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,
The crowd gathers the rain
The crowd gathers
Inside the rain
The sky is green
Greener than a
Gardener's dream
The grass is green
Together they sing
Gaily gaily glee
Gaily glee gaily gaily glee
Green glass fish glide
Cream colored glass
Umi ni ukande means floating on the sea
Me and my pussycat floating on the sea
There are blackbirds in rows behind the clouds
Pecking at the clouds
Poking holes in the clouds
Rain pours out of the holds in the clouds
When the clouds are empty
The birds climb inside and sing
I don't mind a rainy day
It doesn't make me blue like it's supposed to
Doesn't make me blue like it's supposed to
But I don't like this lonely life
It really makes me blue like it's supposed to
It makes me blue like its supposed to
The crowd gathers
Inside the rain
The sky is green
Greener than a
Gardener's dream
The grass is green
Together they sing
Gaily gaily glee
Gaily glee gaily gaily glee
Green glass fish glide
Cream colored glass
Umi ni ukande means floating on the sea
Me and my pussycat floating on the sea
There are blackbirds in rows behind the clouds
Pecking at the clouds
Poking holes in the clouds
Rain pours out of the holds in the clouds
When the clouds are empty
The birds climb inside and sing
I don't mind a rainy day
It doesn't make me blue like it's supposed to
Doesn't make me blue like it's supposed to
But I don't like this lonely life
It really makes me blue like it's supposed to
It makes me blue like its supposed to
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yeah it does, in japanese
when you listen to of montreal, it's difficult to listen to other music because they make everything else seem bland.
Amen, sugarloaf!
does umi ni ukande really mean floating on the sea? more importantly, what language is it? swahili, japanese, or something else entirely
This is one of my fave Of Montreal songs. Listen to that melody!
As to what it's about, I guess it's about this guy saying that rainy day's don't make him sad, but rather it's him feeling alone that does.
And stuff like that.
Actually, "umi ni ukande" doesn't mean floating on the sea; "umi ni ukande iru" would be a more accurate translation. "umi ni ukande" means "float on the sea"-more like a command. Also, Kevin doesn't pronounce it correctly. But that's ok, this is still a great song.
if i was a bird, i would poke holes in the clouds and sing
great song
this song makes me sad for some odd reason
i like this song
It really makes me blue like it's supposed to
these are incredible lyrics. they are so poetic.