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"
See the little cloud pass on by
It's a good good day today
Mary comes now, let Mary be
Can you see her down on the street?
Mary's laughing 'cause Mary sees
That she's wearin' that dress for me
There can be times
Yeah...
When all things come together
Yeah...
Under a clear sky and you can believe
Yeah...
You hold your breath for this moment
Yeah...
But do not breathe for this day alone is a good day, yes I know
It's a good day, yeah I know
Today...
Hear her feet skipping up the stairs
It's a good good day today
She is the answer to all of my prayers
It's a good good day today
Mary comes now, she don't knock
'Cause she's runnin' on her own little clock
Mary's laughing 'cause Mary knows
That this day was made for us
And any fool knows
Yeah...
And any fool sees that the future
Yeah...
Is a-down on its knees
But let ‘em all cry, let ‘em weep
Let those tears roll down their cheeks
'Cause I can believe in the one
That is standing in front of me
Oh this day, don't you know
Is a good day, yes I know
It's a good day, I told you so
Today...
See her breasts how they rise and fall
It's a good good day today
And she knows I've used that line before
It's a good good day today
Mary's laughing, she don't mind
'Cause she knows she's one of a kind
Mary's happy just to be standing next to me
And April knows
Yeah...
That the wind always blows something to someone
Yeah...
Once in awhile
So let it rain, let it fall
Let the wind howl through your door
'Cause right now for this moment
Forever me standing next to her
On this day, which I know
Is a good day, yeah I know
Oh, it's a good day, I told you so
Today...
It's a good good day today
Mary comes now, let Mary be
Can you see her down on the street?
Mary's laughing 'cause Mary sees
That she's wearin' that dress for me
There can be times
Yeah...
When all things come together
Yeah...
Under a clear sky and you can believe
Yeah...
You hold your breath for this moment
Yeah...
But do not breathe for this day alone is a good day, yes I know
It's a good day, yeah I know
Today...
Hear her feet skipping up the stairs
It's a good good day today
She is the answer to all of my prayers
It's a good good day today
Mary comes now, she don't knock
'Cause she's runnin' on her own little clock
Mary's laughing 'cause Mary knows
That this day was made for us
And any fool knows
Yeah...
And any fool sees that the future
Yeah...
Is a-down on its knees
But let ‘em all cry, let ‘em weep
Let those tears roll down their cheeks
'Cause I can believe in the one
That is standing in front of me
Oh this day, don't you know
Is a good day, yes I know
It's a good day, I told you so
Today...
See her breasts how they rise and fall
It's a good good day today
And she knows I've used that line before
It's a good good day today
Mary's laughing, she don't mind
'Cause she knows she's one of a kind
Mary's happy just to be standing next to me
And April knows
Yeah...
That the wind always blows something to someone
Yeah...
Once in awhile
So let it rain, let it fall
Let the wind howl through your door
'Cause right now for this moment
Forever me standing next to her
On this day, which I know
Is a good day, yeah I know
Oh, it's a good day, I told you so
Today...
Lyrics submitted by ecorchee1, edited by Mellow_Harsher, spacebat11
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The Night We Met
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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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
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
This song hints that things might not alwys great but this song is about the perfect day.