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,
Honey I don't want to treat you bad
But I'm gonna leave you
Don't you think it's best that you know now
Instead of waiting to see if I come around
So you won't be wasting it
But if you want to spend time with me now
I can love you deeply
Afternoons we'll spend them rolling 'round
So nice and easy
Make for me my dinner, make me proud
You know how to feed me
And you know I won't be wasting it
You showed me how the water works
It pushes its way through the dirt
It finds the rocks and grinds them soft
It makes them move
Forces old have made me built
To withstand what you do
See this rollin' stone without a home
Slippin' out from under you
Who's the best at breaking up, honey?
It's a skill I oughta be working on changing
But, I'm not all bad too
No no no not with you
'Cos I know there's nothing wrong with me
There's nothing wrong with you
It's not about what you won't have
Or what I've been through
Nobody's gonna teach me how to settle down
It's true
But don'tcha just take what I've got for now
And then see how we do
Hey, it's not all bad
Hey, what we got
Hey, it's not all bad
Hey, what we got
Honey I don't want to treat you bad
But I'm gonna leave you
Just want you to love me, not be mad
Though we spent some time together, now
Can you let me be the way I am
C'mon, let's not be wasting it
But I'm gonna leave you
Don't you think it's best that you know now
Instead of waiting to see if I come around
So you won't be wasting it
But if you want to spend time with me now
I can love you deeply
Afternoons we'll spend them rolling 'round
So nice and easy
Make for me my dinner, make me proud
You know how to feed me
And you know I won't be wasting it
You showed me how the water works
It pushes its way through the dirt
It finds the rocks and grinds them soft
It makes them move
Forces old have made me built
To withstand what you do
See this rollin' stone without a home
Slippin' out from under you
Who's the best at breaking up, honey?
It's a skill I oughta be working on changing
But, I'm not all bad too
No no no not with you
'Cos I know there's nothing wrong with me
There's nothing wrong with you
It's not about what you won't have
Or what I've been through
Nobody's gonna teach me how to settle down
It's true
But don'tcha just take what I've got for now
And then see how we do
Hey, it's not all bad
Hey, what we got
Hey, it's not all bad
Hey, what we got
Honey I don't want to treat you bad
But I'm gonna leave you
Just want you to love me, not be mad
Though we spent some time together, now
Can you let me be the way I am
C'mon, let's not be wasting it
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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