poledo
Dinosaur Jr. Lyrics
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I bleed my place
That settle turning smirk
That's always fixed upon my face
Walking weakness
Hope I die without a sound
I'm that little boy
With my feet nailed to the ground
I know I'm guilty
My stomach always hurts
Milking your attention
For the little it is worth
I'm turning browner every day
I'm really turning down a stay
Tired of your little van
I've been around too long
Tired of walking
Talking with me
Edging me along
Well, I detest your patience
I know you've always known
You know that I'm a thief
It's so great to be alone
Alone (That's that)
I don't care It's lie, I wound
I'm a stupid baby
Hope it breaks in two
Jesus Jesus Jesus
Jesus Jesus Jesus
Jesus is Christ
Jesus Jesus is Christ
I don't see I don't feel
Like every little moron
I think nothing's real
I don't care It's lie, I wound darling, skip the faith
That only breaks in two
Through a dozen layers
And there's no evil here
Only this great power
We misunderstand
So please relax
Take a pain
Laugh out loud
When you forget your name
Jesus laughs
Take the pain
Laugh out loud
When you forget your name
It doesn't live
There's no evil here
These great powers
We misunderstand
Tell you about everything
Tell you about everything
(Go) (Go) (Now)
The lyrics to Dinosaur Jr.'s "Poledo" are heavy with themes of guilt, weakness, and loneliness. The singer is self-deprecating and admits to being guilty, feeling like a thief and a stupid baby. There is a sense of hopelessness and resignation as he talks about being tired of walking and edging along. He detests the patience of someone who has always known him to be a thief. He mentions Jesus several times, but it is unclear whether this is a reference to faith or whether he is using the name symbolically.
The second half of the song takes a different turn as the singer talks about a "great power" and the idea that we misunderstand these powers. He encourages the listener to relax, take a pain, and laugh out loud. There is a sense of release and acceptance as he speaks about forgetting one's name and Jesus laughing. The lyrics leave much to interpretation and analysis, allowing for different readings of the song's themes.
Line by Line Meaning
Not an innocent
I am not a person who is free from wrongdoing.
I bleed my place
I make my presence strongly felt, even in areas where I feel I don't belong.
That settle turning smirk
I have developed a habit of smirking, which has become a part of my personality.
That's always fixed upon my face
This smirk is a permanent fixture on my face.
Walking weakness
I am a person who is not strong, who can be easily taken advantage of.
Hope I die without a sound
I desire to die in silence or without making any fuss, without disturbing anyone.
I'm that little boy
I feel like a child who is still learning about the world.
With my feet nailed to the ground
I feel stuck or trapped in a situation that I can't get out of.
I know I'm guilty
I acknowledge that I have done something wrong.
My stomach always hurts
I have a constant feeling of anxiety or unease.
Milking your attention
I am trying to get as much attention as I can from others.
For the little it is worth
Even though I am getting attention, I don't feel it is enough.
I'm turning browner every day
I am becoming more weathered or worn out each day.
I'm really turning down a stay
I don't want to stay in one place for very long.
Tired of your little van
I am bored or fed up with your small or unimportant car.
I've been around too long
I have been existing for too long and need to make a change.
Tired of walking
I am weary of the act of walking, of moving forward.
Talking with me
I am discouraged by having to interact with myself, to spend time in self-reflection.
Edging me along
I feel like I am being urged or pushed towards a goal that I don't want to reach.
Well, I detest your patience
I am extremely irritated by your calmness or ability to wait.
I know you've always known
I realize that you have always been aware of something that I did not.
You know that I'm a thief
You know that I have stolen something from you or someone else.
It's so great to be alone
I am enjoying the freedom of being by myself, without anyone else to disrupt my thoughts.
Alone (That's that)
Being alone is something that I have come to accept as a part of who I am.
I don't care It's lie, I wound
I am indifferent to the truth, so it causes me to hurt myself.
I'm a stupid baby
I feel like an innocent child who is not aware of the ways of the world.
Hope it breaks in two
I am hoping that something will break apart, so I can have a fresh start.
Jesus Jesus Jesus
A repeated exclamation of the name 'Jesus.'
Jesus Jesus Jesus
A repeated exclamation of the name 'Jesus.'
Jesus is Christ
Jesus is believed to be the son of God, or the messiah.
Jesus Jesus is Christ
A repeated statement that Jesus is the son of God, or the messiah.
I don't see I don't feel
I am emotionally disconnected from the world around me.
Like every little moron
Like anyone else who is foolish or naive.
I think nothing's real
I have a sense that everything is an illusion or not what it seems.
I don't care It's lie, I wound darling, skip the faith
I am apathetic to lies, as it will only hurt me more. I advise my love to avoid beliefs or faith.
That only breaks in two
I caution that these beliefs or faith will only disappoint, or fall apart.
Through a dozen layers
Despite many obstructions or barriers.
And there's no evil here
In this situation, there is no indication of malice or wrong doing.
Only this great power
Instead, there is an unmistakeable sense of strength or influence.
We misunderstand
However, we underestimate or mistake this strength for something else.
So please relax
Therefore, try to release your tension or anxiety about the situation.
Take a pain
Understand that there is discomfort or hardship involved in this situation.
Laugh out loud
In spite of these difficulties, maintain a sense of humour or levity.
When you forget your name
This will help you to even forget who you are, or your current situation.
Jesus laughs
A statement that Jesus is amused by something, or expresses a sense of joy.
It doesn't live
Whatever it is, it lacks the quality of being alive or organic.
Tell you about everything
This 'non-living' thing wants to tell you everything you need to know.
Go
An exclamation to motivate someone to take action.
Go
An exclamation to motivate someone to take action.
Now
Encouragement to take action immediately.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: LOUIS KNOX BARLOW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Microfins
If you like Poledo and want to to know the story behind it, Lou Barlow explained the whole thing in a facebook post:
"Bill Hicks had a funny bit about LSD where he complains that the good side of the psychedelic experience is never publicized, the moments when a young person under the influence can make important connections and find deeper meanings. This is my good acid story. In 1987 a childhood friend , who was well into his own drug phase, mailed me some swearing it was the best he had ever had. I still lived at home with my parents. I was 20 and working in a nursing home as an orderly. The house was empty during the days, parents at work, my younger sister at school. I was free to make noise and, that day, drop the acid mercifully alone and free to be.
In my high school ‘straight edge’ days, I experimented, drug free, with the various cassette recorders that had accumulated in my family home. I ran them into a standard cassette deck with 1/8“ to RCA adapters purchased at Radio Shack and began to make some crude duo-track recordings. I layered noise, driving myself blissfully insane with the repetition. I had developed a method of partially depressing the record/play buttons, capturing sounds but only partially recording over whatever was on the tape. It was a way to blindly layer sounds and make some great, intentional, mistakes. On that beautiful Spring day in 1987, under the influence of some ‘clean’ LSD, I became the mini-master of an epic order of sounds. It’s the only song i’ve recorded while tripping.
The morning began well, i woke to an empty house, ingested my friends ‘present’ and turned on MTV. The drug began to take effect during the world premiere of U2’s ‘with or without you’ video. It looked and sounded unusually amazing. I turned off the TV and headed to my room and my stereo. I was making an astounding $9 an hour at my nursing home job and had finally got a proper turntable, receiver and tape deck set-up. I put on Pussy Galore’s recently released ‘feel good about your body’ 7”. It sounded wild and miraculous, I felt inspired. I spent the rest of the day with my ukulele and tapes recording the collage and song that comprise the body of Poledo. I titled it, pretentiously, ‘the natural order’. That night I had the revelation that my second song on the new Dinosaur Jr. LP would be this home-recorded monstrosity. I had listened to enough 60’s music to know that the drug fueled LP-ending experimental piece was a standard part of any decent psychedelic era album. Neil Young’s ‘broken arrow’ on Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Again’ LP for instance. Poledo is no ‘broken arrow’ but the multi-song, disjointed, cut and paste spirit is there. I chose another recently recorded almost-complete ukulele song to use and began psyching myself into breaking the news of my plan to J.
The completing element of Poledo was another collage i had been working on that consisted of a 5 second passage from Schumann’s Concert Piece for Four Horns and Orchestra layered over and over itself till it became a deteriorated roar. I didn’t know what I captured it from (randomly off the radio) until 25 years later. I called it, unimaginatively, ‘holy noise’. A sustained 4 minutes of it ends Poledo. The same collage, sped up, ends Tarpit as well.
During the second, final, session for YLAOM I presented my clutch of cassettes to our engineer Wharton Tiers who transferred them to the big tape. He spliced the bits together according to my map. I was blushing and bumbling through it imagining my juvenile mess was ruining the record but everyone, including J, was complementary and supportive.
So, Poledo: 2 songs and excerpts from 3 cassette collages will be a challenge to recreate for these Chicago shows. We have done the full LP live once or twice but I merely played the songs on ukulele and bypassed the noise-scapes. This time I’m going to attempt the full breadth of the piece using a sample-pedal and prepared tracks.
Meanwhile, back in 1987, after I got the OK from J and added Poledo to the You’re Living All Over Me LP I bought a cassette 4-track and began expanding on my fragmented ideas and released a cassette-only LP called Weed Forestin’. I reissued WF along with the original Poledo tapes including the full collages and original, un-layered song. It’s available here https://sentridoh.bandcamp.com/album/child-of-the-apocalypse.
Our subsequent lord-of-the-flies-esque touring proved to be too much for my fragile ego and despite the generally good vibe that carried through the recording of YLAOM I re-retreated into my shell and didn't contribute songs to a DInosaur Jr LP until 2007's Beyond LP, 20 years later. But Poledo is, more or less or more, the beginning of Sebadoh/Sentridoh and that all worked out just fine."
(from Lou Barlow's facebook - September 16, 2017)
@Looknstr8grzzly
This song legit scared the shit out of me when I first heard it, it just came out of nowhere and I didn't see it coming.
@KushClarkKent
lol imagine how I felt the first time I fell asleep listening to You're Living All Over me and "that part" came on. Years later it's one of my favorite songs ever.
@pastelxenon
this feels like something i wasn't supposed to hear
@alexzent234
Its a ritual
@adamsparty
The sampled roaring, the uncanny guitars, and ofcourse the terrifying sounds midway then the heavenly sounds ending. It really seems like something that was never meant to be found
@Kain128
I used to think this was just a cool, eerie song to close out the album, until a few nights ago when this song played in one of the scariest dreams I’ve ever had. Now I can’t play this at night anymore. 10/10 song would recommend.
@Microfins
If you like Poledo and want to to know the story behind it, Lou Barlow explained the whole thing in a facebook post:
"Bill Hicks had a funny bit about LSD where he complains that the good side of the psychedelic experience is never publicized, the moments when a young person under the influence can make important connections and find deeper meanings. This is my good acid story. In 1987 a childhood friend , who was well into his own drug phase, mailed me some swearing it was the best he had ever had. I still lived at home with my parents. I was 20 and working in a nursing home as an orderly. The house was empty during the days, parents at work, my younger sister at school. I was free to make noise and, that day, drop the acid mercifully alone and free to be.
In my high school ‘straight edge’ days, I experimented, drug free, with the various cassette recorders that had accumulated in my family home. I ran them into a standard cassette deck with 1/8“ to RCA adapters purchased at Radio Shack and began to make some crude duo-track recordings. I layered noise, driving myself blissfully insane with the repetition. I had developed a method of partially depressing the record/play buttons, capturing sounds but only partially recording over whatever was on the tape. It was a way to blindly layer sounds and make some great, intentional, mistakes. On that beautiful Spring day in 1987, under the influence of some ‘clean’ LSD, I became the mini-master of an epic order of sounds. It’s the only song i’ve recorded while tripping.
The morning began well, i woke to an empty house, ingested my friends ‘present’ and turned on MTV. The drug began to take effect during the world premiere of U2’s ‘with or without you’ video. It looked and sounded unusually amazing. I turned off the TV and headed to my room and my stereo. I was making an astounding $9 an hour at my nursing home job and had finally got a proper turntable, receiver and tape deck set-up. I put on Pussy Galore’s recently released ‘feel good about your body’ 7”. It sounded wild and miraculous, I felt inspired. I spent the rest of the day with my ukulele and tapes recording the collage and song that comprise the body of Poledo. I titled it, pretentiously, ‘the natural order’. That night I had the revelation that my second song on the new Dinosaur Jr. LP would be this home-recorded monstrosity. I had listened to enough 60’s music to know that the drug fueled LP-ending experimental piece was a standard part of any decent psychedelic era album. Neil Young’s ‘broken arrow’ on Buffalo Springfield’s ‘Again’ LP for instance. Poledo is no ‘broken arrow’ but the multi-song, disjointed, cut and paste spirit is there. I chose another recently recorded almost-complete ukulele song to use and began psyching myself into breaking the news of my plan to J.
The completing element of Poledo was another collage i had been working on that consisted of a 5 second passage from Schumann’s Concert Piece for Four Horns and Orchestra layered over and over itself till it became a deteriorated roar. I didn’t know what I captured it from (randomly off the radio) until 25 years later. I called it, unimaginatively, ‘holy noise’. A sustained 4 minutes of it ends Poledo. The same collage, sped up, ends Tarpit as well.
During the second, final, session for YLAOM I presented my clutch of cassettes to our engineer Wharton Tiers who transferred them to the big tape. He spliced the bits together according to my map. I was blushing and bumbling through it imagining my juvenile mess was ruining the record but everyone, including J, was complementary and supportive.
So, Poledo: 2 songs and excerpts from 3 cassette collages will be a challenge to recreate for these Chicago shows. We have done the full LP live once or twice but I merely played the songs on ukulele and bypassed the noise-scapes. This time I’m going to attempt the full breadth of the piece using a sample-pedal and prepared tracks.
Meanwhile, back in 1987, after I got the OK from J and added Poledo to the You’re Living All Over Me LP I bought a cassette 4-track and began expanding on my fragmented ideas and released a cassette-only LP called Weed Forestin’. I reissued WF along with the original Poledo tapes including the full collages and original, un-layered song. It’s available here https://sentridoh.bandcamp.com/album/child-of-the-apocalypse.
Our subsequent lord-of-the-flies-esque touring proved to be too much for my fragile ego and despite the generally good vibe that carried through the recording of YLAOM I re-retreated into my shell and didn't contribute songs to a DInosaur Jr LP until 2007's Beyond LP, 20 years later. But Poledo is, more or less or more, the beginning of Sebadoh/Sentridoh and that all worked out just fine."
(from Lou Barlow's facebook - September 16, 2017)
@scoutplayz6578
uh heheh coool
@bigsoso20
"Good doesn't live
And there's no evil here
Only this great power
We misunderstand"
@dooki51
The beginning was sampled for Earthbound in the Giygas death scene. Now that's creepy.