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've watched the sun go dancing fall
And watched the night reign
Please note that casual
Observers are always the first to go
So this is for me and the boys
We'll always play our part
To kick and scream
To be the ones you hate to love
I can never turn my back
Because this is all I know
You know all that is the truth
We are all we have
In a world that corrupts the strongest soul
You know all that is the truth
If you blink don't do it twice
I've still got something to say here
I will bare my heart to expose my soul
If honesty has a price
Then I won't fucking pay dear
We will take our dreams straight to the grave
Go choke on this
And on my words
And on us
And on my honesty
It's of no consequence
Because I've seen the opulence
The beauty I've held in my eyes
If only for seconds
Words will never take away
What we have built together
With our hands, with our hearts, with our minds
If you blink don't do it twice
I've still got something to say here
I will bare my heart to expose my soul
If honesty has a price
Then I won't fucking pay dear
We will take our dreams straight to the grave
If this is just in our heads
Then we'll keep on living our perfect lie
One day at a time God bless our
Cheating hearts and damn your lies
If this is just in our heads
Then we'll keep on living our perfect lie
One day at a time God bless us
If you blink don't do it twice
I've still got something to say here
I will bare my heart to expose my soul
If honesty has a price
Then I won't fucking pay dear
We will take our dreams straight to the grave
And watched the night reign
Please note that casual
Observers are always the first to go
So this is for me and the boys
We'll always play our part
To kick and scream
To be the ones you hate to love
I can never turn my back
Because this is all I know
You know all that is the truth
We are all we have
In a world that corrupts the strongest soul
You know all that is the truth
If you blink don't do it twice
I've still got something to say here
I will bare my heart to expose my soul
If honesty has a price
Then I won't fucking pay dear
We will take our dreams straight to the grave
Go choke on this
And on my words
And on us
And on my honesty
It's of no consequence
Because I've seen the opulence
The beauty I've held in my eyes
If only for seconds
Words will never take away
What we have built together
With our hands, with our hearts, with our minds
If you blink don't do it twice
I've still got something to say here
I will bare my heart to expose my soul
If honesty has a price
Then I won't fucking pay dear
We will take our dreams straight to the grave
If this is just in our heads
Then we'll keep on living our perfect lie
One day at a time God bless our
Cheating hearts and damn your lies
If this is just in our heads
Then we'll keep on living our perfect lie
One day at a time God bless us
If you blink don't do it twice
I've still got something to say here
I will bare my heart to expose my soul
If honesty has a price
Then I won't fucking pay dear
We will take our dreams straight to the grave
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GREAT FUCKING SONG, the way i think about the world around me