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,
Swing swing up and down,
Turn turn turn around,
Round round round and about and over again.
Gun gun son of a gun,
You are the only one,
And no one else can take my place.
The sun shines in the bedroom when you play,
And the raining always starts when you go away.
Turn turn turn around,
Round round round and about and over again.
Gun gun son of a gun,
You are the only one,
And no one else can take my place.
The sun shines in the bedroom when you play,
And the raining always starts when you go away.
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I love this song so much. :] On the back of The Vaselines: A Complete History, underneath the title 'Son of A Gun', it says something like: "Young love and shooting your gun."
I think the title alludes to a love being born out heroine, either loving heroine immensely and everything being good with it or not with it. [[Same with any drug.]] Or falling for someone when you are under the influence of it.
This songs so pretty:)...i think its about like ur first love and the 'Swing swing up and down, Turn turn turn around, Round round round and about and over again.' is a reference to alot of sex, like ina new relationship...the chorus so so sweet
How come nobody said anything about this song??? It´s great, i love it, I can´t help seeing life happier every time i listen to it. If I had my life done in a movie, this song would be in the soundtrack!
Aboout childhood love (which I'm curently experiencing to a much more morbid degree) and how the person who "fancies" the other person loves being with them and can't stand being away from them.
sex.
This is yet another example of a good song that most people think Nirvana wrote thanks to unplugged but like most of the songs he covered (especially Plateau by the Meat Puppets) the original is amazingly better (not that I don't love Nirvana.) This song reminds me of my high school sweatheart.
Son of a Gun isn't on Unplugged. Also, Kurt was pretty vocal about his love of The Vaselines; I think most people who have heard the Nirvana version know they didn't write it. I agree with Whiskeyclonehotel, I think it's about sex.
bedroom rockin', perfect amateurism.
could this be about masturbation?
I think the interpretations about the song being about sex and love are probably right. Personally I like to listen to this song interpreted as a making babies song where the sex has actually ended up to a situation where a baby has been conceived, born and is now a toddler turning, swinging, going round, playing in the bedroom. Seen like this it's an extremely joyful song, full of warmth and happiness, joy that one hopefully experiences with one's spouse while making babies, and then when one watches the priceless end result playing and growing. Probably it's just meant to be a song of wild sex, though :)