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"
And when the time comes round
We will be duty bound
To tell the truth of what we've seen
And what we haven`t found
Will not be going down
Despite too easy ride to see
From a lover to a friend
Take your own advice
Let me love again
Now that you turned out to be
Someone I can trust
Someone I believe
Ohh la la la
How can I walk when I can`t find a way
I have a dilemma
All I want is to tell me
You`re going to take it away
From a lover to a friend
Take your own advice
Let me love again
Now that you turned out to be
Someone I can trust
Someone I believe
And what we haven`t found
Will not be going down
Despite too easy ride to see
From a lover to a friend
You turned out to be
Someone I believe
From a lover to a friend
Take your own advice
Let me love again
Ohh la la la
How can I walk when I can`t find a way
I have a dilemma
All I want is to tell me
You`re going to take it away
From a lover to a friend
From a lover to a friend
From a lover to a friend
Let me love again
We will be duty bound
To tell the truth of what we've seen
And what we haven`t found
Will not be going down
Despite too easy ride to see
From a lover to a friend
Take your own advice
Let me love again
Now that you turned out to be
Someone I can trust
Someone I believe
Ohh la la la
How can I walk when I can`t find a way
I have a dilemma
All I want is to tell me
You`re going to take it away
From a lover to a friend
Take your own advice
Let me love again
Now that you turned out to be
Someone I can trust
Someone I believe
And what we haven`t found
Will not be going down
Despite too easy ride to see
From a lover to a friend
You turned out to be
Someone I believe
From a lover to a friend
Take your own advice
Let me love again
Ohh la la la
How can I walk when I can`t find a way
I have a dilemma
All I want is to tell me
You`re going to take it away
From a lover to a friend
From a lover to a friend
From a lover to a friend
Let me love again
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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 Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
This is yet another example of Paul's fantastic melody failing to become historically legendary by stale and/or lazy lyric writing. Throughout his solo career he has annoyed many with his penchant for doing this time and time again.
'Despite too easy ride to see' (??? - not 'right' as this forum suggests. Even then it is still nonsense.)
If you are lucky enough to study any of Paul's demos you will find that he frequently uses stream of consciousness words to fill out his melody and maintain the melodic cadence. It's a perfectly good song writing tactic. In Paul's case he frequently fails to hammer together better lyrics later when it comes time to seriously record - as in this case, I imagine.
It could be about Linda. Losing Linda was real bad blow for the lad. They were an unusually close couple and he could have populated his post-Linda songs with dripping mourning. Maybe he avoids doing this by not digging deep within himself because the anguish would be too great and, perhaps, indulgent. Frankly, I would have preferred that instead of the vacuous lack of real emotion we received when we put down our cash to purchase 'Driving Rain'. (Also note his apparent overuse of the word 'again' in this collection to fill out a lyric line.) On the other hand, it could be about anyone. Unfortunately the words end up not being as generic and meaningful as one would like in order to qualify for the remake market. This is too bad because the melody is certainly worthy of more airplay.