30 Days of Songs Dean Wareham Covered # 12 Modern Lovers

The original of Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste by Modern Lovers, is not much of a song really. A two minute unaccompanied slice of Jonathan Richman half-talking, half singing, voice wobbling, pledging his attachment to an ideal as much as another human being, an anthem for everything he stood for somehow. The core of it is its emotional essence and its wonderful title. Galaxie 500 take both and turn it into one of the greatest, transformational cover versions ever recorded. A heart of darkness for the sensitive!

'I need a walk by the flowers, with someone who can share my face And it looks like no one can take your place And I could bleed in sympathy with you On those days And I could drink up everything you have Don't let it go to waste I could give you memories To rival Berlin in the '30s And I really understand your dating-bar ways And I could bleed in sympathy with you On those days And I could drink up everything you have Don't let it go to waste Say something warm, say something bright' Cause I can't stand to see you when you're cold Nor can I stand being out of your life(Meanwhile)And I could bleed in sympathy with you On those days And I could drink up everything you have(And don't let our youth go to waste)'