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,
I'm in a skip divided, malfunction
I flap around and dive bomb
Frantically around your lie
???
I've got your voice repeating endlessly
Could you guide me in
Could you smother me
I'd swoop around your head
But I never hit
I'm blinded by your daylight
Electric veins passed through me
I thought there was this big connection
I only got my name and I got this situation
I just need a number and location
But the appropriate papers, permissions
??
But then head into your french windows
I thought there was this big connection
They only got my name
They only got my situation
I just need my number and location
The wall keeps telling me
Hey Hey, Hey Hey
Hey Hey, The devil may
Hey Hey, Hey Hey, Hey Hey
You are a fool, you are a fool
For sticking round, for sticking 'round
Yeah, you are a fool, you are a fool
For sticking round, for sticking round
??
When you walk in a room everything disappears
When you walk in a room it's a terrible mess
When you walk in a room I start to melt
When you walk in a room I follow you 'round
Like a dog I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a lapdog
I'm your lapdog, yeah
I just got my number and location
I just need my number and location
I flap around and dive bomb
Frantically around your lie
???
I've got your voice repeating endlessly
Could you guide me in
Could you smother me
I'd swoop around your head
But I never hit
I'm blinded by your daylight
Electric veins passed through me
I thought there was this big connection
I only got my name and I got this situation
I just need a number and location
But the appropriate papers, permissions
??
But then head into your french windows
I thought there was this big connection
They only got my name
They only got my situation
I just need my number and location
The wall keeps telling me
Hey Hey, Hey Hey
Hey Hey, The devil may
Hey Hey, Hey Hey, Hey Hey
You are a fool, you are a fool
For sticking round, for sticking 'round
Yeah, you are a fool, you are a fool
For sticking round, for sticking round
??
When you walk in a room everything disappears
When you walk in a room it's a terrible mess
When you walk in a room I start to melt
When you walk in a room I follow you 'round
Like a dog I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a dog, I'm a lapdog
I'm your lapdog, yeah
I just got my number and location
I just need my number and location
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
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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/
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Indigo
Of Mice & Men
Of Mice & Men
This track is about is about questioning why the sky would choose to be blue if it had the choice to be anything else, “blue also meaning sad,” states frontman Aaron Pauley. “It's about comforting a loved one in a time of loss by telling them you feel blue, too.”
I find it in no way stalker like. A tragic unconditional hopeless love, each word makes sense. By far my new favorite on the album
Excerpt from an interview with Thom Yorke on XFM, 21 August 2006: Kennedy: "Now is that one of the love songs that you referred to earlier on?" Thom Yorke: "Yeah... kind of. It's a bit messed up for that. It sounds like it's more of a love song than it really is. It's actually a song... it's more about the dislocation than anything else to me. When I... when I sing it, I always have this image of slick black oil" Interviewer: "So that's what you're thinking about when you're performing that?" Thom Yorke: "Yeah, that and sex"
missing lyrics - enveloped in a sad distraction I'm known to bite in tight situations
I think this is Thom's own way of describing what goes on in his head when he's involved with women or relationships. There's a notable tension in the heart monitor-like beep throughout the song, as well as the percussive aspects of Thom's breathing/hyperventilating. He feels dread for loving whoever the woman is, beneath her, as he is 'blinded by her light.' I don't think it's stalkerish, as he describes himself as a lapdog, something that would leave the woman in control, not the speaker.
ah cool! i hadn't noticed the cyber aspect in the song. it makes more sense now. but he has obviously heard her talk and is around her... they just can't move forward. sad...
I agree with quercusalba. It is not a stalker song. It is not about unrequited love either. It's a love song about two people who connected in every way except they couldn't take the last step to connect physically. Their hangups and the fact that the connection was so strong psychologically kept them from approaching each other. I think the mood of the song is because Thom just wanted to make light of these feelings.
Name and location sounds like ASL, nes pas?
Cyber relation ship: check.
I think eatenbyworms has a good idea of the song. It seems maybe like the song is about an online relationship...which would explain the vaguely electronic feel to the ambience. Two people are in love in cyberspace and then when they are to meet in real life, the anxiety they feel is detailed by this song.
"i got a number and location" (ip address, a representation of the safe disconnect the internet provides) "i only got my name, i only got my situation" (the other person can't know anything about you but what you let them know)
Thinking about it this way, the first verse (and maybe most of the other lyrics) suggest the singer has given up prematurely on the relationship out of fear of this meeting and curses his stupidity: "enveloped in a sad distraction", "i thought there was this big connection". But then near the end he says, "don't look into your eyes cause i'm desperately in love", so the singer may be trapped in some sort of anguish saying "should I or shouldn't I"
just my disjointed thoughts
Raspo, do you even listen to Thom's interviews on the radio? He said it's about sex. Wake up! There are love songs, there are political songs and there are very personal songs in this album. That's what Thom said.
I interpreted the song as being narrated by a guy who's stuck in the "Friend Zone." He's desperately trying to get the attention of a girl who he likes so much, but he's just too inept/shy to get her to notice him as more than just a friend. All the while, he's mentally beating himself up for making such a futile effort ("You are a fool, you are a fool...I'm a lapdog"). I wish this song had been released a little earlier than July...I was in a situation similar to this one last spring, it would've reflected my mood perfectly.
Perhaps the lyrics allow a few different interpretations but for me it's pretty clear. It's about someone (who has some relationship with a girl- not a stalker) who has completely fallen in love, to a point of them needing to see them / follow them everywhere, and the feeling isn't neccesarily reciprocated to the same extent, hence he questions wh heis in the relationship in the first place "you are a fool For sticking round," but can't / doesnt want to do anything about it, hence the rather trapped feeling lyrics towards the end.