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,
"Here's a true story"
Said someone to me yesterday
Said he'd heard it in a taxi
Must have had him at my mercy
Drown that poor thing put it out of its misery
Condemn it to its future deny its history, deny its history
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
Look through my venetian blinds
Dusting the past off my mind
Seeing orange everywhere
I'd go to Patagonia but it's harder there
I'll do anything to prove I care
Fascinated by good destroyed by evil
What is there to believe in
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not waving, we're drowning, ooh
Said someone to me yesterday
Said he'd heard it in a taxi
Must have had him at my mercy
Drown that poor thing put it out of its misery
Condemn it to its future deny its history, deny its history
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
Look through my venetian blinds
Dusting the past off my mind
Seeing orange everywhere
I'd go to Patagonia but it's harder there
I'll do anything to prove I care
Fascinated by good destroyed by evil
What is there to believe in
So where are we going?
We're not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not ready for drowning
So where are we going?
We are not waving, we're drowning, ooh
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How on earth do none of you know about this? The song is about the town of Capel Celyn which was drowned to supply water for Liverpool in the 60s. Families who had relatives buried in the cemetery were given the option of either moving them to another cemetery, or leaving them. Consequently, eight bodies were disinterred, and the remainder left. All headstones were removed, and the cemetery was then covered in a layer of gravel, then concrete.
God save the queen
That's awful, and they do it all the time. I live in Mexico, and here government has been making arrangements to flood a XVI century town to make a dam and it's really sad because people are against it, but government always do as they wish.
As far i'm concerned, this song is about how so many artists (including Welsh and Britain poets like Richey) suffered or died because of alcoholism. And theres a historical reference of Liverpool (i don't know when) once flooding nearby places for their water distribution.
The last line - So where are we going we're not waving we are drowning is based on a line from a poem by Stevie Smith:
Nobody heard him, the dead man, But still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning
Poor chap, he always loved larking And now he's dead It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way, They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always (Still the dead one lay moaning) I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.
the song is about a village in wales that was flooded to supply power to a town (I think the town was in England)
here's an article from the independant<br /> <br /> independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-village-drowned-to-give-another-nation-water-2108977.html
Drowning and Richey James Edwards connection perhaps?
There use to be a Welsh colony in Patagonia (Argentina)
I will bring the whole edifice down on their unworthy heads :D
So sayeth Richard Burton.
How could they drown a whole village to make a reservoir, why couldn't they just use a completely uninhabited area? You have to wonder about some people.
@manic4manics been done repeatedly throughout history unfortunately. Most recently that I am aware of is the Aswan Dam in China (three rivers dam). Think they did similar in an African country recently too. Back in the 1950's they flooded the town of Jindabyne in Australia (the town was moved to the banks, but the old town was flooded).