Galaxie 500

Songwriter: Jonathan Richman Paul McCartney John Lennon

Producer: Kramer

[Intro]
Thank you, thank you to the soundman
For the first time in New York

"Rain"

[Verse 1]
If the rain comes
They run and hide their heads
They might as well be dead
When the rain comes
When the rain comes

And when the sun shines they run into the shade
And drink their lemonade
When the sun shines
When the sun shines

[Chorus]
Rain
I don't mind
Shine
The weather's fine

[Verse 2]
And I can show you that when it starts to rain
Well, everything's the same
Oh, I can show you
I can show you

[Chorus]
Rain
I don't mind
Shine
The weather's fine

[Verse 3]
Can you hear me, when it rains and shines?
It's just a state of mind
But can you hear me
Can you hear me?

"Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste"

[Verse 1]
I need to walk by the flowers with someone to share my face
Looks like nobody could take your place
And I could bleed in sympathy with you
On those days
And I could drink up everything you have

[Chorus]
Don't let it go to waste

[Verse 2]
I could show you memories to rival Berlin in the thirties
I understand your dating-bar ways
And I could bleed in sympathy with you
On those days
And I could drink up everything you have

[Chorus]
Don't let it go to waste

[Verse 3]
Say something warm, say something nice
I can't stand to see you when you're cold
Nor can I stand being out of your life
And I could bleed in sympathy with you
On those days
And I could drink up everything you have

[Chorus]
Don't let our youth go to waste

[Outro]
Thank you, thank you
(Thank you)

Often recognized retrospectively as one of the pioneering dream pop and slowcore groups, Galaxie 500 was an American trio consisting of guitarist and vocalist Dean Wareham, bassist and vocalist Naomi Yang and drummer Damon Krukowski.

The three initially met at the Dalton School in New York in 1981, and all attended Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1986, Wareham along with Krukowski were a part of Speedy & the Castanets, a punk band which abruptly disbanded because their bass player had a religious conversion. The pair continued to make music, and later hired Yang who had no prior musical experience. It was then the band had a solid lineup and officially named themselves Galaxie 500, which was inspired by a friend’s car of the same name. The group were inspired by The Modern Lovers and Velvet Underground, and played their songs in music clubs around Boston and New York City.

In 1988, Galaxie 500 met with the legendary underground producer Kramer, and worked on their debut album, Today. Despite Kramer not doing much other than adding tons of reverb to the band’s songs, the band reportedly learned a lot from his techniques. The group released two more studio albums before disbanding in 1991 due to Wareham’s wish to not go on tour and the creative differences between the members.

more tracks from the album

Uncollected

From the album

Uncollected (2004)

Galaxie 500 popular songs

Rain / Don’t Let Our Youth Go to WasteGalaxie 500

Galaxie 500

Uncollected