In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now?
When I need you
Alone on an airplane
Falling asleep against the windowpane
My blood will thicken
I need to wash myself again
To hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared
That there's nothing underneath
And who are my real friends
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking
This slow
My baby's got the bends
Oh, no
We don't have any real friends
No, no, no
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
And where are you?
They brought in the C.I.A
The tanks and the whole marines to blow me away
To blow me sky-high
Baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race, race, race?
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird, where are you now?
When I need you
Oh, oh, oh
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now?
When I need you
Alone on an airplane
Falling asleep against the windowpane
My blood will thicken
I need to wash myself again
To hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared
That there's nothing underneath
And who are my real friends
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking
This slow
My baby's got the bends
Oh, no
We don't have any real friends
No, no, no
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
And where are you?
They brought in the C.I.A
The tanks and the whole marines to blow me away
To blow me sky-high
Baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race, race, race?
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird, where are you now?
When I need you
Lyrics submitted by piesupreme, edited by eloso, Paymaan, pete116128
The Bends Lyrics as written by Colin Charles Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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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The beginning of the third verse should read: "Where do we go from here? The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear And where are you?" instead of "the words are coming out all weird" again, as in the sleeve notes.
Also, the noise at the beginning of the song is a recording of a marching band that was playing outside the bands hotel in New York.
(Thanks to FollowMeAround.com for the useless facts!)