Table for One

I cannot fault anyone who has posted comments on this song referring to alcoholism. It is however obvious from those comments that nobody has lived it. Nobody who has not lived it can hope to understand it. Nobody can "help" us but ourselves and even fewer of us still, can.

This is a very beautiful, sad song. Probably the most introspective that I've heard from her.

I think it's obvious what she's talking about- she's trying to sober up and is looking back with disdain at the people who were there with her but didn't do anything to help.

i agree that she's trying to sober up, but i don't think she's actually angry with those who didn't try to help. when she sings, "I hide all the bottles in places/ They find and confront me with pain in their eyes," i feel like she has people who are trying to help, but she doesn't want or cannot accept the help. when she sings, "And the loving spirit that follows me/ Watching helplessly, will always forgive me," i feel somewhat like she's upset with her friends/family for enabling by forgiving, but i also think that she's partially taking advantage of the forgiveness. she says that she'll try to change, but she knows (and so do they) that it's an empty promise. alcoholism is quite difficult to break, and no one is ever truly free from any addiction. also true with most addictions is the correlation that can be drawn between the addiction and some form of low self-esteem. when she's wanting to die alone, she's beating herself up for pushing people out of her life, knowing that she can't be in a healthy relationship with a person while she's still committed to the addiction.

obviously a song about being an alcoholic and depressed... a very strange song to hear from Liz.

i absolutely love this song. it is so sad and speaks to me. liz phair needs to put out another cd

has Liz ever talked openly about being an alcoholic? the music is so beautiful and the lyrics heartbreaking.

Mistake above, should be:

Feasting gleefully On my desperation

Not "feasting bleed through me" (which doesn't really make any sense at all, grammatically or logically)

People - get out of the line of thinking that assumes everything an artist writes is autobiographical. The speaker of this song is clearly not Phair herself. For evidence, see the line,

I want to live that life When I could say people had faith in me I still see that guy in my memory

Clearly, the lyrics are self-referntial. The speaker is a character Phair has created. And I think it's purposefully non-specific. But that doesn't make it about her.