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,
When she walks
She swings her arms
Instead of her hips
When she talks she moves her mouth
Instead of her lips
And I've waited for her for so long
I've waited for her for so long
I've wondered if I could hang on
I wonder if I could hang on
Yeah, let me go she said
Let me go she said
Let me go and I will want you more
Let me go, let me go
Let me go and I will want you
When she wants, she wants the sun
Instead of the moon
When she sees, she sees the stars
Inside of her room
And I've waited for her for so long
I have waited for her for so long
I've wondered if I could hang on
I wonder if I could hang on
Let me go, she said
Let me go, she said
Let me go, and I will want you more
Let me go, she said, let me go
Let me go, and I will want you
Let me go, she said
Let me go, she said
Let me go, she said, let me go
Let me go, she said
Let me go, let me go
Let me go
Let me go let me go
Let me go, let, let me go
Let me go, let me go
Let me go, let me go
She swings her arms
Instead of her hips
When she talks she moves her mouth
Instead of her lips
And I've waited for her for so long
I've waited for her for so long
I've wondered if I could hang on
I wonder if I could hang on
Yeah, let me go she said
Let me go she said
Let me go and I will want you more
Let me go, let me go
Let me go and I will want you
When she wants, she wants the sun
Instead of the moon
When she sees, she sees the stars
Inside of her room
And I've waited for her for so long
I have waited for her for so long
I've wondered if I could hang on
I wonder if I could hang on
Let me go, she said
Let me go, she said
Let me go, and I will want you more
Let me go, she said, let me go
Let me go, and I will want you
Let me go, she said
Let me go, she said
Let me go, she said, let me go
Let me go, she said
Let me go, let me go
Let me go
Let me go let me go
Let me go, let, let me go
Let me go, let me go
Let me go, let me go
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More Featured Meanings

Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo

No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.

Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.

Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.

System
Mel And Kim
Mel And Kim
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.
While I prefer to think of this as a love song, mainly b/c I like the idea of a guy looking for a girl who isn't overly sexual and flirtatious, I also think it can be interpreted as a father singing of his daughter.
If you think about it, little girls often swing their arms when they walk -- imagine a kid when she's not old enough yet to care about boys. Also, "the stars inside of her room" reminds me of those little glow in the dark plastic stars lots of kids (including me) stick to their ceilings. Also, "she wants the sun instead of the moon" -- while many adult women may long for the night, again probably a sexual reference, kids always want it to be daytime, for various reasons. They want to play, they're scared of the dark, they have to much energy to go to sleep, etc. "I've waited for her for so long" could express the idea that this guy has been wanting to be a father for a very long time.
And, the "let me go" I think is an idea expressed by lots of young people... they just want their parents to let them go. This father has waited so long for a daughter that he wondered if he could hang on, but his daughter doesn't understand that -- she just wants him to let her go so she can experience life.
i love this song... i've always thought it describes me, but perhaps that's wishful thinking. i think it all goes back to the saying that you only want what you can't have, so if she doesn't think he wants her, she'll want him more.
I don't really see this as a love song to someone in a wheelchair, though that's entirely possible, I suppose. I see this as a song about a girl he likes-obviously. She's not...sexualized, I guess is the word. She doesn't try to attract men by using her body-her hips or her lips. Of course, all this only serves to attract him a lot more than the other women, and that makes him clingy. She's independent, though-does not put up with anyone hanging onto her like that.
Gotta love this song.
this is a very rough guess... but i interpret this as the singer wants a girl really badly, but she just wants him to chill and settle down. if he lightens up a bit she'll like him more.
oh ouch thats a really rough guess, its not like the song says that with different phrasing. <br /> <br /> <br /> sorry to be super sarcastic on you. Love this song and you <3
i think its just he wants her so much, and he's afraid he'll lose her, that hes holding on too tightly and she, although she likes him, isnt cool with that. she wants what he wants in "love you madly" i agree with you, belle1313, i always thought it was describing me, when guys get kinda clingy, if they just back off a little, you want them more.
I like this song especially because it's really easy to sing along to.
Because, you know, he kind of repeats himself a lot. Repetition is awesome.
He is enfatuated with a girl, and she likes him, but he is smothering her - she needs some time alone. This girl is the only one for him because she comes across as a real woman, it doesn't seem to be purely based on lust. He notices her arms and mouth instead of just her hips and lips. The guy feels like he needs to pursue her more because she is so special to him, but the girl needs her space.
This could also be right lol
sweet song....i really like it. i thinjk its about a guy who's just too clingy and his girl just told him, and he's not sure what to do about it.
oh and what's the guy saying in the backround in the middle of the song? it sounds like spanish or something, but i can't understand it (duh-i dont speak spanish).
I think this song is about the same woman in "Short skirt/Long jacket" She fits the same kind of description -- an no-bullshit woman.
I think that this song is about the singer's obsession with a mentally retarded or brain-injured girl in a wheelchair because her legs don't work. Think about it: "when she walks, she swings her arms, instead of her hips". An obvious reference to the use of a wheelchair When she walks, she doesn't use her legs at all; she uses her arms. And then, "When she talks she moves her mouth, instead of her lips." A speech handicap, stemming either from mental retardation or brain injury, either of which could account for her restriction to a wheelchair. And then, of course, there is the line "when she sees, she sees the stars inside of her room". This could be either a reference to blindness, or to the psychiatric medicines that cause her to get a little loopy. The thing, though, is that she's a little weirded out about it. He tries to grab her, but "'Let me go', she said" repeatedly. There is such a sick desperation in the song towards this girl; he's moving too fast, and she thinks that his attraction is because of her handicap. Which it may be
If she's mentally and physically retarded, how do you expect her to even know where the fuck she is? Not to mention any girl that has that many faults isn't going to be turning away men, she's going to take what she can get. That is, of course, if she's not a damned vegetable.<br /> <br /> No, im pretty sure this song is about John McCrea's obsession with the retarded or brain-injured guy who wrote this post.<br /> <br /> And for the record, all of you who try to overthink CAKE songs- Get a life. All he does is babble about inane shit and i bet he's laughing at all of you right now. I know i am.