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,
What you at my gentle spoken friend
I lack a frame to put you in
When you're an ocean and a rock away
I feel you in the pocket of my overcoat
My fingers wrap around your words
And take the shape of games we play
I feed your words through my buttonholes
I bring them to my fingerless gloves
Green and prone to fraying
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
I am far away from where you lay
Awake the day while you fall to sleep
An ocean and a rock away
I keep you in the pockets of my dresses
And the bristles of my brushes
Spin you into my curls today
I spoon you into my coffee cup
Spin you through a delicate wash
I wear you all day
I wear you all day
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
And ocean and rock is nothing to me
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm nearly home
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
I lack a frame to put you in
When you're an ocean and a rock away
I feel you in the pocket of my overcoat
My fingers wrap around your words
And take the shape of games we play
I feed your words through my buttonholes
I bring them to my fingerless gloves
Green and prone to fraying
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
I am far away from where you lay
Awake the day while you fall to sleep
An ocean and a rock away
I keep you in the pockets of my dresses
And the bristles of my brushes
Spin you into my curls today
I spoon you into my coffee cup
Spin you through a delicate wash
I wear you all day
I wear you all day
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
And ocean and rock is nothing to me
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm nearly home
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
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Gentle Hour
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I Can't Go To Sleep
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Love this song, like it more and more every time I listen.. From looking at the lyrics I guess it has a fairly clear meaning. She sings about someone she's fallen in love with. And even when he isn't there (an ocean and a rock away) she feels him in everything she does... well that's how I'd like to think of it :) A very sweet song.
I believe the song meaning is about Lisa falling in love with someone who lives in Ireland. However, Lisa is on the road a lot in other countries. Perhaps she is in the United States in this song. She can't stop thinking about him, even though he is literally an "ocean and a rock" away, which is a very poetic way of referring to the other side of the world. The end of the song shows the hope in her returning to Ireland.
i loooooove this songgg i cant believe no one has commented on it! it is so adorable and lisa hannigan has an amazing voice
A more Irish, more artsy version of Selena's song "Dreaming About You And Me," was my first impression of this song. That was the first song I fell in love with as a kid, and this is the first song I fell in love with as an adult (since I heard it shortly after turning 18). Her voice is refreshing, it's like water. She was great with Damien Rice, but I'm glad to see that she has made music of her own, and incredibly poetic music, too. I got iPod money for Christmas and this was the #1 thing on my list to buy. Venn Diagram and Teeth are also incredible. I'd like to see more people comment on her, but she's still relatively obscure, I guess. Doesn't deserve to be, tho. She's amazing!!!
my fingers wrap around your words they take the shape of games we play...
she sums it up so effortlessly. I just can't get enough.
Her phone. It's about her cell phone.
"I spoon you into my coffee cup / Spin you through a delicate wash"<br /> Those are the only lines which make me question your interpretation. It's surprisingly easy to see this song as about a phone rather than a distant lover.<br />