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.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Herodias and I have led a phantom cavalcade
Through veiled and pagan history where superstitions reigned
And Christendom sought to pervert, but poets of my name
Sang of penumbral victories that sorcery had claimed
The Graal and mighty Caliburn as votive offerings
To an England rearisen under vast majestic wings
These are the shores whereto my soul
Blood drenched and unredeemed
Shalt seek solace in secrets told
Through the whispers of a dream
From the woods Pendragon-born, I rose Arcturius
A proud, audacious King mantled in the
Vehemence of lust
Death and destiny undaunted me, I drew a throne divided
In awe of the glorious battles won, my dark Goddess provided
Then treachery, a wingless beast, came crawling to my court
And now I lie at cursed Camlann, from wounds a traitor wrought
I fear the Augean light
Is sweeping through Camelot
How bittersweet my triumphs seem,
Now Autumnal leaves succumb to frost
Morganna art thou near me?
Languid, I wend my path to grave
Cast my sword to the sulphyd grasp
Of the naiad neath the silvered lake
When waters stirred lay silent
Mistress let the mists descend
Thy tears cannot thaw Death's cold heart
His sombre gaze defies legend
More so than thine, else thy dew-lidded eyes
Art for the Banshees song
Or our souls entwined like vein upon
The haunted shores of Avalon
The haunted shores of Avalon
Bury me in velvet dream
Lest I unduly wake
And seek to reconcile my thirst
With the cowardly tailors of my fate
Unleash mastiffs of snarling night
To overthrow, plague and burn
As slumber lures me 'mongst the dead
To scheme of my return
Archaic ghostly echoes breathe like thunder of the storm
A tempest fools miscall divine as they crouch awaiting dawn
Their ignorance has forged for me over
Centuries a sword
Burnished to flash like lightning on the precipice of war
The wolves are dead in Albion whilst the
Passive flocks roam free
This my penetrant spearhead shalt pierce these foul,
Trespassing breeds
I have awoken from the past
Glenfully with the shadows over England's bitter skies
I prize mine wounds in a soil sweated drink
Remember me as king when I cradle hell to stars
Like lovers in my arms, nestled vipers to my breast
Venom forces workthius arts of devil's and priestess
Thus I shall rule anew through the sinews of a song
Played upon a storm
By the ghosts of Avalon
And all in league will bow to me, from death they shall ascend
To whisper weals of war to stir the dark one in men
The principle black metal masterplan
[RALLYING WAR SPEECH... CRONOS]
"I have awoken from the past
Glenfully with the shadows over England's bitter skies
I prize mine wounds in a soil sweated drink
Remember me as king when I cradle hell to stars
Like lovers in my arms, nestled vipers to my breast
Venom forces workthius arts of devil's and priestess
Thus I shall rule anew through the sinews of a song
Played upon a storm
By the ghosts of Avalon
And all in league will bow to me, from death they shall ascend
To whisper weals of war to stir the dark o nce in men
The principle black metal masterplan."
Through veiled and pagan history where superstitions reigned
And Christendom sought to pervert, but poets of my name
Sang of penumbral victories that sorcery had claimed
The Graal and mighty Caliburn as votive offerings
To an England rearisen under vast majestic wings
These are the shores whereto my soul
Blood drenched and unredeemed
Shalt seek solace in secrets told
Through the whispers of a dream
From the woods Pendragon-born, I rose Arcturius
A proud, audacious King mantled in the
Vehemence of lust
Death and destiny undaunted me, I drew a throne divided
In awe of the glorious battles won, my dark Goddess provided
Then treachery, a wingless beast, came crawling to my court
And now I lie at cursed Camlann, from wounds a traitor wrought
I fear the Augean light
Is sweeping through Camelot
How bittersweet my triumphs seem,
Now Autumnal leaves succumb to frost
Morganna art thou near me?
Languid, I wend my path to grave
Cast my sword to the sulphyd grasp
Of the naiad neath the silvered lake
When waters stirred lay silent
Mistress let the mists descend
Thy tears cannot thaw Death's cold heart
His sombre gaze defies legend
More so than thine, else thy dew-lidded eyes
Art for the Banshees song
Or our souls entwined like vein upon
The haunted shores of Avalon
The haunted shores of Avalon
Bury me in velvet dream
Lest I unduly wake
And seek to reconcile my thirst
With the cowardly tailors of my fate
Unleash mastiffs of snarling night
To overthrow, plague and burn
As slumber lures me 'mongst the dead
To scheme of my return
Archaic ghostly echoes breathe like thunder of the storm
A tempest fools miscall divine as they crouch awaiting dawn
Their ignorance has forged for me over
Centuries a sword
Burnished to flash like lightning on the precipice of war
The wolves are dead in Albion whilst the
Passive flocks roam free
This my penetrant spearhead shalt pierce these foul,
Trespassing breeds
I have awoken from the past
Glenfully with the shadows over England's bitter skies
I prize mine wounds in a soil sweated drink
Remember me as king when I cradle hell to stars
Like lovers in my arms, nestled vipers to my breast
Venom forces workthius arts of devil's and priestess
Thus I shall rule anew through the sinews of a song
Played upon a storm
By the ghosts of Avalon
And all in league will bow to me, from death they shall ascend
To whisper weals of war to stir the dark one in men
The principle black metal masterplan
[RALLYING WAR SPEECH... CRONOS]
"I have awoken from the past
Glenfully with the shadows over England's bitter skies
I prize mine wounds in a soil sweated drink
Remember me as king when I cradle hell to stars
Like lovers in my arms, nestled vipers to my breast
Venom forces workthius arts of devil's and priestess
Thus I shall rule anew through the sinews of a song
Played upon a storm
By the ghosts of Avalon
And all in league will bow to me, from death they shall ascend
To whisper weals of war to stir the dark o nce in men
The principle black metal masterplan."
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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,
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Just A Little Lovin'
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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:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
The classic story twisted somehow.