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,
Part of me won't go away
Every day, reminded how much I hate it
Weighted against the consequences
Can't live without it, so it's senseless
Wanna cut it out of my soul
And just live with a gaping hole
Take control of my life
And wash out all the burnt taste
I made the problems in the first place
Hang my head low 'cause it's part of me
You hardly see right next to the heart of me
Hurting me, the wounds soon scar
New cuts cover where the old ones are
And now I'm sick of this
I can't stand the sandpaper thoughts
That grate on my sanity
I'd rather not even be
Than the man that's staring in the mirror through me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
I feel it every day
I feel I'm in my way
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
Freedom can be frightening if you've never felt it
Once it's been dealt with you feel like
You've been touched by something angelic
And then melted down into a pool of peace
Cease to be the animal you used to be
Remove the broken parts you know were wrong
And feel the calm when the problem's all gone
And then you start to see
Another piece of yourself that you can't let be
Memories of the last fight to free yourself
Taken to the depths of the bottom of the well
And now you know that you can choose to lose
The part in your heart where your insides bruised
You can live if you're willing to
Put a stop to just what's killing you
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
I feel it every day
I feel I'm in my way
I feel the swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
Alive in me, inside of me
A part of me screams as I wait silently
Alive in me, inside of me
A part of me screams as I wait silently
This part of me won't go away (alive in me, inside of me)
(A part of me screams as I wait silently)
Part of me won't go away (alive in me, inside of me)
(A part of me screams as I wait silently)
Mmm, mmm, yeah
Everywhere I look around
I see how everything ought to be
Every time I see myself
There's always something wrong with me
Everywhere I look around
I see how everything ought to be
Every time I see myself
There's always something wrong with me
I feel it every day
I feel I made my way
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
I feel it every day
I feel I'm in my way
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
Every day, reminded how much I hate it
Weighted against the consequences
Can't live without it, so it's senseless
Wanna cut it out of my soul
And just live with a gaping hole
Take control of my life
And wash out all the burnt taste
I made the problems in the first place
Hang my head low 'cause it's part of me
You hardly see right next to the heart of me
Hurting me, the wounds soon scar
New cuts cover where the old ones are
And now I'm sick of this
I can't stand the sandpaper thoughts
That grate on my sanity
I'd rather not even be
Than the man that's staring in the mirror through me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
I feel it every day
I feel I'm in my way
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
Freedom can be frightening if you've never felt it
Once it's been dealt with you feel like
You've been touched by something angelic
And then melted down into a pool of peace
Cease to be the animal you used to be
Remove the broken parts you know were wrong
And feel the calm when the problem's all gone
And then you start to see
Another piece of yourself that you can't let be
Memories of the last fight to free yourself
Taken to the depths of the bottom of the well
And now you know that you can choose to lose
The part in your heart where your insides bruised
You can live if you're willing to
Put a stop to just what's killing you
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
Cut myself free willingly
Stop just what's killing me
I feel it every day
I feel I'm in my way
I feel the swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
Alive in me, inside of me
A part of me screams as I wait silently
Alive in me, inside of me
A part of me screams as I wait silently
This part of me won't go away (alive in me, inside of me)
(A part of me screams as I wait silently)
Part of me won't go away (alive in me, inside of me)
(A part of me screams as I wait silently)
Mmm, mmm, yeah
Everywhere I look around
I see how everything ought to be
Every time I see myself
There's always something wrong with me
Everywhere I look around
I see how everything ought to be
Every time I see myself
There's always something wrong with me
I feel it every day
I feel I made my way
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
I feel it every day
I feel I'm in my way
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
I feel it swell up inside, swell up inside
Swallowing me
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
I listened to this song so much times I know it by heart! I read the lyrics so much! I know I can really realate to this song, cause of my Social Anxiety Disorder or what people call it major shyness.
Every lyric in this song I can realate to. I just wanna cut my mental illness out and live with a gaping hole. See?! When I listened to this song the first time I cried cause its like LP new what I'm going threw, it scared me! So did Crawling, By Myself, Faint and Somewhere I Belong, its crazy!