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,
Soldiers, come quickly
I feel the earth beneath my feet
I'm feeling badly, it's not an attempt at decency
And if you're well off, well, then I'm happy some for you
But I'd rather not celebrate my defeat
And humiliation here with you
Someone, come quickly
This place was built for moving out
Leave behind buildings, the city planners got mapped out
Bring with you history and make your hard earned feast
Then we'll go to Omaha to
Work and exploit the booming music scene
And humility
And we've been talking all night
Oh god, come quickly
The execution of all things
Let's start with the bears and the air
And mountains, rivers and streams
Then we'll murder what matters to you
And move on to your neighbors and kids
Crush all hopes of happiness with disease
'Cause of what you did
And lastly, you're all alone with nothing left but sleep
But sleep never comes to you
It's the guilt and forever wakefulness of the weak
It's just you and me
The execution of all things
The execution of all things
The execution of all things
I feel the earth beneath my feet
I'm feeling badly, it's not an attempt at decency
And if you're well off, well, then I'm happy some for you
But I'd rather not celebrate my defeat
And humiliation here with you
Someone, come quickly
This place was built for moving out
Leave behind buildings, the city planners got mapped out
Bring with you history and make your hard earned feast
Then we'll go to Omaha to
Work and exploit the booming music scene
And humility
And we've been talking all night
Oh god, come quickly
The execution of all things
Let's start with the bears and the air
And mountains, rivers and streams
Then we'll murder what matters to you
And move on to your neighbors and kids
Crush all hopes of happiness with disease
'Cause of what you did
And lastly, you're all alone with nothing left but sleep
But sleep never comes to you
It's the guilt and forever wakefulness of the weak
It's just you and me
The execution of all things
The execution of all things
The execution of all things
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More Featured Meanings
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Trouble Breathing
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
Has any one ever thought this song was about the pilgrims and indians?
"Oh god come quickly, the execution of all things Let’s start with the bears and the air and mountains, rivers, and streams Then we’ll murder what matters to you and move on to your neighbors and kids Crush all hopes of happiness with disease ‘cause of what you did. "
It is manily that stanza that reminds me of pilgrims and what they did to the Indians when you get past the Thanksgiving joy....
Am I strange?
@Sousapalooza724 Over a decade late, but I've always thought that as well. Also the line below to me is an image of a soldier getting off of a boat into and walking onto land, i guess similar to the pilgrims. I always picture this line as a pair of boots trudding through crystal clear water and the person is carrying a musket and beckoning to others behind them. <br /> <br /> "Soldiers come quickly, I feel the earth beneath my feet"
First off, I love love love this song. The giant crescendo at the beginning all leading up to a single strumming bass is so unexpected and effective.
I've always thought this song was about global warming and how we are trashing the environment. "Soldiers come quickly, I feel the earth beneath my feet." meaning "this part of the world is untouched, we better lay down some concrete." and then there's the more obvious lines like "Oh god come quickly, the execution of all things. Let’s start with the bears and the air and mountains, rivers, and streams. "
the song has sarcastc line all through it. she's saying it wrong how everything on this planet get's torn down and burned up for construction purposes. and how the planet is getting blown up with war and fighting. she says soldiers come quicky because she feels something natural like the earth (dirt) under her feet and they just want to destroy everything.
Then we’ll go to Omaha to work and exploit the booming music scene and humility. here she is saying lets go to the place where everyones at and crash it and make everyone unhappy. (still talking to the soldiers) the song is very well written and in a sick way very witty.
i think this song is about someone who just broke up with her and shes trying not to care, she just wants to happy. well whatever it means i still love it.
such a good song, i can totally relate to it right now,
'And if you’re well off, well then I’m happy some for you. But I’d rather not celebrate my defeat and humiliation here with you.'
oy.
This song is beautiful...I love the bass line in the verse as well as the rockin' guitar solo. In my opinion, this is the best song on the cd. Rilo Kiley is a extremely talented band and T.E.O.A.T. is an album that every saddle creek fan should own.
'Then we’ll murder what matters to you and move on to your neighbors and kids'
Brilliant.
ok, i was high the other day and i started imagining this song was about a "sassy space princess" aka Jenny from a race evolved from humans (they moved away to some planet when we started declining bigtime somewhere in the future) who comes alone with some military people to observe the human race. (her and one soldier have a love affair.) yeah, it's total bullshit, but it's fun to think about. and i also think she's looking at the human race from a really objective point of view which may have triggered the story. way to go rilo kiley.
I love the line where she sings: "Then we’ll go to Omaha to work and exploit the booming music scene and humility."
seeing as this was their first (and last, if I'm correct) album with saddle creek.
I love the line where she sings: "Then we’ll go to Omaha to work and exploit the booming music scene and humility."
seeing as this was their first (and last, if I'm correct) album with saddle creek.