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,
Wish I could hold you up, in my arms.
Keep you safe and sound from any harm.
I can't seem to function, from this far away.
And every little moment looks so dull,
Without your color in my day.
Oh it feels so good to hear you speak.
This is where I start to miss you, more than I can bear.
I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair.
All my time spent wondering, how I stay true to you.
But you're not here, and now I fear,
I'll never get back to you.
Would have carried you, to anywhere you pleased,
Even if my limbs were broken, and my body was diseased.
I can't seem to operate from this far away.
There's a million little voices tellin' me
I should have stayed.
Oh it feels so good to hear you speak.
This is where I start to miss you, more than I can bear.
I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair.
All my time spent wondering, how I stay true to you.
But you're not here, and now I fear,
I'll never get back to you.
My blood aches from from trying to make you appear,
Oh its such an awful sight to just see me in the mirror.
This is where I start to miss you, more than I can bear.
I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair.
All my time spent wondering, why I stay true to you.
'Cause you're not here, and now its clear,
I'm never going back to you.
No, No I'm never going back to you.
Keep you safe and sound from any harm.
I can't seem to function, from this far away.
And every little moment looks so dull,
Without your color in my day.
Oh it feels so good to hear you speak.
This is where I start to miss you, more than I can bear.
I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair.
All my time spent wondering, how I stay true to you.
But you're not here, and now I fear,
I'll never get back to you.
Would have carried you, to anywhere you pleased,
Even if my limbs were broken, and my body was diseased.
I can't seem to operate from this far away.
There's a million little voices tellin' me
I should have stayed.
Oh it feels so good to hear you speak.
This is where I start to miss you, more than I can bear.
I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair.
All my time spent wondering, how I stay true to you.
But you're not here, and now I fear,
I'll never get back to you.
My blood aches from from trying to make you appear,
Oh its such an awful sight to just see me in the mirror.
This is where I start to miss you, more than I can bear.
I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair.
All my time spent wondering, why I stay true to you.
'Cause you're not here, and now its clear,
I'm never going back to you.
No, No I'm never going back to you.
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I really love the chorus of this song, with the trumpet.
It's about a long distance relationship, and the struggle to make it work, then finally he gives up and decides that it's not worth it.
nick shreds his ass of on this whole cd, and i love the 80's arena pop trumpets haha
yea loving the pop/jazziness of the trumpets! it's different from the older songs, but it's still got the elements of the spill canvas/their own style in it :)
undeniably one of my favourite songs on the new album
poor nick =/ whoever this lucky girl is at home, this song shows her how much he misses her when hes on tour and such for us. not gonna lie though, if i were her the part that says "how to stay true to you" would maybe get to me. but the song is adorable and shows her how crazy it makes him to be away. lucky bitch. ;)
"This is where I start to miss you more than I can bare I hate this distance in between us, I don't think it's fair." this bits so cute but then this bit, must get to girls everywhere =p he shouldnt need to wonder how he can stay true to her! "All my time spent wondering How to stay true to you"
great song though :)
I agree with everyone, that it's about how he misses his girl at home...but by the end, "All my time spent wondering Why I stay true to you 'Cause you're not here, and now it's clear I'm never going back to you."
It sounds like he's saying 'I try so extremely hard for you even when I'm out touring, but you don't have the patience to wait for me' ...it implies she has cheated on him and he kinda knows, hence he's never going back to her
It's sort of like, he really wants to stay true to her, and he misses her so much while he's away. But inside, there may be a part of him that knows/ is thinking that she isn't being faithful to him, so in the end he decides that he's never going back to her.
I agree wtih everyone on the long distance and cheating thing. But I honestly liked the person who said it was about him thinking that she might not be being faithful to him, so he is wondering why he is being to her. I was in a long distance relationship and those things run through your mind constantly. Plus distance really screws with you, you don't see each other all the time so you fight, and things are pretty hard, and it's hard to be faithful because that person isn't there and you get jealous and start wondering maybe they are doing the same thing. that is what i did, i thoguht for sure they were cheating on me, so i did, in reality i'm not sure if they ever did, but it does happen. This song is amazing none the less.
I agree wtih everyone on the long distance and cheating thing. But I honestly liked the person who said it was about him thinking that she might not be being faithful to him, so he is wondering why he is being to her. I was in a long distance relationship and those things run through your mind constantly. Plus distance really screws with you, you don't see each other all the time so you fight, and things are pretty hard, and it's hard to be faithful because that person isn't there and you get jealous and start wondering maybe they are doing the same thing. that is what i did, i thoguht for sure they were cheating on me, so i did, in reality i'm not sure if they ever did, but it does happen. This song is amazing none the less.
I don't think the girl is unfaithful. I think she simply doesn't take part in his lifestyle on the road. So he wishes he could protect her and keep her safe and claim her as his, but he is simply too far away and realizes it is not likely to ever work.