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 didn't find the lucky penny
So I flipped it over and
left it for some one else to find
And a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
Then I turned around corner
and I dropped another dollar
Just in case the street needed some more cash
In the end I made it home with nothing in my pockets
except some cigarettes and some stones
I pick 'em up when I go walking
Some are shiny, all are dirty
Some are just pebbels that might grow up to be stones
As an adult no one can stop you
from getting your hands dirty
When you're walking home alone
Then I saw a little black cat
cross the street before a fast cab
Flashed and disappeared into the night
He glanced back understanding
of a future life impending
And we both knew it wasn't his time yet
I didn't find the lucky penny
So I flipped it over and
left it for some one else to find
And a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
And a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
And a dime just time
to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
So I flipped it over and
left it for some one else to find
And a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
Then I turned around corner
and I dropped another dollar
Just in case the street needed some more cash
In the end I made it home with nothing in my pockets
except some cigarettes and some stones
I pick 'em up when I go walking
Some are shiny, all are dirty
Some are just pebbels that might grow up to be stones
As an adult no one can stop you
from getting your hands dirty
When you're walking home alone
Then I saw a little black cat
cross the street before a fast cab
Flashed and disappeared into the night
He glanced back understanding
of a future life impending
And we both knew it wasn't his time yet
I didn't find the lucky penny
So I flipped it over and
left it for some one else to find
And a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
And a dime just in time
for the little kid behind me to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
And a dime just time
to pick it up and yell:
Hey, mom! I found a dime!
Lyrics submitted by lemonjuice
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This is really such a sweet, sweet song. It's got a nice literal story and a lovely melody, but I think it's also about the kindness humans are capable of. Doing something nice for other people, without expecting any type of reward, maybe even without the person you're helping having any kind of idea who you are or even that you helped them. It's a bit similar to "The Wallet," isn't it?
And speaking of the song's literal meaning...the other day, my mom and I were walking outside of Stop & Shop, and all of a sudden, my mom bends over, and I almost trip over her. I ask her what she's doing, and she says she's flipping over an unlucky penny for someone else to find. I was like, "Oh, that reminds me of the Regina Spektor song!" And she said, "That's where I got the idea." So yes, there's my pointless story. In conclusion: it makes me happy that I got my mom into Regina :).