Looking at all the rows
All these records look like big zeros
Got your picture on the back of a forty-five
A placeholder 'til you take up mine
A placeholder 'til you take up mine

I'm the person you'll never need
The biggest loser on sixteenth street
The invisible man with the see-through mind
A placeholder 'til you take up mine
A placeholder 'til you take up mine

Break off of in someone's laughter
You can tell right there
He's still a square
He likes the way that you look now
Like an open book

Just like my favorite song
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
Like a package sent priority overnight
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine


Lyrics submitted by Merks, edited by Jate

Placeholder Lyrics as written by Steven Paul Smith

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Placeholder song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

17 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    The interpretation I always got from this song, especially the last line, is not necessarily that he was replaceable, but that he didn't feel comfortable in his place in the world and wanted a way out. He wanted to neglect his duties and obligations as a person and just get away from it all, thus "Placeholder, come and take up mine." Quite sad, and relatable for me at least. R.I.P Elliott

    meeptroidon February 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    before i go on about this song. i want to tell you guys about my religous beliefs. i don't believe in any prophets. but i do believe there is a god. if you read alot as i do you would realize our world is to perfect for there not to be one. alright... since i got that cleared out the way. i think this song is really about life/death and god.

    "just like my favorite song. some pretty words that didn't last that long. like a package sent priority overnight" - i believe it is stating life is short

    "a placeholder till you take up mine" - i think he is talking to god and pleading for him to take his soul "up" to Heaven when he passes.

    lazyteen69on January 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    such a good song r.i.p

    turjake2on October 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    'the invisible man with the see-through mind'

    if elliott's talking about himself and not a character, then I disagree. I would give anything to understand what went on in his mind.

    rollercoastersonjaon January 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    great song.

    AngDiaon April 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "just like my favorite song some pretty words that didn't last that long."

    i always thought this referred to a person--another bad relationship. regardless, this song is the best.

    wallflower_punchon April 19, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "if you read alot as i do you would realize our world is to perfect for there not to be one."

    story books are not real there are no happy endings the world is a fucked up horrible place i believe in god but not because the world is perfect it is far from it

    personno.1on May 14, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah, to the person who said that if you read a lot you'd realize that there's a god: a LOT of well-read people believe there's no god. and unless you're seeing the perfection in the actual books themselves and not the stories or positions they take, then yeah, that might be a little bit of "perfection" for you. but just because a book is published doesn't mean that it holds any sort of truth. it's easy if you're genuinely happy to see perfection everywhere, but it's much easier to be not genuinely happy and to see the negitivity in everything. if you're trying to balance the two extremes and still find perfection, go ahead. but if you ultimately do find perfection in everything, then you haven't lived enough.

    i, for one, don't think that it's about death or god or anything like that. i just thought it was about how nothing's really constant, and eventually, just like a favorite song or something, he will be replaced by the next thing. and he's just waiting for it to happen.

    musicalchairson May 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    All of ES's songs are so lovely but I'm particularly fond of this one. I miss Elliott Smith. I just do.

    rekkidbrakaon May 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    it's just simply another one of his unrequited love songs, surely you Smith fans are seeing the pattern here. His song topics were mostly 'drugs' 'girls' and 'suicide.' This is one of those 'girl' ones.

    "all these records look like big zeroes" pathetic fallacy, to describe his mood, he's down, he feels like a zero, a loser "The biggest loser on 16th Street" this is the effect unrequited love has on most people. "A placeholder until you take up mine" A placeholder, someone who holds a place, he's holding this place for this girl whose picture is on "the back of a 45." He wants her to "take up" his.

    plastic-manon August 09, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Album art
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
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.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.