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A New England Lyrics
I was 21 years when I wrote this song
I'm 22 now but I won't be for long
People ask me "when will you grow up to be a man?"
But all the girls I loved in school are already pushing prams
I loved you then as I love you still
Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill
I don't feel bad about letting you go
I just feel sad about letting you know
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a New England
I'm just looking for another girl <b>[x2]</b>
I loved the words you wrote to me
But that was bloody yesterday
I can't survive on what you send
Everytime you need a friend
I saw two shooting stars last night
I wished on them
But they were only satallites
And wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care
I don't want to change the world
I'm not looking for a New England
I'm just looking for another girl <b>[x2]</b>
Looking for another girl...
I'm 22 now but I won't be for long
People ask me "when will you grow up to be a man?"
But all the girls I loved in school are already pushing prams
Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill
I don't feel bad about letting you go
I just feel sad about letting you know
I'm not looking for a New England
I'm just looking for another girl <b>[x2]</b>
But that was bloody yesterday
I can't survive on what you send
Everytime you need a friend
I wished on them
But they were only satallites
And wrong to wish on space hardware
I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care
I'm not looking for a New England
I'm just looking for another girl <b>[x2]</b>
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What I find really poignant about this song is how cold and brutally honest he is. "I don't feel bad about letting you go I just feel sad about letting you know" - he knows it's going to be painful but he feels no guilt. And also the "I'm just looking for another girl". Imagine saying that to someone when you broke up!
That "I'm twenty-two now but I won't be for long" is lifted from a Simon and Garfunkel song, probably one of Bragg's folk-y influences. The origins of that lyric are from "The Leaves That Are Green".
"Though I put you on a pedestal, they put you on the pill" From the first verse, I don't think he is wanting to have children as he hasn't fully grown up himself, so her being on birth-control would be a non-issue. I interpret the pill he is referring to is something for their mental state; he thinks the world of them, but everyone else thinks they are crazy. Just my interpretation, obviously.
Beautiful song.
@CasualCasualty In the same verse he talks about all the girls he fancied at school are now pushing prams.
@CasualCasualty In the same verse he talks about all the girls he fancied at school are now pushing prams.
In the UK, 'going on the pill' means exclusively to take the contraceptive pill, not any other kind of medication.
In the UK, 'going on the pill' means exclusively to take the contraceptive pill, not any other kind of medication.
just a transcription correction:
"all the girls i loved in school are already pushing prams..."
"pram" is a british term for baby-carriage.
cheers.
Politics or love? 'I don't want to change the world I'm not looking for a New England I'm just looking for another girl' Ones obsession with politics can be a turn off to those you fancy and can ruin the development of a relationship. Billy Bragg clearly wanted to change the world and was looking for a new England. However, when push came to shove, he was amenable to jacking in the politics for the love. This feeling, of course, may well have gripped him only momentarily.
This songs rocks! Billy lyrics are great. People need to care more.
just beautiful.
I'm glad other people appreciate this song, it really is brilliant.
YES! i love it, even though i havent heard the real one, just the one by the ataris, its really good lyrics though
the line actually goes "is it wrong to wish on space hardware" not "And wrong to wish on space hardware"