The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
I sit here shooting blanks
Out at emptiness
Ain’t nothing really want to kill
Maybe time I guess
I sit and spin the world on its flipside
And I listen backwards for meaning
'Cause I’m a stickman
I live with one dimension dead
Trying not to think too many moves ahead
I draw from memory
The stillest kind of life
Slide after slide
Mental pain's the sharpest knife
Project what's done for everyone to see
To me it's just a reversal
And I'm a stickman
In frames that go one by one
If I sped it up
You'd see I'm on the run
From some monster off-screen
Killing sons
Lonely makes me blue
Envy turns me green
Hate might paint me red
If I load my magazine
But not just now when it's easy to stay clean
When no one sees where you're bleeding
And I'm a stickman
Stickman
Out at emptiness
Ain’t nothing really want to kill
Maybe time I guess
I sit and spin the world on its flipside
And I listen backwards for meaning
'Cause I’m a stickman
I live with one dimension dead
Trying not to think too many moves ahead
I draw from memory
The stillest kind of life
Slide after slide
Mental pain's the sharpest knife
Project what's done for everyone to see
To me it's just a reversal
And I'm a stickman
In frames that go one by one
If I sped it up
You'd see I'm on the run
From some monster off-screen
Killing sons
Lonely makes me blue
Envy turns me green
Hate might paint me red
If I load my magazine
But not just now when it's easy to stay clean
When no one sees where you're bleeding
And I'm a stickman
Stickman
Lyrics submitted by valard, edited by dogcity, MulletBrush
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trippyapple has the lyrics right.... Just like most of smith's songs, it is about mental disorders (i.e manic depression) and suicide. I see it as this:
"I sit here shooting blanks Out of emptiness Ain’t nothing really want to kill Maybe your time I guess Sit and spin the world and its flipside And I listen backwards for meanings"
Ever been so depressed and bored? nothing to do at all? i get imagery of him killing time. Playing with the idea of suicide "shooting blanks". He is looking for hidden meanings in life in boredom by playing the records backwards.
"'Cause i’m a stickman I live with one dimension dead Try not to think too many moves ahead"
This is elliott smith's self esteem in a nutshell. He is a stickman. Nothing deep. Nothing special. He never realized how amazing he was even when everyone said so. He says don't look too deep into what he's saying or think he's that special with "try not to think too many moves ahead." Just think stickman. That isn't really a positive way to think of yourself.
"I draw from memory The stillest kind of life Slide after slide You know pain's the sharpest knife Project what's done so everyone can see To me it's just a reversal"
One of the more complicated stanzas. When one is depressed, one only draws upon the past. The good times are always remembered, and nothing else really matters at the present or future. Smith draws upon the beauty of what he was. Not what he is. He refers to this depression through "I draw from memory/ The stillest kind of life." "Slide after slide" can refer to 2 things in my mind. First, it can refer tot he chess pieces he refered to before. A metaphor for the moves in his life, or it can refer to the next line keeping the imagery with the knife. Smith has a tendacy with his songs to keep imagery repeating throughout. The king's crossing is a good example of that. "Project what's done so everyone can see/To me it's just a reversal." I feel smith is saying he is hiding his pain rather than revealing it to the world. These thoughts of suicide he does not project to the world, but instead, it'st he reversal. He keeps it in to himself.
i'm tired... and i'll come back to the others later.