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 know you can't trust Joe Everyman
And I know John Doe's a fucking cheat
And I've met so many people so much
So that I've lost the need to meet
Because someone's been pissing in the gene pool
Bitches and pricks are the norm
But I've had like 19 years of sitting through the shit
And I've got some fags to keep me warm
Do you roll with punches?
Blindly, trust your hunches?
We light the eyes up and hit 'em
Brump, brump, hear the boss one punch
Lay out the rhythm
Don't sign it shyly
VBW stylee
We stamp "complete" on every mission
Cocky, no, secure in my position
I can't explain my past
I've had my share of laugh
You can't be a good star without a solid cast
In a world of mediocrity
Only few hold stock with me
Rise above the flock and storm the streets
Singing
We never said that we were right
Kill my pain every night
We live by camaraderie
And broken streetlights
At our lowest, you'll still see
We all live by honesty
And as one, we'll always scream
"You can't stop me from being me"
The status quo's a miscount
Rock it out with the discount
Your pessimism don't do no damage
We're made fresher than a Quizno's sandwich
We kick nonsense by the truckfull
Our lives'll run out before our luck will
If you can't feel the love in our ways
Well, sir, we never wanted you anyways
Well, I don't know what's the count?
One fucking knock so many out
I mean I can't say we haven't lost a few
But we'll keep coming back with something new
Until the whole world is rucking with the VB bumbaclot W kids
If we get knocked down
And it's getting too touch
We reach into the night sky
And pull ourselves up
Hey, hey
Don't let go of the stars
You can't stop me
You can't stop me from being me
And I know John Doe's a fucking cheat
And I've met so many people so much
So that I've lost the need to meet
Because someone's been pissing in the gene pool
Bitches and pricks are the norm
But I've had like 19 years of sitting through the shit
And I've got some fags to keep me warm
Do you roll with punches?
Blindly, trust your hunches?
We light the eyes up and hit 'em
Brump, brump, hear the boss one punch
Lay out the rhythm
Don't sign it shyly
VBW stylee
We stamp "complete" on every mission
Cocky, no, secure in my position
I can't explain my past
I've had my share of laugh
You can't be a good star without a solid cast
In a world of mediocrity
Only few hold stock with me
Rise above the flock and storm the streets
Singing
We never said that we were right
Kill my pain every night
We live by camaraderie
And broken streetlights
At our lowest, you'll still see
We all live by honesty
And as one, we'll always scream
"You can't stop me from being me"
The status quo's a miscount
Rock it out with the discount
Your pessimism don't do no damage
We're made fresher than a Quizno's sandwich
We kick nonsense by the truckfull
Our lives'll run out before our luck will
If you can't feel the love in our ways
Well, sir, we never wanted you anyways
Well, I don't know what's the count?
One fucking knock so many out
I mean I can't say we haven't lost a few
But we'll keep coming back with something new
Until the whole world is rucking with the VB bumbaclot W kids
If we get knocked down
And it's getting too touch
We reach into the night sky
And pull ourselves up
Hey, hey
Don't let go of the stars
You can't stop me
You can't stop me from being me
Lyrics submitted by bananahero
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