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,
She was born
In the river land
Born of her mother, into her mother's hands
She was free, as the river was wild
She was so innocent,
Such a beautiful child
Then they took her away
from Paradise
Where everything was beautiful
And very nice
They took her away
Her mother's tongue
Slapped her around a little bit
To teach her another one
In and out of institutions
What could they do with this child
Where was the neat solution
There was nothing they could do
So they gave her to the street
And she joined all the rest of the hungry and the tired feet
And they took her away
from Paradise
Where everything was beautiful
And very nice
They took her away
Her mother's tongue
Slapped her around a little bit
To teach her another one
And the XXXXXX don't swim here anymore
And the XXXXXX swim here anymore
She met a boy
Who kind of knew
Some of the things that she was going through
But he was confused
So he ran away
She found him again
And here she is today
And they took her away
from Paradise
Where everything is beautiful
And very nice
They took her away
Her mother's tongue
Slapped her around a little bit
To teach her another one
Took her away from paradise
Away from paradise
Away....Away....Away from Paradise...
In the river land
Born of her mother, into her mother's hands
She was free, as the river was wild
She was so innocent,
Such a beautiful child
Then they took her away
from Paradise
Where everything was beautiful
And very nice
They took her away
Her mother's tongue
Slapped her around a little bit
To teach her another one
In and out of institutions
What could they do with this child
Where was the neat solution
There was nothing they could do
So they gave her to the street
And she joined all the rest of the hungry and the tired feet
And they took her away
from Paradise
Where everything was beautiful
And very nice
They took her away
Her mother's tongue
Slapped her around a little bit
To teach her another one
And the XXXXXX don't swim here anymore
And the XXXXXX swim here anymore
She met a boy
Who kind of knew
Some of the things that she was going through
But he was confused
So he ran away
She found him again
And here she is today
And they took her away
from Paradise
Where everything is beautiful
And very nice
They took her away
Her mother's tongue
Slapped her around a little bit
To teach her another one
Took her away from paradise
Away from paradise
Away....Away....Away from Paradise...
Lyrics submitted by dylantovey
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