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"
Subway Terror...
I got my suit on
I got my boot on
I'm goin' down that stairway
Gotta put my glove on
If I get some blood on
My sneakers I don't care
Hey man, I got my ludes
I'm in the mood
They look so lovely and pale
When they kiss the third rail
And they won't step lively anymore
Deep in the heart of you
A terror grows (know it, know it)
I see it in your eyes
It shows (know it, know it)
You watch me walk from car to car
What the hell am I looking for
I'm gonna check it out
I'm gonna shake it up
I want a transit cop
To try and break it up
You got a wimpy face
And if this train gets stuck
You better say a prayer
'Cause man you're outta luck
Oh, I take the B train
I take the D train
I take the one that's jammed up tight
I take the purses
I see some nurses
They think they're oh so prim and white
I'd like to dirty up
Their little skirties up
They look so lovely and pale
When they kiss the third rail
And they won't step lively anymore
Deep in the heart of you
A feeling grows (you've had it, had it)
I see it in your eyes
I know (you've had it, had it)
By God this blade is razor sharp
Do you know how to play a harp
I think your numbers up
I see you on the slab
You had the money jack
You shoulda took a cab
It's been a pleasure sir
And you were so polite
I'll tell your family
You won't be home tonight, ooh
I got my suit on yeah
I got my boot on yeah
I'm goin' down that stairway
Gotta put my glove on yeah
I get some blood on yeah
My sneakers I don't care
I got my ludes
I'm in the mood
They look so lovely and pale
When they kiss the third rail
And they won't step lively anymore
Aaaaarrrhhhhh
I got my suit on
I got my boot on
I'm goin' down that stairway
Gotta put my glove on
If I get some blood on
My sneakers I don't care
Hey man, I got my ludes
I'm in the mood
They look so lovely and pale
When they kiss the third rail
And they won't step lively anymore
Deep in the heart of you
A terror grows (know it, know it)
I see it in your eyes
It shows (know it, know it)
You watch me walk from car to car
What the hell am I looking for
I'm gonna check it out
I'm gonna shake it up
I want a transit cop
To try and break it up
You got a wimpy face
And if this train gets stuck
You better say a prayer
'Cause man you're outta luck
Oh, I take the B train
I take the D train
I take the one that's jammed up tight
I take the purses
I see some nurses
They think they're oh so prim and white
I'd like to dirty up
Their little skirties up
They look so lovely and pale
When they kiss the third rail
And they won't step lively anymore
Deep in the heart of you
A feeling grows (you've had it, had it)
I see it in your eyes
I know (you've had it, had it)
By God this blade is razor sharp
Do you know how to play a harp
I think your numbers up
I see you on the slab
You had the money jack
You shoulda took a cab
It's been a pleasure sir
And you were so polite
I'll tell your family
You won't be home tonight, ooh
I got my suit on yeah
I got my boot on yeah
I'm goin' down that stairway
Gotta put my glove on yeah
I get some blood on yeah
My sneakers I don't care
I got my ludes
I'm in the mood
They look so lovely and pale
When they kiss the third rail
And they won't step lively anymore
Aaaaarrrhhhhh
Lyrics submitted by bilnit
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The Night We Met
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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,
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