| Elliott Smith – From a Poison Well Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| it is also worth noting that this is another example of elliott writing two seperate meaningful sets of lyrics for the same melody - these lyrics are sung to the tune of "first timer," which was released recently on New Moon. elliott seemed to do that alot - he was always revising lyrics to fit his mood and mindset at the time (see also the version of miss misery on blue moon, etc) . i think its a fascinating look at the mind of a musical genius at work ... and im so grateful that he recorded so much of it so we could try to understand | |
| Bright Eyes – If the Brakeman Turns My Way Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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I am a recovering opiate addict (that still sounds weird - funny where life takes you), and someone who became a dear friend insisted I listen to this song ... at the time I wasn't even quite 48 hours off and was feeling sick as hell, he was five days ahead of me in the process. I'd never been much of a Bright Eyes fan before, but this song just hit all the right notes for me at that moment and every one since then. This song is about recovery, about finding the strength to control what you can and to accept what you can't. And its about how sometimes you can only get better by getting away ... day-to-day routines can be the achilles heel of someone trying to kick a habit, because the cues to use are everywhere. Sometimes in order to get better you have to let go of those routines and throw yourself into the hands of fate ... letting hope prop you up until you are strong enough to stand on your own. Its been 10 days now; I haven't cheated once. I listen to this song every day as a simple reminder of what I am working towards. And I'm planning a road trip - to meet my friend and fellow traveler, to visit places I've felt tugging on my heart for some time and to simply clear my head and remind myself of all the beauty and wonder there is in this world that makes life worth living. Thanks, Conor. From the bottom of my heart. |
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| Elliott Smith – The White Lady Loves You More Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Actually, the "metal man" could refer to a bent spoon used to cook up heroin, or to the syringe itself, with its metal needle. And an addict doesn't need to be hooked on an upper to need a fix to get going. An opiate addict goes through awful withdrawals when they go without a fix for too long, and at a certain level of addiction one needs the drug just to feel normal - to quell the shaking and nausea etc. It seems likely to me that the addict Elliott is referring to has reached this point - he or she doesn't just shoot up once in a while to get high, they need it day in and day out to feel "normal" - to "pick up their feet". Its also important to note the many references to heroin that are sprinkled throughout the s/t album. Why would the topic of discussion change so dramatically now? Its obvious to me that the drug use of people around him was affecting Elliott dramatically at this time ... why they would suddenly change their DOC is beyond me. It doesn't make sense. So I'm not buying.... |
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| Elliott Smith – Needle in the Hay Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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In order to really "get" this song (the way I "get" it, anyways) you have to look at a little context. Unfortunately for the "junkie junkies," the people who said Elliott hadn't used at this point in his life are absolutely correct - he has stated many times that he didn't use hard drugs until near the end of the Figure 8 tour, and none of his friends have contested that (and surely they would have, at least after he passed away). But his friends have said that Elliott used to threaten to become an addict quite frequently - the same way he used to talk about suicide. In fact, he looked at addiction as one long, slow, semi-socially acceptable suicide. If killing himself was the ultimate goal (and as much as we loved him he did think of it often), then hard drug use would be an effective means to that end. I suspect he knew just how taken by addiction he could be (he was already struggling with alcohol), so he spoke of trying heroin like it would simply be the end....almost a suicide fantasy of getting so high you could drift off into nothingness for good. Now, even though he wasn't a user at the time, its not as if Elliott was a stranger to heroin. When he lived in Portland he had close friends (and perhaps even a girlfriend) who were addicted. Living with an addict day in and day out can be very insightful ... you don't have to shoot up yourself to understand just what a dose means to an addict. Take a look at the lyrics to the other songs on the s/t album and you will see a common thread and a story unfolding: the story of a person who is addicted to loving a person who is addicted to drugs. "The White Lady Loves You More" spells this out most obvously, of course, but there are touches of this theme in several of the songs, including "Good to Go" ("you can do it if you want to be like me ... I wouldn't need a hero if I wasn't such a zero") and "The Biggest Lie" ("spent everything you had...wanted everything to stop that bad"). If you come back to "Needle in the Hay" with this storyline in mind, the flow of the lyrics and especially the "fuck you" aspect of the song become clearer. The "I" in the story - the first person POV - is watching someone they used to be close to or wanted to be close to sinking into the life of a junky - and pulling other people down with them. The author feels put out - he isn't a part of this lifestyle and doesn't particularly want to be, but it seems like the only way he can get close to this person or these people is by becoming part of this drug obsession they have. In the first verse he is watching this person, noticing how they have changed and setting the scene. In the second, he notes how far certain others have gone to impress this addicted loved one - and scolds his former friend for allowing others to copy him or her in ways that could easily ruin their lives. And in the third verse, Elliott is imagining himself going to the same lengths as the others - becoming a junky not just to be close to this friend, but because he feels that is what his friend expects and wants him to do. He takes himself through a little fantasy in which he "pulls the trigger," knowing full well that would be the end of him - and that his friend likely knows that as well. But he is doing it anyways, out of spite more than anything else. And THAT is why the last line is so damned biting. Here he is, essentially throwing his life away, and he is pointing back up at this junky friend, saying "you wanted me to be like you, didn't you?" It's probably the coldest line Elliott ever wrote. A "fuck you song", indeed. |
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