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,
I'm jealous, I'm overzealous
When I'm down, I get real down
When I'm high, I don't come down
I get angry, baby, believe me
I could love you just like that
And I could leave you just this fast
But you don't judge me
'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too
No, you don't judge me
'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too
'Cause I've got issues
But you've got 'em too
So give 'em all to me
And I'll give mine to you
Bask in the glory
Of all our problems
'Cause we've got the kind of love
It takes to solve them
Yeah, I've got issues
And one of them is how bad I need ya
You do shit on purpose
You get mad and you break things
Feel bad, try to fix things
But you're perfect
Poorly wired circuit
And got hands like an ocean
Push you out, pull you back in
'Cause you don't judge me
'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too
No, you don't judge me
'Cause you see it from same point of view
'Cause I've got issues
But you've got 'em too
So give 'em all to me
And I'll give mine to you
Bask in the glory
Of all our problems
'Cause we've got the kind of love
It takes to solve them
Yeah, I've got issues
And one of them is how bad I need ya
(I've got issues, you've got 'em too)
And one of them is how bad I need ya
(I've got issues, you've got 'em too)
'Cause I've got issues (I've got)
But you've got 'em too
So give 'em all to me (you've got 'em too)
And I'll give mine to you
Bask in the glory (I've got issues)
Of all our problems
'Cause we've got the kind of love (you've got 'em too)
It takes to solve them
Yeah, I've got issues (I've got)
And one of them is how bad I need ya (you've got 'em too)
Yeah, I've got issues (I've got issues)
And one of them is how bad I need ya (you've got 'em too)
Yeah, I've got issues (I've got)
And one of them is how bad I need ya
When I'm down, I get real down
When I'm high, I don't come down
I get angry, baby, believe me
I could love you just like that
And I could leave you just this fast
But you don't judge me
'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too
No, you don't judge me
'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too
'Cause I've got issues
But you've got 'em too
So give 'em all to me
And I'll give mine to you
Bask in the glory
Of all our problems
'Cause we've got the kind of love
It takes to solve them
Yeah, I've got issues
And one of them is how bad I need ya
You do shit on purpose
You get mad and you break things
Feel bad, try to fix things
But you're perfect
Poorly wired circuit
And got hands like an ocean
Push you out, pull you back in
'Cause you don't judge me
'Cause if you did, baby, I would judge you too
No, you don't judge me
'Cause you see it from same point of view
'Cause I've got issues
But you've got 'em too
So give 'em all to me
And I'll give mine to you
Bask in the glory
Of all our problems
'Cause we've got the kind of love
It takes to solve them
Yeah, I've got issues
And one of them is how bad I need ya
(I've got issues, you've got 'em too)
And one of them is how bad I need ya
(I've got issues, you've got 'em too)
'Cause I've got issues (I've got)
But you've got 'em too
So give 'em all to me (you've got 'em too)
And I'll give mine to you
Bask in the glory (I've got issues)
Of all our problems
'Cause we've got the kind of love (you've got 'em too)
It takes to solve them
Yeah, I've got issues (I've got)
And one of them is how bad I need ya (you've got 'em too)
Yeah, I've got issues (I've got issues)
And one of them is how bad I need ya (you've got 'em too)
Yeah, I've got issues (I've got)
And one of them is how bad I need ya
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This song is not hard to understand but it is still worth commenting on because it is great. Why do I like it if it is so simple? Well, sometimes you need to state something without pretensions to feel how beautiful it is.
The speaker of the song is a strong-willed woman. She is not petty but emotional and that is a beautiful personality trait. However, sometimes her emotions get the best of her. It does not implicitly state that she has a mental illness, but she is always either extremely happy or sad.
What I like about this song is that the girl definitely depends on him but she would leave him if he treated her badly (or judged her). This sends a great example for people pursuing romance. Unlike songs similar to "High All the Time," this sends a message that it is okay to be dependent on someone if they accept you and you love them for who they are. This is why this song is so beautiful.
The second verse is about the boy's problems. A lot of men get angry, so it is unclear whether this is a problem or not. However, the message right after about breaking things is fixing them. He goes through changes as a person and sometimes gets angry in certain situations but always falls in love with life again.
I love the positive message this song sends to people. We need more songs that do not romanticize relationships but also do not put out negative perspectives to people who are in bad ones. The ironic part of this song is that the two lovers do not seem to have terrible problems because the speaker remains optimistic about their attitudes towards one another. As a literary technique, they get through conflict. As a personal trope, they overcome the external hardships of life. I intend to have something like this someday.