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,
We are the wind and the sea
Sun reflected you to me
We are the moon and the stars
Darkness hiding mystical heart
We have just begun
The dreams, the nightmares of everyone
We are mysterious things
Eternal, perpetual, and ending
We are the yin and the yang
The ending, the middle, and the big bang
We are the zero and one
The desert, the voice, and the ocean
[Bridge]
I've one conclusion
It's not illusion
But it's creativity
The supernatural thing that happens between you and me, yeah
[Chorus:]
Because it's magic
Something out of nothing
Magic
Something out of nothing
The paranormal became normal
Every time you're through the door
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
We are silver and gold
The eyes that see
The hands that hold
We are all you heard
A whisper to scream every word
You are everything
Eternal, perpetual, and ending
I am a mystical
The sweet science of seeing the whole
We are creative
Everyone of us is how we live, yeah
We are positive
Everyone of us is how we live
[Bridge]
I've one conclusion
It's not illusion
But it's creativity
The supernatural thing that happens between you and me, yeah
[Chorus]
Because it's magic
Something out of nothing
Magic
Something out of nothing
The paranormal became normal
Every time you're through the door
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
Magic, something out of nothing [Repeat: x1]
The paranormal became normal
Every time you're through the door
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
Because it's magic [Repeat: x2]
Something out of nothing
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
Sun reflected you to me
We are the moon and the stars
Darkness hiding mystical heart
We have just begun
The dreams, the nightmares of everyone
We are mysterious things
Eternal, perpetual, and ending
We are the yin and the yang
The ending, the middle, and the big bang
We are the zero and one
The desert, the voice, and the ocean
[Bridge]
I've one conclusion
It's not illusion
But it's creativity
The supernatural thing that happens between you and me, yeah
[Chorus:]
Because it's magic
Something out of nothing
Magic
Something out of nothing
The paranormal became normal
Every time you're through the door
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
We are silver and gold
The eyes that see
The hands that hold
We are all you heard
A whisper to scream every word
You are everything
Eternal, perpetual, and ending
I am a mystical
The sweet science of seeing the whole
We are creative
Everyone of us is how we live, yeah
We are positive
Everyone of us is how we live
[Bridge]
I've one conclusion
It's not illusion
But it's creativity
The supernatural thing that happens between you and me, yeah
[Chorus]
Because it's magic
Something out of nothing
Magic
Something out of nothing
The paranormal became normal
Every time you're through the door
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
Magic, something out of nothing [Repeat: x1]
The paranormal became normal
Every time you're through the door
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
Because it's magic [Repeat: x2]
Something out of nothing
Don't care what they say
That's what I'll say
Lyrics submitted by jbond311, edited by soundsalad
Something out of Nothing Lyrics as written by Nicholas Hexum Douglas Martinez
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
best line "We are the Zero and One" lol
i digs