Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
let's open with an el camino in flames
let's open with the way she's flipping out and throwing crab legs
at the people at table ten
she took all she could take, she's not coming back in
and he decided not to drive anymore because he no longer has a car
he gathers up a few of his important things
he grabs his guitar and stands back pretty far
because
this is beginning to feel like a movie and
the movie stars always explode
and unless he gets lucky and gets a ride real soon
he doesn't think that he's gonna make it to his show
they haven't seen each other in over a year
and they don't know where one another is
they walked out on each other for some reason or another
but they can't remember what that reason was
now they both do their best to never think of each other
they do what they can to forget it all
they both know they did the right thing with no regrets
but the audience knows they're wrong because
they were in love and she didn't believe
and it burned him into ash
they were in love and he wanted to get tattooed
but she thought it was a little too fast
now she crosses the cold parking lot
gets into her car but can't get it to start
so she calls up her new boyfriend
but he's busy with the girl from the mini-mart
so she walks home in the snow does twenty blocks
doesn't know what she's gonna do
she takes the stairs because the elevator is broken
she opened the door and she discovered the truth
she picks up a chair
now there's blood in her hair
and she packs a tiny bag
calls an ambulance and steps back out into the cold wet air
he's walking with the sun and the road
he's got 300 more miles to go
when the sun goes down he never misses a beat
and starts looking for a place to sleep
he slips under a bush
and he strums the guitar
a scorpion climbs up his leg
and he never knew there were so many stars
he presses a few sad chords
and starts to softly sing
he accidentally starts to sing about her
and it burns him more than a scorpion's sting
his first impulse is to smash the guitar
but it's all he's got left in the world
he swore he'd never sing another song about her
never would her name make his lips curl
she takes all the money she saved
buys a ticket for a big jet plane
she's never seen desert before
and she doesn't really like new england anymore
she gets on the next plane to phoenix
she doesn't want to sit an available flight
she doesn't know what to do when she gets there
she rents a car and drives into the night
he wakes up all covered in ants
and makes his way back to the road
gets a ride right away from a trucker named joe
who says "i will take you where you want to joe"
they pulled onto a side
where the pavement turns into dirt
joe says "you better give me what you got
unless you wanna get hurt"
she drives north thinks about the grand canyon
starts wondering what she's doing with her life
she stops at a truck stop for some gas
finds a liquor store and gets a bottle of wine
she meets a burly man in the parking lot
he's got some stuff for sale
she buys a pocket watch and an old guitar
he says he needed the money to get his son out of jail
it was his first time being robbed
and he made it out just fine
he had some money safely hidden in his sock
and he made it to holbrook and got a room for the night
it was only fifteen dollars
and all rooms came with hbo
it'd been years since he watched tv
and all it did was make him feel alone
she picked up the guitar
she always kinda wanted to learn how to play
but it made her think about him
so she put that fucker back down right away
she knew he could never forgive her
if she knew where he was to ask
all she left him a post-it note that said
"goodbye dear i'm never coming back"
he woke up with a headache
and a throat that was incredibly dry
he went out looking for a dr pepper
and the light of machines blinded his eyes
the only thing left was big red
and that made her pop back into his head
he knew she could never forgive him
for going out that night and never coming back again
he starts kicking the machine
and he started to yell and scream
he should have never set his car on fire
what the hell was he thinking
she heard a noise outside
she peeked her little nose through the blinds
she saw him standing there
but could hardly recognize him through all that hair
he realized he was being watched
and remembered that the doors automatically locked
his keys were on his bed
and that soda machine ate his fifty cents
so he pulled out his revolver
and he pointed it up at the sky
and he let of a couple of shots
and thought that it might be nice to go to jail tonight
she opened the door
she asked him who he thought he ways
she said she was trying to sleep
and he's yelling, screaming, and kicking, and firing a gun
he said "i'm sorry"
then he figured out who she was
tears start flooding his sore eyes
and he fell to his knees and he dropped the gun
she said "don't be so dramatic
hurry up and get inside.
i'll hide you from the cops when they come.
everything's gonna be alright."
they locked the door behind them
he saw his guitar on the floor
she said she was sorry she said "please forgive me dear"
he said "what for?"
"for leaving you" she said
he said "no it was me that left"
he said "hey where'd you get my guitar?"
and she shut him up a long kiss
they pieced together what they had done
he picked up his guitar and then he played a song
and for the first time ever she sang along
and they both sang "you don't know what you've got until it's gone"
"you don't know what you've got until it's gone"
let's open with the way she's flipping out and throwing crab legs
at the people at table ten
she took all she could take, she's not coming back in
and he decided not to drive anymore because he no longer has a car
he gathers up a few of his important things
he grabs his guitar and stands back pretty far
because
this is beginning to feel like a movie and
the movie stars always explode
and unless he gets lucky and gets a ride real soon
he doesn't think that he's gonna make it to his show
they haven't seen each other in over a year
and they don't know where one another is
they walked out on each other for some reason or another
but they can't remember what that reason was
now they both do their best to never think of each other
they do what they can to forget it all
they both know they did the right thing with no regrets
but the audience knows they're wrong because
they were in love and she didn't believe
and it burned him into ash
they were in love and he wanted to get tattooed
but she thought it was a little too fast
now she crosses the cold parking lot
gets into her car but can't get it to start
so she calls up her new boyfriend
but he's busy with the girl from the mini-mart
so she walks home in the snow does twenty blocks
doesn't know what she's gonna do
she takes the stairs because the elevator is broken
she opened the door and she discovered the truth
she picks up a chair
now there's blood in her hair
and she packs a tiny bag
calls an ambulance and steps back out into the cold wet air
he's walking with the sun and the road
he's got 300 more miles to go
when the sun goes down he never misses a beat
and starts looking for a place to sleep
he slips under a bush
and he strums the guitar
a scorpion climbs up his leg
and he never knew there were so many stars
he presses a few sad chords
and starts to softly sing
he accidentally starts to sing about her
and it burns him more than a scorpion's sting
his first impulse is to smash the guitar
but it's all he's got left in the world
he swore he'd never sing another song about her
never would her name make his lips curl
she takes all the money she saved
buys a ticket for a big jet plane
she's never seen desert before
and she doesn't really like new england anymore
she gets on the next plane to phoenix
she doesn't want to sit an available flight
she doesn't know what to do when she gets there
she rents a car and drives into the night
he wakes up all covered in ants
and makes his way back to the road
gets a ride right away from a trucker named joe
who says "i will take you where you want to joe"
they pulled onto a side
where the pavement turns into dirt
joe says "you better give me what you got
unless you wanna get hurt"
she drives north thinks about the grand canyon
starts wondering what she's doing with her life
she stops at a truck stop for some gas
finds a liquor store and gets a bottle of wine
she meets a burly man in the parking lot
he's got some stuff for sale
she buys a pocket watch and an old guitar
he says he needed the money to get his son out of jail
it was his first time being robbed
and he made it out just fine
he had some money safely hidden in his sock
and he made it to holbrook and got a room for the night
it was only fifteen dollars
and all rooms came with hbo
it'd been years since he watched tv
and all it did was make him feel alone
she picked up the guitar
she always kinda wanted to learn how to play
but it made her think about him
so she put that fucker back down right away
she knew he could never forgive her
if she knew where he was to ask
all she left him a post-it note that said
"goodbye dear i'm never coming back"
he woke up with a headache
and a throat that was incredibly dry
he went out looking for a dr pepper
and the light of machines blinded his eyes
the only thing left was big red
and that made her pop back into his head
he knew she could never forgive him
for going out that night and never coming back again
he starts kicking the machine
and he started to yell and scream
he should have never set his car on fire
what the hell was he thinking
she heard a noise outside
she peeked her little nose through the blinds
she saw him standing there
but could hardly recognize him through all that hair
he realized he was being watched
and remembered that the doors automatically locked
his keys were on his bed
and that soda machine ate his fifty cents
so he pulled out his revolver
and he pointed it up at the sky
and he let of a couple of shots
and thought that it might be nice to go to jail tonight
she opened the door
she asked him who he thought he ways
she said she was trying to sleep
and he's yelling, screaming, and kicking, and firing a gun
he said "i'm sorry"
then he figured out who she was
tears start flooding his sore eyes
and he fell to his knees and he dropped the gun
she said "don't be so dramatic
hurry up and get inside.
i'll hide you from the cops when they come.
everything's gonna be alright."
they locked the door behind them
he saw his guitar on the floor
she said she was sorry she said "please forgive me dear"
he said "what for?"
"for leaving you" she said
he said "no it was me that left"
he said "hey where'd you get my guitar?"
and she shut him up a long kiss
they pieced together what they had done
he picked up his guitar and then he played a song
and for the first time ever she sang along
and they both sang "you don't know what you've got until it's gone"
"you don't know what you've got until it's gone"
Lyrics submitted by lazlowcarmichael
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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.
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