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"
Back in '83 a man came to men and he told me
"Son, our way of life is done." But I was only young
With an eye to the fields, speculators and yields rotten to the core
Mono-culture whores entered the bidding wars from distant shores
I don't wanna be in the land known as destitute and free
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea
Oh, the sinuous trails of concrete rails and exhausted roars
Population wars setting our future course
Yeah, is profit and greed the only conceit on a scale between
Mere prosperity and inhumanity? It may well be, but...
I don't wanna be in the land known as destitute and free
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea
Shout out: I don't wanna be in the land known as destitute and free
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea, oh, whoa, oh, shout out
"Son, our way of life is done." But I was only young
With an eye to the fields, speculators and yields rotten to the core
Mono-culture whores entered the bidding wars from distant shores
I don't wanna be in the land known as destitute and free
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea
Oh, the sinuous trails of concrete rails and exhausted roars
Population wars setting our future course
Yeah, is profit and greed the only conceit on a scale between
Mere prosperity and inhumanity? It may well be, but...
I don't wanna be in the land known as destitute and free
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea
Shout out: I don't wanna be in the land known as destitute and free
With the grains of wrath blazing a path from sea to shining sea, oh, whoa, oh, shout out
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
This song is about the relentless march of agriculture across our nation. The reference at the beginning of the song I believe reflects an older person reflecting on the changes that took place agriculturally in his lifetime, spanning from organic farming necessarily to the green revolution of the 70s. Now, we live in a world polluted by genetically modified crops and monoculture which is both bad for the environment, and human health. The primary crops in the United States, corn (maize) and soybeans are both principally genetically modified and are practically useless for human necessities. The only thing they are good for is a cheap way to fatten up animals before we slaughter them, and they are only grown because they are highly subsidized. Another fact about these "grains of wrath" is that the great plains are now mainly corn and soybeans and much habitat has been replaced with these useless grains. How often do you see a farmer growing broccoli or other vegetables like watermelon or carrots? Not often compared to corn and soybeans. Profit and greed dominates in the modern world, as this song exemplifies.
Thanks for your reply! I think you nailed it.