and sometimes, that's not a bad thing. The loneliness of a love shattered can sometimes bring up the spice of youth. Matthew was about 25 when this song was released, but in my mind, he felt like he was 17 again. He was destroyed, yet free and looking.
I've been there Matt, I've been there.
What the hell are you babbling about? You high or something, boy?<br /> <br />
Quine and Lloyd are just....wow...on this tune!
That last line must've been the real tripper for most people trying to decipher the meaning of this song. The way it's phrased sounds as if the man is going to have a one-sided relationship to his benefit.
Now that it's already established that this song is just a lighthearted song about a man who wants to start a relationship with a friend of his, the last line can be best interpreted as "No, I'm never gonna set you free [as long as you still love me]"