| Elliott Smith – Placeholder Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Not sure if anyone else has pointed this out, but in math 0s can be referred to as placeholders, so it's kind of a double meaning there | |
| Elliott Smith – Placeholder Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| I think it refers to a record, because they look like 0's (round, with a hole in the middle) | |
| Elliott Smith – Bled White Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| You nailed it, I think this is right on | |
| Elliott Smith – A Fond Farewell Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Here's the literal meaning of the first lines "The Lite Brite's now black and white, cause you took apart a picture that wasn't right" The Lite Brite, for those too young to know about it, was a creative toy that consisted of a box fronted by a panel of holes in a honeycomb pattern and containing a lightbulb. You put a black paper template in the frame, which mad marked on it the pattern that showed how to insert translucent pegs of various colors. As you inserted a peg into the panel it would break through the paper and let the light come through, colored whatever color the peg was. In this way you could create a picture where each peg was like a pixel. It was a beautiful contraption. I remember the jingle in the commercials went like this "Lite Brite making things with light, out-of-sight making things with Lite Brite" After you were done (or if you gave up because the picture "wasn't right") you could simply take the pegs out, leaving a black paper with white light shining through the empty holes. This is why the Lite Brite "is now black and white" My interpretation is that killing oneself is compared to the simple action of deconstructing a displeasing picture. The metaphor seems to point to the idea of another chance in a next life, since you could always put a new fresh template paper into the frame and start on a new picture. Anyway, as a contemporary of Elliott's who also was entranced by this beautiful toy, I wanted to share this bit in hopes of enriching other's enjoyment of this amazing songwriter. Requiescat in pace, Elliott. |
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| Elliott Smith – King's Crossing Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I hear the beginning of the song as the soundscape of Elliott's mind, with the softly moaning being the sounds of his psyche in pain. The waltzing piano comes in and gets the voices in his head to coalesce into a chorus. I thought of it as a kind of joke explanation from Elliott as to why he loved waltzs: "They get the voices in my head to all sing together". So ever since I had that thought, when I listen to this song I picture the dancing scene from Calvaire: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1owrlQlLExY |
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| Elliott Smith – A Fond Farewell Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I picture the song as playing at Elliott's wake, so the chorus is Elliott telling people who are shocked that he died by his own hand; "yeah, I committed suicide, but that wasn't the point of my life; it wasn't what defined me, it was just my last resort when I lost the struggle. But put that aside because this is the time to say farewell to me as a friend." |
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