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,
She's taking her time making up the reasons
To justify all the hurt inside
Guess she knows from the smiles and the look in their eyes
Everyone's got a theory about the bitter one
They're saying
Mamma never loved her much
And daddy never keeps in touch
That's why she shies away from human affection
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him
I would fly to the moon and back
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?
She can't remember a time when she feel needed
If love was red then she was color blind
All her friends they've been tried for treason
And crimes that were never defined
She's saying
Love is like a barren place
And reaching out for human faith
Is like a journey I just don't have a map for
So baby's gonna take a dive and
Push the shift to overdrive
Send a signal that she's hanging all her hopes on the stars
What a pleasant dream
I would fly to the moon and back
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?
Mamma never loved her much
And daddy never keeps in touch
That's why she shies away from human affection
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him
I would fly to the moon and back
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we could belong
So would you be my baby?
To justify all the hurt inside
Guess she knows from the smiles and the look in their eyes
Everyone's got a theory about the bitter one
They're saying
Mamma never loved her much
And daddy never keeps in touch
That's why she shies away from human affection
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him
I would fly to the moon and back
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?
She can't remember a time when she feel needed
If love was red then she was color blind
All her friends they've been tried for treason
And crimes that were never defined
She's saying
Love is like a barren place
And reaching out for human faith
Is like a journey I just don't have a map for
So baby's gonna take a dive and
Push the shift to overdrive
Send a signal that she's hanging all her hopes on the stars
What a pleasant dream
I would fly to the moon and back
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?
Mamma never loved her much
And daddy never keeps in touch
That's why she shies away from human affection
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him
I would fly to the moon and back
If you'll be, if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we could belong
So would you be my baby?
Lyrics submitted by spitfirek7, edited by butterboy
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~YAY Lee! You're the best!