Girl I'm sorry I was blind

June 4, 2007 12:54 AM

SadBastardMusicFilter: What's the best way to say what a fuck-up I am? Looking for something in the vein of "Always on my Mind", only perhaps more self-deprecating. Something that says "I really neglected you and fucked things up and I shouldn't have". For someone who mostly enjoys indie rock and folk music.
posted by Roman Graves to human relations (33 comments total)

Radiohead - Creep
posted by phrontist at 1:06 AM on June 4, 2007

Staind - It's Been a While

MP3

It's been a while
Since I could
Hold my head up high
And It's been a while
Since I First saw you
And It's been a while
Since I could stand
on my own two feet again
And it's been a while
Since I could call you

And everything I can't remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that i've rendered
I stretched myself beyond my means

And It's been a while
Since I can say
That I wasn't addicted and
It's been a while
Since I can say
I love myself as well and
It's been a while
Since I've gone and fucked things up
Just like I always do
and it's been a while
But all that shit seems to disappear when I'm with you

And everything I can't remember
As fucked up as it all may seem
The consequences that I've rendered
I'm gone and fucked things up again

Why must I feel this way?
Just make this go away
Just one more peaceful day

And it's been awhile
Since I could
Look at myself straight
And it's been a while
Since I said I'm sorry
And it's been a while
Since I've seen the way
the candles light your face
And it's been a while
But I can still remember just the way you taste

And everything I can't remember
as fucked up as it all may seem
To be,
I know it's me
I cannot blame this on my father
He did the best he could for me

And it's been a while
Since I could
Hold my head up high
And it's been awhile
Since I said I'm sorry
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 1:11 AM on June 4, 2007

"Kiss the Bottle" by Jawbreaker is a good punky song.
Lucero is an indie/country band that does a stellar cover as well.

"Ohio" by The Weight is another great ballad, off the album Ten Mile Grace but it can be kinda hard to find.

"Reconsider Me" by Warren Zevon is pretty much a classic.

"106 South" by The Lawrence Arms is another great choice if your leaning towards the fast/punk end of things.

That's all I've got for now.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 1:16 AM on June 4, 2007

"Fucking Up" by Neil Young?
Nearly anything by the Smiths?
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:34 AM on June 4, 2007

Bigmouth Strikes Again is probably the most apt Smiths number

Prove My Love - Violent Femmes
Can't Shape Up - The Wonderstuff
posted by Jakey at 4:11 AM on June 4, 2007

bryan ferry / john lennon = I'm just a jealous guy
(but if I might suggest some unsolicited advice, as the girl who's got some of this kind of mixtape, it's just another example of how some dickhead thinks he's fixed everything by spending 4 hours maudlinly listening to music that he now expects me to listen and forgive him because of. A solid example of changed behaviour would be a lot more impressive - a haircut, ironed clothes and tidy flat, a dozen job applications, an STD test, 3 weeks without drinking. Up to you of course. )
posted by b33j at 4:24 AM on June 4, 2007 [6 favorites]

wait a second. do not diss the mixtape. the mixtape is an undeniable of expression of true love. probably even more so today.
the mix cd is another story. the mix usb key, even worse.

i recommend "Just the Way You are" by Barry White.
posted by phaedon at 5:15 AM on June 4, 2007

Hoobastank - The Reaon?
posted by worker_bee at 5:15 AM on June 4, 2007

the best way to prove your love is to fix the problem, whatever it was. (seconding the above: getting a job, breaking up with the other girlfriend, selling your tickets to the baseball game so you can go with her to her cousin's wedding, whatever)

if you make a mixtape, it's just to take the edge off of her anger/sadness long enough to pay attention to your real apology.
posted by thinkingwoman at 5:27 AM on June 4, 2007

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word. Elton John and Joe Cocker have both done it.
posted by orange swan at 5:36 AM on June 4, 2007

Tom Waits - "Saving All My Love for You" off Heartattack and Vine.
posted by Atom12 at 5:56 AM on June 4, 2007

The Tea Party - Release

I want the world to wake
I want to give you peace
I want to vindicate
You need to be released

Don't want to hurt you
I need to make you see
If I desert you
Its just to make you see

That I'm a man that's weak
And I'm a man that's lost
I give it all away
To complicate the cost

Don't want to hurt you
I need to make you see
If I desert you
Its just to make you see
I'm not going to hurt you now
I need to make you see
If I desert you now
Its just to make you see

I want you to be free
I want you to be free from me
posted by LunaticFringe at 6:01 AM on June 4, 2007

Pansy Division - "Bad Boyfriend"
posted by myeviltwin at 6:15 AM on June 4, 2007

Del Amitri - "Tell Her This" - sample available here under Albums > Hatful Of Rain.

Good luck!
posted by lalex at 6:19 AM on June 4, 2007

Morphine: In Spite of Me
posted by iurodivii at 6:52 AM on June 4, 2007

Brand New - "The Boy Who Blocked His Own Shot"


If it make you less sad
I will die by your hand
I Hope you find out what you want
I already know what I am

And if it make you less sad
we'll start talking again
You can tell me how vile,
I already know that I am

I'll grow old, start acting my age
I'll be a brand new day
in a life that you hate
A crown of gold
A heart that's harder than stone
and it hurts a whole lot,
but it's missed when it's gone

Call me a save bet
but I'm betting I'm not
I'm glad that you can forgive
Only hoping as time goes that you can forget

If it make you less sad
I'll move out of this state
You can keep to yourself
I'll keep out of your way
And if it makes you less sad
I'll take your pictures all down
Every picture you paint, I will paint myself out

It's cold as tomb, and it's dark in your room
When I sneak to your bed
to pour salt in your wounds
So call it quits or get a grip
You say you wanted a solution
but you just wanted to be missed

Call me a save bet
I'm betting I'm not
I'm Glad that you can forgive
Only hoping as time goes that you can forget

You are calm and reposed
It lets your beauty unfold
Pale white, like the skin stretched over your bones
Spring keeps you ever close
You are second hand smoke
You are so fragile and thin
Standing trial for your sins
Holding on to yourself the best you can
You are the smell before rain
You are the blood in my veins

Call me a safe bet
I'm betting I'm not
I'm glad that you can forgive
Only hoping as time goes that you can forget
posted by JMB1138 at 6:52 AM on June 4, 2007

Hoobastank, The Reason

I'm not a perfect person
There's many things I wish I didn't do
But I continue learning
I never meant to do those things to you
And so I have to say before I go
That I just want you to know

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you...

(etc - Google the rest yourself)

Read the last stanza I quoted, then actually MAKE THE CHANGE before sending the song to her. Make sure she knows what the change IS.
posted by desjardins at 7:38 AM on June 4, 2007

Now At Last - Feist
Call Me On Your Way Back Home - Ryan Adams
Hopefully - My Morning Jacket
posted by Ira.metafilter at 7:45 AM on June 4, 2007

As a girl who has been at the receiving end of such a sentiment, don't be a coward and let a song say the things that you can't. Certainly feel free to let a song work in conjunction with your words. In the long run, it's you being man enough to repair the wrongdoing that will make a song *really* do what you want it to do. Otherwise said song will just remind her of what a waste of her time you were when it all falls apart.
posted by modernpoverty at 8:33 AM on June 4, 2007

Something So Right by Paul Simon

You've got the cool water
When the fever runs high
You've got the look of lovelight in your eyes
And i was in crazy motion
'til you calmed me down
It took a little time
But you calmed me down

When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
And the last one to know

When something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me, mm
It's apt to confuse me
It's such an unusual sight
Oh, i can't, i can't get used to something so right
Something so right

They've got a wall in china
It's a thousand miles long
To keep out the foreigners they made it strong
And i've got a wall around me
That you can't even see
It took a little time
To get next to me

When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
And the last one to know
When something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me, mm
It's apt to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight
Oh, i can't, i can't get used to something so right
Something so right

Some people never say the words "i love you"
It's not their style
To be so bold
Some people never say the words "i love you"
But like a child they're longing to be told, mm

When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
And the last one to know
When something goes right
Well it's likely to lose me, mm
It's apt to confuse me
Because it's such an unusual sight
I swear, i can't, i can't get used to something so right
Something so right
posted by wsg at 9:07 AM on June 4, 2007

Love...love will tear us apart...
posted by Webbster at 9:15 AM on June 4, 2007

nthing b33j's comments, but also suggesting "Nobody's Fault" by Beck for your mixed tape. Good luck!
posted by rmm at 9:30 AM on June 4, 2007

Use "Pitseleh" by Elliott Smith.

Using Hoobastank or Staind is only going to worsen your situation.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:35 AM on June 4, 2007 [2 favorites]

Oops, Pitseleh.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:36 AM on June 4, 2007

What about "Lover, you should've come over" by Jeff Buckley. It has a line I've always liked:
"Maybe I'm just too young
To keep good love from going wrong...."
And it ends with"...it's not too late".

Aw feck it. Here's the whole thing:

Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water
And maybe Im too young to keep good love from going wrong
But tonight youre on my mind so you never know

When Im broken down and hungry for your love with no way to feed it
Where are you tonight, child you know how much I need it
Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun
And much too blind to see the damage hes done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one

So Ill wait for you... and Ill burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh will I ever learn

Oh lover, you shouldve come over
cause its not too late

Lonely is the room, the bed is made, the open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come

Its never over, my kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
Its never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her
Its never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
Its never over, shes the tear that hangs inside my soul forever

Well maybe Im just too young
To keep good love from going wrong

Oh... lover, you shouldve come over
cause its not too late

Well I feel too young to hold on
And Im much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage Ive done
Sweet lover, you shouldve come over
Oh, love well Im waiting for you

Lover, you shouldve come over
cause its not too late
posted by tiny crocodile at 10:45 AM on June 4, 2007

Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley.
posted by arianell at 10:46 AM on June 4, 2007

My obligatory Paul Weller suggestions: "I Didn't Mean to Hurt You" (sample here) and "I Should Have Been There to Inspire You" (sample here). The second one, in particular, is pretty self-lacerating.
posted by scody at 11:14 AM on June 4, 2007

Thin Lizzy
Honesty is no Excuse

beautiful song



Up till now I used to pass my time
Drinking beer so slowly, sometimes wine
No God, air, water or sunshine
And honesty was my only excuse
I took your love and I used it

Up till now my youthful stage
A useless rage, a torn out page, a worn out gauge
A dirty shade, a big charade, a has been made
And honesty was my only excuse
I took your love and I used it

I never, I never, I never

Up till now my love life
A few sweet kisses, a little missus, a fork and knife
a happy home, a hand to hold, a land to roam
And honesty was my only excuse
I took my life in my own hands and I abused it

Up till now I used to tap dance
Take a girl by the hand saying I need your, I need your romance
Oh I had so many chances
And honesty was my only excuse
I took your love and abused it

Up till now the path of life was fair enough
Enough was fair, all was right
And now I know, I see the light
And honesty was my only excuse
posted by mistsandrain at 12:06 PM on June 4, 2007

Write This Down, by George Strait
(although I agree that just a mix CD won't fix everything)

Baby, write this down, take a little note to remind you in case you didn't know,
Tell yourself I love you and I don't want you to go, write this down.
Take my words, read 'em every day, keep 'em close by, don't you let 'em fade away,
So you'll remember what I forgot to say, write this down.
posted by exceptinsects at 4:33 PM on June 4, 2007

Not meaning to derail too much, but don't be surprised if she comes back at you with The Billy Bragg Retort:

As you and I sat down to tea
I remember you said to me
"No amount of poetry
can mend this broken heart,
but you can put the hoover round
if you want to make a start"
posted by bunglin jones at 8:45 PM on June 4, 2007

"Criminal" - Fiona Apple
posted by SisterHavana at 6:32 PM on June 5, 2007

I Can't Be Counted On At All/Meat Puppets
posted by AJaffe at 11:52 AM on June 6, 2007

"Give Me Another Chance" by Big Star
posted by granted at 1:17 AM on June 27, 2007