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 only wanted such a little thing
Only simplicity
And now that I am who I was taught to be
You have abandoned me
But I held so tightly to every word you said
That’s the price of the respect you’ve always demanded
And all those things I’ve gathered through the years
Have no value here
I need to find a place where I can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And I need to find it while I still can
In a world like this
How can you wonder at my sadness?
Now I hope for something beautiful
But I feel trapped under your waves of wreckage
And if I can I'd claw my own way through
I fear one day I will be just like you
I need to find a place where i can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And I need to find it while I still can
In this land of vacant stars
In the backseats of desperate cars
Single mother topless bars
We yearn for something more
Your sons and your daughters
Are unwilling martyrs
To devils, priests, and other thieves
And their wars and rumors of war
I need a handgun and a hand grenade
To protect me from those who keep me safe
And yet I remember your straight face
Some day this will all be yours
I need to find a place where i can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And while I still can
I need to find a place where i can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And I need to find it
While I still can
While I still can
Only simplicity
And now that I am who I was taught to be
You have abandoned me
But I held so tightly to every word you said
That’s the price of the respect you’ve always demanded
And all those things I’ve gathered through the years
Have no value here
I need to find a place where I can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And I need to find it while I still can
In a world like this
How can you wonder at my sadness?
Now I hope for something beautiful
But I feel trapped under your waves of wreckage
And if I can I'd claw my own way through
I fear one day I will be just like you
I need to find a place where i can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And I need to find it while I still can
In this land of vacant stars
In the backseats of desperate cars
Single mother topless bars
We yearn for something more
Your sons and your daughters
Are unwilling martyrs
To devils, priests, and other thieves
And their wars and rumors of war
I need a handgun and a hand grenade
To protect me from those who keep me safe
And yet I remember your straight face
Some day this will all be yours
I need to find a place where i can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And while I still can
I need to find a place where i can breathe
Somewhere high above this empty wasteland
Where the air is clear
And I need to find it
While I still can
While I still can
Lyrics submitted by jpers36
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Gentle Hour
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No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran
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