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,
And this house is built of cards
And the earth is blowing too hard
Because dad won't stop drinking
And mom won't stop cheatin' herself,
And the family, and me
So I lie beneath it all
Watch the king and his queen
As they fall
They say that diamonds aren't forever
Well hearts aren't that clever
And the suits that we parade don't mean a thing
But it's never us to blame
A new prescription with a different name
But it tastes the same
So we'll role the dice and play,
Take our chances anyway
And if it's odds that we're banking on my love,
One in ten can't save us from
The sad statistic we've become
Seems they've already won
Now our home is growing cold
I look at you, you look at me
We turn and fold
Cause it seems that I can't stop drinking
And you can't stop cheating yourself,
And our family, and me
But it's never us to blame
A new prescription with a different name
But it tastes the same.
So we'll role the dice and play,
Take our chances anyway
And if it's odds that we're banking on my love,
One in ten can't save us from
The sad statistic we've become
And the earth is blowing too hard
Because dad won't stop drinking
And mom won't stop cheatin' herself,
And the family, and me
So I lie beneath it all
Watch the king and his queen
As they fall
They say that diamonds aren't forever
Well hearts aren't that clever
And the suits that we parade don't mean a thing
But it's never us to blame
A new prescription with a different name
But it tastes the same
So we'll role the dice and play,
Take our chances anyway
And if it's odds that we're banking on my love,
One in ten can't save us from
The sad statistic we've become
Seems they've already won
Now our home is growing cold
I look at you, you look at me
We turn and fold
Cause it seems that I can't stop drinking
And you can't stop cheating yourself,
And our family, and me
But it's never us to blame
A new prescription with a different name
But it tastes the same.
So we'll role the dice and play,
Take our chances anyway
And if it's odds that we're banking on my love,
One in ten can't save us from
The sad statistic we've become
Lyrics submitted by dancinstars
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I think it's about a dysfunctional family. The dad is an alcholic and the mom is unhappy and angry. He's just watching the whole thing, but he feels that the odds aren't in their favor. "One in ten can't save us from the sad statistic we've become." That's saying it's another statistic about divorced parents.
I think it's more about his mother's cancer and how the whole family tries to cope. They are trying every treatment there are ("A new prescription with a different name") and they feel so powerless because there is nothing concrete they can do ("So we'll role the dice and play, Take our chances anyway"), just wait and see..