In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I guess you never knew, dear boy, what you had found
I guess you never knew, dear boy, that she was just the cutest thing around
I guess you never knew what you had found, dear boy
I guess you never saw, dear boy that love was there
And maybe when you look too hard, dear boy, you never do become aware
I guess you never did become aware, dear boy
When I stepped in, my heart was down and out
But her love came through and brought me 'round
Got me up and about
When I stepped in, my heart was down and out
But her love came through and brought me 'round
Got me up and about
I hope you never know, dear boy, how much you missed
And even when you fall in love, dear boy
It won't be half as good as this
I hope you never know how much you missed
Dear boy, how much you missed, dear boy
I guess you never knew, dear boy, that she was just the cutest thing around
I guess you never knew what you had found, dear boy
I guess you never saw, dear boy that love was there
And maybe when you look too hard, dear boy, you never do become aware
I guess you never did become aware, dear boy
When I stepped in, my heart was down and out
But her love came through and brought me 'round
Got me up and about
When I stepped in, my heart was down and out
But her love came through and brought me 'round
Got me up and about
I hope you never know, dear boy, how much you missed
And even when you fall in love, dear boy
It won't be half as good as this
I hope you never know how much you missed
Dear boy, how much you missed, dear boy
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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.
Great version of a great song,
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Great song. Written (I presume) from the perspective of someone experienced in love telling a young boy what he's missing out or not appreciating the love he has. For me the layers of backing vocals make this song.
I completely agree with you there;<br /> I love listening to this in headphones when the voices can be so distinct.<br /> This song was highly underrated on RAM in my opinion.<br /> <br /> and I would like to note buterfly7's comment about it sounding like the Beatles back together; i think it's the back vocal tracks that accomplish this feat. I feel that the backing vocals sound very Lennon-esque at times. A lot of the backing vocals on RAM remind me of John.
Beautiful song with wonderful harmonies by Paul and Linda. Not about John Lennon at all (do most of Paul's songs have to be about John?) It's actually written to Linda's first husband, Michael See. If, as reported, Lennon thought the song was aimed at him, perhaps it's from his own guilt over how he treated Cynthia.
The story at the time was that Linda was hot for John and he passed. She then fell for Paul. Story now is that it was about Joe See from Tucson Arizona, Linda's ex-husband and hanger on at the time (Get Back Joe, go home). Joe committed suicide shortly after Linda died.
Great song, very underrated.
this is great, it sounds just like when the beatles were together type of music! VERY BEAUTIFUL!
I don't think this song had anything to do with John Lennon, despite his paranoia. I think it's just an example of Paul's absolute finesse of the ballad.
To me, this song fits well with a situation I went through in my life (tangent: I'm a girl, so I usually ignore the chorus with "her love" and all that, and focus more on me telling this to a "dear boy"). You love someone, they love you, but they throw you away for somebody else even though you two were perfect together.
Especially the lines "And even when you fall in love, dear boy, It won't be half as good as this" remind me of that snarking hurt of being replaced, or of being led on and let down. I feel that Paul is saying something along the lines of "You had it all, this love was perfect, but you didn't see it or didn't want it ("looked to hard", "never do become aware", "never knew what you had found") and now you've lost/missed it/your chance at it and i don't care how bad you want it back ("i hope you never know how much you missed").
Just my two cents.
I think that John was right and it was written about him. Specifically about their songwriting partnership having dissolved and John not valuing what they had. Paul was a master at masking what he was writing about so as usual he failed his thoughts within what looked to be a typical boy girl breakup thing.
I love the part in the middle when he just sings "doo-doo" in place of lyrics.
It's gotta be songs like this that infuriated Lennon. Paul never took himself too seriously, while John was ultra-pretentious during this time.
Love it.
So I think that it's about Linda's ex. Paul can't believe that someone had Linda's love before him but would take it for granted given how important that love is to him. But I also feel that Paul was especially sensitive to people's love being taken for granted. Given that (and I know not everybody agrees) that he was desperate to keep the Beatles together and John just threw all of it back in his face and basically dumped him for Yoko.
I always thought this song was about Keith Moon