This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Tony, your life's not over,
But you've given up all you lived for.
Put the bottle down and fix the thing you ran from.
Do you say what you really mean?
Are you really how you're perceived to be?
If the lights go out tomorrow,would you know?
I don't wanna call your family and tell them to build a coffin,
Because their oldest son just overdosed on pills.
You've got a red glare in your eyes,
And the sky outside your door's a blacker blue.
I hate to see what's become of you.
Tony, it's just a stick in the spokes.
It's not too late for you to find your way home,
Because your friends are still here,
And your family's where you left them.
So put on a clear head and try it out for a ride,
Because you're better than this and you can better your life.
You can't choose your father,
We're suffering together.
I don't wanna call your family and tell them to build a coffin,
Because their oldest son just overdosed on pills.
You've got a red glare in your eyes,
And the sky outside your door's a blacker blue.
I hate to see what's become of you.
You're getting closer to the end of your rope.
I never thought you'd let yourself get so cold.
But lately I've been thinking about the things I said to you,
And now I need to prove that
I didn't mean it when I said, that you were dead to me.
You mean the world to me.
I don't wanna call your family and tell them to build a coffin,
Because their oldest son just overdosed on pills.
You've got a red glare in your eyes,
And the sky outside your door's a blacker blue.
I hate to see what's become of you.
But you've given up all you lived for.
Put the bottle down and fix the thing you ran from.
Do you say what you really mean?
Are you really how you're perceived to be?
If the lights go out tomorrow,would you know?
I don't wanna call your family and tell them to build a coffin,
Because their oldest son just overdosed on pills.
You've got a red glare in your eyes,
And the sky outside your door's a blacker blue.
I hate to see what's become of you.
Tony, it's just a stick in the spokes.
It's not too late for you to find your way home,
Because your friends are still here,
And your family's where you left them.
So put on a clear head and try it out for a ride,
Because you're better than this and you can better your life.
You can't choose your father,
We're suffering together.
I don't wanna call your family and tell them to build a coffin,
Because their oldest son just overdosed on pills.
You've got a red glare in your eyes,
And the sky outside your door's a blacker blue.
I hate to see what's become of you.
You're getting closer to the end of your rope.
I never thought you'd let yourself get so cold.
But lately I've been thinking about the things I said to you,
And now I need to prove that
I didn't mean it when I said, that you were dead to me.
You mean the world to me.
I don't wanna call your family and tell them to build a coffin,
Because their oldest son just overdosed on pills.
You've got a red glare in your eyes,
And the sky outside your door's a blacker blue.
I hate to see what's become of you.
Lyrics submitted by fedorov1fan
Paternal Reversal Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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,
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This reminds me of "Time Turned Fragile" by Motion City Soundtrack, in that I think it's sung from the point of view of a friend/family member talking TO Anthony. Or maybe even Anthony talking to himself.
After all, the person being referred to in the song is Tony (a very common nickname for Anthony). If not, oh well, but it makes sense.