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,
Rose lived on the south side of town
Until her landlord showed up with two hundred dollar bills
A notice of eviction on the other hand
Now she don't live there no more
And everyone thinks he drowned
I pulled into Mecklenburg on them trains
Into a station that got flooded when they opened up the dam
And broke their connections to the railway lines
So they could blast into the quarry
And for every load of granite
We got a ton of worry
One night at the diner over eggs
Over easy she showed me the length of her legs
But that gold plated cross on her neck, it was real
And you don't get that kind of money from pushing meal
I should've told him that you were the one for me
But I lied, but I lied
To most any drifter whose looking for work is too weird
I met your sister and I married her in July
But if only to be closer to you, Caroline
Percy and I moved down the street
Until we lost two pretty girls
One was seven and one was three
Alderman and Caroline owned the house right up the hill
Where we laid those babies down
So they could still see our house
Suspicion got the best of old Alderman Haint
He owned an auto parts store off the interstate
But the lord took him home in July
And then Rose spilled the beans on the day that he died
We was in trouble
I should've told him that you were the one for me
But I lied, but I lied
Tied up to concrete at the bottom of the quarry
With a tattoo on his heart that spelled out "Caroline"
He was silent but his rosary
Well, it drifted into the custody
Of a sheriff that was just deputized
And I was down at the banquet hall
When two guys came up, pretty angry and drunk
And I'm still here at the banquet hall
At the banquet hall
Where the gun went off in the Carolina rain
In the Carolina rain
In the Carolina rain
Oh, Caroline
Until her landlord showed up with two hundred dollar bills
A notice of eviction on the other hand
Now she don't live there no more
And everyone thinks he drowned
I pulled into Mecklenburg on them trains
Into a station that got flooded when they opened up the dam
And broke their connections to the railway lines
So they could blast into the quarry
And for every load of granite
We got a ton of worry
One night at the diner over eggs
Over easy she showed me the length of her legs
But that gold plated cross on her neck, it was real
And you don't get that kind of money from pushing meal
I should've told him that you were the one for me
But I lied, but I lied
To most any drifter whose looking for work is too weird
I met your sister and I married her in July
But if only to be closer to you, Caroline
Percy and I moved down the street
Until we lost two pretty girls
One was seven and one was three
Alderman and Caroline owned the house right up the hill
Where we laid those babies down
So they could still see our house
Suspicion got the best of old Alderman Haint
He owned an auto parts store off the interstate
But the lord took him home in July
And then Rose spilled the beans on the day that he died
We was in trouble
I should've told him that you were the one for me
But I lied, but I lied
Tied up to concrete at the bottom of the quarry
With a tattoo on his heart that spelled out "Caroline"
He was silent but his rosary
Well, it drifted into the custody
Of a sheriff that was just deputized
And I was down at the banquet hall
When two guys came up, pretty angry and drunk
And I'm still here at the banquet hall
At the banquet hall
Where the gun went off in the Carolina rain
In the Carolina rain
In the Carolina rain
Oh, Caroline
Lyrics submitted by BlueAndStarry
Carolina Rain Lyrics as written by Ryan Adams
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I love the third verse, "One night at the diner..." and how Adams plays with the words to intertwine the dining scene and how it somehow led to some sexual encounter with Caroline. It seems so blurred together like it probably actually happened to the man in the song. Ryan is a genius.