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,
No one ever tells you
What it's like to love and lose
How it feels to waken
And have breakfast with the blues
How to go on living
How to face another day
No, no one ever tells you the way
No one ever tells you
How it feels to walk alone
Listening for those footsteps
Through the echo of your own
Suddenly it hits you
All those dreams weren't worth a dime
'Cause no one ever tells you in time
Long before
The icy winds of winter
Autumn tells the swallows
Time to fly
So why do we pretend
Till the bitter end
Till it breaks our hearts
To say good-bye
Well
No one ever tells you
That it's just another fling
No one ever warns you
When your heart begins to sing
Someone tells you later
All is fair in love and war
But no one ever tells you before
Long before
Our love boat's torn asunder
We can hear the thunder
Of the falls
So why do we go on
Sailing madly on
Till all we had is gone
Beyond recall
Beyond recall
No one ever tells you
That it's just another fling
No one ever warns you
When your heart begins to sing
Someone tells you later
All is fair in love and war
But no one ever tells you before
It never comes easy
'Cause no one
No one, no one
Ever tells you
Tells you
No one ever tells you before
No one ever tells you before
What it's like to love and lose
How it feels to waken
And have breakfast with the blues
How to go on living
How to face another day
No, no one ever tells you the way
No one ever tells you
How it feels to walk alone
Listening for those footsteps
Through the echo of your own
Suddenly it hits you
All those dreams weren't worth a dime
'Cause no one ever tells you in time
Long before
The icy winds of winter
Autumn tells the swallows
Time to fly
So why do we pretend
Till the bitter end
Till it breaks our hearts
To say good-bye
Well
No one ever tells you
That it's just another fling
No one ever warns you
When your heart begins to sing
Someone tells you later
All is fair in love and war
But no one ever tells you before
Long before
Our love boat's torn asunder
We can hear the thunder
Of the falls
So why do we go on
Sailing madly on
Till all we had is gone
Beyond recall
Beyond recall
No one ever tells you
That it's just another fling
No one ever warns you
When your heart begins to sing
Someone tells you later
All is fair in love and war
But no one ever tells you before
It never comes easy
'Cause no one
No one, no one
Ever tells you
Tells you
No one ever tells you before
No one ever tells you before
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
No One Ever Tells You Lyrics as written by H. Atwood C. Coates
Lyrics © CARROLL COATES D/B/A MICANA MUSIC
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
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.