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,
Hey, wake up, your eyes weren't open wide
For the last couple of miles you've been swerving from side to side
You're gonna make me spill my beer,
If you don't learn how to steer
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side
Roll another number for the road
You're the only sober person I know
Won't you let me make you a deal,
Just get behind the wheel
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side
Should've been the driver, could've been the one
I should've been your lover, but I hadn't seen...
Can you take me to the store, then the bank?
I've got five dollars we can put in the tank
I've got a court date coming this June
I'll be driving soon
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side
I don't like riding on the passenger side
For the last couple of miles you've been swerving from side to side
You're gonna make me spill my beer,
If you don't learn how to steer
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side
Roll another number for the road
You're the only sober person I know
Won't you let me make you a deal,
Just get behind the wheel
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side
Should've been the driver, could've been the one
I should've been your lover, but I hadn't seen...
Can you take me to the store, then the bank?
I've got five dollars we can put in the tank
I've got a court date coming this June
I'll be driving soon
Passenger side, passenger side,
I don't like riding on the passenger side
I don't like riding on the passenger side
Lyrics submitted by OwnPersonalDemon
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Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
If any of you have ever been arrested for DUI and no what it is like to not be able to drive anywhere after having your license suspended, then I don't think there's anything about this song that is a real mystery. Pretty damn literal, if you ask me!
wow i found this song less... deep. i just pictured a couple friends driving down a dark stretch of highway after a party. and while a bit drunk the person starts thinking about his life. For example "Should've been the driver, could've been the one/I should've been your lover, but I hadn't seen..." is about missing an opportunity with a significant other... you know?
This song has always seemed pretty simple to me, but I had an interesting thought about it the other day. I think the bridge of the song reveals that he got in an accident while driving drunk and maybe killed or injured his date. "Should've been the driver, could've been the one" could refer to how in many drunk driving accidents, the driver walks away fine but the passengers or others involved don't. "Should've been your lover, but I hadn't seen . . ." could refer to how they could have dated, but he didn't see whatever it was that he hit, leaving the sentence unfinished because the memory was too much for him. Could be wrong but I just thought it was interesting.
someone who is backseat driving from the passenger side, who really deep down wishes they could be the sober one to drive the car, but love to get drunk. thus having the court date in june, offering money for gas, going to the bank....or in my group of friends case taco bell!
Hello out there! Clearly the driver isn't driving. Tweedy says "let me make you a deal- just get behind the wheel" He says this after he sings "You're gonna make me spill my beer if you don't learn how to steer" They have been swerving all around with this other person "in control" of the situation. I think he is saying that he normally "wears the pants" in relationships and he allowed this other person to be in charge and it is a swerving, swilling, spilling, completely f-ed up mess. Maybe the relationship "drove" him to drinking too much.
He doesn't like riding on the passenger side. He likes control, people.
5 comments for this song? Are you kidding me? Wilco gets ignored while Eminem gets worshipped. What a sad, sad world we live in.
He's gotten his driver's license suspended after a DUI. Either the girl he's interested in has rejected him, or he doesn't have the nerve to ask her out, because he feels frustrated/ashamed at being dependent on others to drive him around. I think the "should've been the driver" part is intended to sound ironically similar to people regretting drunk driving accidents, but is in fact just referring to his lack of success with the girl (because of the DUI). There's definitely some immaturity here.
i love this song!!
Don't we all know this person.
Some people are content being passengers on the path of life some want to be drivers and some are drivers…