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,
Do you feel sorry for yourself
when you make the same mistakes,
tracing your boy's hands.
Yeah, we all have regrets,
and we all can make mistakes.
Tracing these old plans is code red.
Have you ever felt so bad
when you're hiding in your room,
and you can hardly get out of your bed?
You've got your hands behind your back.
You've given up.
Yeah, we've all been there.
We know how it goes.
When you'd rather disappear,
then you might as well be dead.
Even I'll be holding on
when the days get too long,
it's hard not to just hold on.
You hope that it's the end,
tomorrow it starts again,
and it's impossible to be strong.
Even I'll be holding on
to the times it all seemed gone,
when all the problems seemed gone.
Days your back breaks,
and only black is in your heart,
even I'll be holding on.
when you make the same mistakes,
tracing your boy's hands.
Yeah, we all have regrets,
and we all can make mistakes.
Tracing these old plans is code red.
Have you ever felt so bad
when you're hiding in your room,
and you can hardly get out of your bed?
You've got your hands behind your back.
You've given up.
Yeah, we've all been there.
We know how it goes.
When you'd rather disappear,
then you might as well be dead.
Even I'll be holding on
when the days get too long,
it's hard not to just hold on.
You hope that it's the end,
tomorrow it starts again,
and it's impossible to be strong.
Even I'll be holding on
to the times it all seemed gone,
when all the problems seemed gone.
Days your back breaks,
and only black is in your heart,
even I'll be holding on.
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
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It was actually written for my older brother a cautionary tale for child of an abusive father. Not to make the same mistake.