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,
First guy I knew who died, I can't remember his name
The tenth grade grade started, he just never came again
All his friends just sat around and cried for a day or two
You can say what you want about immortal soul,
When that guy died it left a hole
It was my first clue that when they're gone, they're gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
Maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone
Me and Stevie Gibson used to walk home from school,
He used to have this little "turn around" rule
If you turn around the one way, gotta turn around the other way or it's bad luck
He went out rafting on the river
The river went around and the raft went around,
And his luck got all wound up and he drowned and he was gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
Maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
Two days after Deiter died, you could call him on the phone
And he would tell you that he's not home
And it gave you an eerie feeling even though you knew it was just an answering machine
'Cause somewhere deep inside you know
That they don't come back when they go
And he had gone, and when they're gone, they're gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
or maybe you'll come back some day as a bug in the lawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
My mother died in intensive care
We were sittin around singing on folding chairs
When I got the feeling that somebody wasn't there
Well I counted noses but it came out right
The doctors say she died that night
But I felt that hole and I knew that she was gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
or maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
I looked up "death" in the dictionary one day
Just to see what the dictionary had to say
It's the complete and irreversible cessation of life functions
Which is not very poetic, but it's precise and clean
And if you analyze it, well what that means is
When they're gone, they're gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
Maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
The tenth grade grade started, he just never came again
All his friends just sat around and cried for a day or two
You can say what you want about immortal soul,
When that guy died it left a hole
It was my first clue that when they're gone, they're gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
Maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone
Me and Stevie Gibson used to walk home from school,
He used to have this little "turn around" rule
If you turn around the one way, gotta turn around the other way or it's bad luck
He went out rafting on the river
The river went around and the raft went around,
And his luck got all wound up and he drowned and he was gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
Maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
Two days after Deiter died, you could call him on the phone
And he would tell you that he's not home
And it gave you an eerie feeling even though you knew it was just an answering machine
'Cause somewhere deep inside you know
That they don't come back when they go
And he had gone, and when they're gone, they're gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
or maybe you'll come back some day as a bug in the lawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
My mother died in intensive care
We were sittin around singing on folding chairs
When I got the feeling that somebody wasn't there
Well I counted noses but it came out right
The doctors say she died that night
But I felt that hole and I knew that she was gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
or maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
I looked up "death" in the dictionary one day
Just to see what the dictionary had to say
It's the complete and irreversible cessation of life functions
Which is not very poetic, but it's precise and clean
And if you analyze it, well what that means is
When they're gone, they're gone
Maybe Jesus beat that rap, we're not sure.
Maybe you can live forever if your heart is pure,
Maybe you'll come back some day as a king prawn.
Maybe angels come and take you away
To Heaven, or the other way,
But from down here it appears that when they're gone, they're gone.
Lyrics submitted by Nobody Home
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