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'll lead you around the ocean
Where grass grows
And remnants of you in devotion
My breath's out
Inhaling upon trees, it's frozen
And look out
And trace along the house where shit is frozen
Then holding
Quietly
The sound is dead
And sing in turn
In light
When life meets child, your only plight
In light
When ceilings smile, we'll sleep a while
In light
I'll take you for walks among the patients
She had a pretty dad
But she was growing out of playschool
Still she could kick and scream and play
Until she wanted to
My little chocolate girl
Her brother barely out of high school
Lived in a place where he could scream
Until he wanted to
Oh fuzzy tidy cat
And she could bury him in apples
And curl around a bowl of cotton
'Til she wanted to
Still she had to speak loud
'Cause hearing isn't, "I am here with them"
And we took
A picture, Sunday flowers in the garden
And quite late
Still drinking with the boys until it's later
And pray small
Your hopes of something better to show her
And holding tight
The sound is dead
It's singing time
In light
When life meets child, your only plight
In light
When ceilings smile, we'll sleep a while
In light
I'll take you for walks among the patients
She met a pretty boy
And they would dance between their elders
And she would cream until the wine she bought had settled in
My little chocolate girl
She used to love the stars of England
She slept on records and her market jewelry
From her school
Her colors matched the room
And she would twirl around the curtains
She had a hand to hold her chin up
When her friends walked out
The kid across the street
He'll keep around when she was changing
And he would wait and she would tell her friends about the boys
Her Mom and Dad at home
She had saliva in her pockets
She gave a girl when her last grace hath found thee, dig the day
So good, my chocolate girl
Oh won't you like an 'A'?
So put your lanterns on across the maze
So I won't feast on folly
Bell of the rain who brought the stings and dead
And who will pop the trade
'Cause I can't see you
I'll open up my brain again
Where grass grows
And remnants of you in devotion
My breath's out
Inhaling upon trees, it's frozen
And look out
And trace along the house where shit is frozen
Then holding
Quietly
The sound is dead
And sing in turn
In light
When life meets child, your only plight
In light
When ceilings smile, we'll sleep a while
In light
I'll take you for walks among the patients
She had a pretty dad
But she was growing out of playschool
Still she could kick and scream and play
Until she wanted to
My little chocolate girl
Her brother barely out of high school
Lived in a place where he could scream
Until he wanted to
Oh fuzzy tidy cat
And she could bury him in apples
And curl around a bowl of cotton
'Til she wanted to
Still she had to speak loud
'Cause hearing isn't, "I am here with them"
And we took
A picture, Sunday flowers in the garden
And quite late
Still drinking with the boys until it's later
And pray small
Your hopes of something better to show her
And holding tight
The sound is dead
It's singing time
In light
When life meets child, your only plight
In light
When ceilings smile, we'll sleep a while
In light
I'll take you for walks among the patients
She met a pretty boy
And they would dance between their elders
And she would cream until the wine she bought had settled in
My little chocolate girl
She used to love the stars of England
She slept on records and her market jewelry
From her school
Her colors matched the room
And she would twirl around the curtains
She had a hand to hold her chin up
When her friends walked out
The kid across the street
He'll keep around when she was changing
And he would wait and she would tell her friends about the boys
Her Mom and Dad at home
She had saliva in her pockets
She gave a girl when her last grace hath found thee, dig the day
So good, my chocolate girl
Oh won't you like an 'A'?
So put your lanterns on across the maze
So I won't feast on folly
Bell of the rain who brought the stings and dead
And who will pop the trade
'Cause I can't see you
I'll open up my brain again
Lyrics submitted by heyheyhey111, edited by coopigat, aerocum, Vandios2113
Chocolate Girl Lyrics as written by David Portner
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
i thought i posted this comment in this song already.. but i played this song for a girl and it was the first animal collective song she loved.. she kept asking me to play it over and over and in the end i gave her the nickname chocolate girl.
Someone posted my lyrics and Avey said they were far off... but he didn't want to give them to us because it would spoil the mystique. Makes sense, I guess. I doubt they are brilliant. Their hidden aspects make the song better.
To me it sounds like a dad and his daughter, and he slowly loses her as she grows up and needs less and less of him, meets boys, etc. There's nothing he can really do but accept it. Such is life.
And who will part the train, Cause I can't see you, I'll open up my brain again,
I have totally different lyrics. But I can hardly understand them, either I have the wrong version or you do which i doubt. I'll have to wait till I get the original song next week on vinyl...mm ya yummy
Either you are paying tons of money. Have a really really good hook up or are buying the second pressing. Considering Spirit theyve gone was originally like what five hundred or less prints
i have a theory after "Still she had to speak loud" since there was a line missing i thought i'd try. and what i heard ended up altering my opinion with a different take on the next few lines as well.. enjoy or discard.
cause hearing isn't higher then rhythm and meets him and picks her sunday flowers in the autumn and quietly still drinking with the boys and their friend and prays long in hopes of something better to show them and holding tightly and the sound is dead.... etc
well thats it. i guess the sunday flowers supports the praying line. who knows. lyrics can be tough.. glad there are so many contributing!!
A guy gave me a mix CD of songs awhile ago and this song was the opener or a range of cryptic songs arranged as a type of message. I still puzzle over this song, it's quite cute.
perhaps the end of the song goes like this:
put your little daughter 'cross the knees so i won't feast and follow better love the rain who brought the stings ended and who will pop the triggers i can't see you i'll open up my brain again
It's definitely pop the triggers. Someone fix that.<br /> <br /> Everything else in that last part is right.
These lyrics seem completely wrong to me. I have the lyrics I think are closer but I'm not sure if I should post them. Anyway, this song is so dreamlike. I think it's about the singer falling in love with a girl he met in a dream. She's chocolate girl because when he woke up she just sort of melted away and the only thing left is a sweet aftertaste.
i dont think these lyrics are terribly wrong.