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"
Breath by breath you take
Still you're grasping for air
Miles and miles you move
Into the abyss you stare
(Into the abyss you stare)
Running from the plight
Mighty grips its hold
And that hunger's hanging on
But never return to the fold
With endurance
As the earth behind you burns
You can feel the heat
Keep your will and never turn
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on, end this slavery
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
And you pray for more hope
So this will run its course
Everyday you move
Handcuffs lose they their force
(Handcuffs lose they their force)
Abandon all you know
So destitution hides
United in despair
Still makes it harder to divide
With exhaustion
As the earth behind you melts
You can feel the heat
But your need for living fails
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on, end this slavery
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
A logical reason for being
Is quickly drifting away
People prove fiendishly greedy
Each time you try to believe
It's hard to be defiant
There's ways to kill the giant
Slaughtered by pins
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on, end this slavery
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
Any place but here
Any place but here
Still you're grasping for air
Miles and miles you move
Into the abyss you stare
(Into the abyss you stare)
Running from the plight
Mighty grips its hold
And that hunger's hanging on
But never return to the fold
With endurance
As the earth behind you burns
You can feel the heat
Keep your will and never turn
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on, end this slavery
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
And you pray for more hope
So this will run its course
Everyday you move
Handcuffs lose they their force
(Handcuffs lose they their force)
Abandon all you know
So destitution hides
United in despair
Still makes it harder to divide
With exhaustion
As the earth behind you melts
You can feel the heat
But your need for living fails
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on, end this slavery
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
A logical reason for being
Is quickly drifting away
People prove fiendishly greedy
Each time you try to believe
It's hard to be defiant
There's ways to kill the giant
Slaughtered by pins
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on, end this slavery
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
Come on, come on, follow closely
Come on, come on
Come on, come on, where you're going
Any place but here
Any place but here
Any place but here
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The Night We Met
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"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
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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,
No Surprises
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This is such a rockin song why no comments?