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"
Life, a new state of mind, new state of being
Constantly striving to understand what you're seeing
Finding the courage to stop fleeing
Problems that lie within
So this is where we begin
Self-esteem: something that's diminishing
Look upon the faces of the youth you'll see them withering
Societal pressures can be imprisoning
Look at the effects that they have on us all is rather vividly
How many women you know with eating disorders?
How much makeup on the faces of our pre-pubescent daughters?
Dudes are acting macho and they don't know why
A famous never-written motto is that "boys should never cry"
Keep all those emotions bottled up, now what's up?
You can't communicate once you became an adult
Situations got brought 'cause you had lockjaw
Your kids ended up learning about life from a pop star
But I feel that rap is more real
Matter of fact this music's gotten me through many an ordeal
I was laying on a stretcher kicking rhymes by Eazy-E
After falling off my bike while holding food from Mickey D's
So I chilled, had to calm my mental state
Happy with the knowledge that the music helped me meditate
And while I'm healing waiting for this world to erupt
You can catch me sitting next to my crate pulling out cuts
"Pull out your cut" (Rakim...scratched)
Yeah that's what I'm talking about right there
But yo kid, yo I was buggin, you remember "Watch Me Now" by Ultramagnetic?
Oh of course dog, my favorite joint though was Gang Starr
What's that joint? How's that joint go?
Wait, yo I think I remember yo
I'll flip, you know I'll flip the script
I said I'll flip, you know I'll flip the script
The Guru, he's been my idol for years
Ripping shit with Premier, making the be -boys cheer
And the GZA, Investigative Reports
He, Ghost' and Raekwon, they didn't take no shorts
Plus the are, 'cause that's the way that it has to be
These brothers redefined lyrical mastery
And I could go on cold pulling cuts for days
But I got something to say about you rappers today
Your rhymes drop in weak spurts so you bite 'til your teeth hurt
But I'm your dentist so meet my apprentice
Chucky, and Charlie Bronson from Death Wish
I couldn't hoard all of these medical skills and be selfish
It's hard to say rhymes with no incisors or canines
I kill all the weak minds, administer brain????????
'Cause I'm the type of kid that's on the positive tip
But that's because I suppress my urges to slaughter you quick
But this time I just can't fight the feeling
That's why I'm smiling as your small intestines dangle from the ceiling
You're over, as KRS has said on the track
"It means return of the real hard beats and real rap" (KRS-ONE sampled)
"Pull out your cut" (Rakim...scratched)
Constantly striving to understand what you're seeing
Finding the courage to stop fleeing
Problems that lie within
So this is where we begin
Self-esteem: something that's diminishing
Look upon the faces of the youth you'll see them withering
Societal pressures can be imprisoning
Look at the effects that they have on us all is rather vividly
How many women you know with eating disorders?
How much makeup on the faces of our pre-pubescent daughters?
Dudes are acting macho and they don't know why
A famous never-written motto is that "boys should never cry"
Keep all those emotions bottled up, now what's up?
You can't communicate once you became an adult
Situations got brought 'cause you had lockjaw
Your kids ended up learning about life from a pop star
But I feel that rap is more real
Matter of fact this music's gotten me through many an ordeal
I was laying on a stretcher kicking rhymes by Eazy-E
After falling off my bike while holding food from Mickey D's
So I chilled, had to calm my mental state
Happy with the knowledge that the music helped me meditate
And while I'm healing waiting for this world to erupt
You can catch me sitting next to my crate pulling out cuts
"Pull out your cut" (Rakim...scratched)
Yeah that's what I'm talking about right there
But yo kid, yo I was buggin, you remember "Watch Me Now" by Ultramagnetic?
Oh of course dog, my favorite joint though was Gang Starr
What's that joint? How's that joint go?
Wait, yo I think I remember yo
I'll flip, you know I'll flip the script
I said I'll flip, you know I'll flip the script
The Guru, he's been my idol for years
Ripping shit with Premier, making the be -boys cheer
And the GZA, Investigative Reports
He, Ghost' and Raekwon, they didn't take no shorts
Plus the are, 'cause that's the way that it has to be
These brothers redefined lyrical mastery
And I could go on cold pulling cuts for days
But I got something to say about you rappers today
Your rhymes drop in weak spurts so you bite 'til your teeth hurt
But I'm your dentist so meet my apprentice
Chucky, and Charlie Bronson from Death Wish
I couldn't hoard all of these medical skills and be selfish
It's hard to say rhymes with no incisors or canines
I kill all the weak minds, administer brain????????
'Cause I'm the type of kid that's on the positive tip
But that's because I suppress my urges to slaughter you quick
But this time I just can't fight the feeling
That's why I'm smiling as your small intestines dangle from the ceiling
You're over, as KRS has said on the track
"It means return of the real hard beats and real rap" (KRS-ONE sampled)
"Pull out your cut" (Rakim...scratched)
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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,
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"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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