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,
Looking in the mirror do you find
You can see the road you've left behind
Almost to the point of no return
You can feel the fire start to burn
I believe in chanting what you start
You get the body, play the part
Almost to the point of no return
Yeah, you can feel the fire start to burn
All those pretty pictures in your head
Of a life you thought was better dead than alive
Put a bullet in your soul
But I don’t do that no more
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(Got to do just what you must before your body...)
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
I believe the time has come to stop
You can tell me now you never dropped
Almost to the point of no return
You can feel the fire start to burn
All those pretty pictures in your head
Of a life you thought was better dead than alive
Put a bullet in your soul, yeah
But I don’t do that no more, no
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(Got to do just what you must before your body...)
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
All those pretty pictures in your head
Of a life you thought was better dead than alive
Put a bullet in your soul, yeah
But I don’t do that no more, no more, no
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(Got to do just what you must before your body...)
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(You got to)
Just what you must
(You got to)
Body turn to dust
(You got to)
Just what you must
Body turn to dust
(You got to)
Just what you must
(You got to)
Your body turn to dust
(You got to)
Oh, yeah
Body turn to dust
(You got to)
Oh, yeah, yeah
(You got to)
Body turn to dust
Body turn to dust
(You got to, you got to, you got to)
Body turn to dust
Oh yeah, yeah
Body turn to dust
You can see the road you've left behind
Almost to the point of no return
You can feel the fire start to burn
I believe in chanting what you start
You get the body, play the part
Almost to the point of no return
Yeah, you can feel the fire start to burn
All those pretty pictures in your head
Of a life you thought was better dead than alive
Put a bullet in your soul
But I don’t do that no more
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(Got to do just what you must before your body...)
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
I believe the time has come to stop
You can tell me now you never dropped
Almost to the point of no return
You can feel the fire start to burn
All those pretty pictures in your head
Of a life you thought was better dead than alive
Put a bullet in your soul, yeah
But I don’t do that no more, no
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(Got to do just what you must before your body...)
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
All those pretty pictures in your head
Of a life you thought was better dead than alive
Put a bullet in your soul, yeah
But I don’t do that no more, no more, no
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(Got to do just what you must before your body...)
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
You got to do just what you must
Before your body turn to dust
(You got to)
Just what you must
(You got to)
Body turn to dust
(You got to)
Just what you must
Body turn to dust
(You got to)
Just what you must
(You got to)
Your body turn to dust
(You got to)
Oh, yeah
Body turn to dust
(You got to)
Oh, yeah, yeah
(You got to)
Body turn to dust
Body turn to dust
(You got to, you got to, you got to)
Body turn to dust
Oh yeah, yeah
Body turn to dust
Lyrics submitted by Sess
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