In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Why are you here
Couldn't you tell him
Were you afraid he'd hear
You should have been thankful to be alone
You took off your shoes
Said anything further would be bad news
Because you'd already started to disappear
And he couldn't complain
Just looked at your lyric and crossed over to play
A record of quiet instrumentals
Said "I like what you wrote
But this is a record full of sour notes"
You should've been thankful to be alone
And I like what you wrote
But don't say you mean it
When you know you don't
You should have been thankful to be alone, you know
You should have been thankful to be alone, you know
You should have been thankful to be alone
Couldn't you tell him
Were you afraid he'd hear
You should have been thankful to be alone
You took off your shoes
Said anything further would be bad news
Because you'd already started to disappear
And he couldn't complain
Just looked at your lyric and crossed over to play
A record of quiet instrumentals
Said "I like what you wrote
But this is a record full of sour notes"
You should've been thankful to be alone
And I like what you wrote
But don't say you mean it
When you know you don't
You should have been thankful to be alone, you know
You should have been thankful to be alone, you know
You should have been thankful to be alone
Lyrics submitted by nomshybrides, edited by Jate
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I have noticed that a lot of times in Elliott's writing, "you" and "I" both refer to himself, and "he or she" refer to others. He seems to switch back and forth between referring to himself as "you" as if he's talking to himself, or "I" for effect.
So my take on this song is that Elliott has gone to visit someone he never expected himself to visit, to show them his lyrics and get their response to his music. I think this person features heavily in his lyrics, that that by writing the songs he was able to "tell him" something that he was unable to say otherwise [Why are you here?; Couldn't you tell him?; Were you afraid he'd hear?]. He takes off his shoes, but not his coat, or anything else because that "Would be bad news" (because he was leaving soon [disappearing] anyway?) So the man looks at his lyrics, "couldn't complain" and went and put on a different record, importantly a record without lyrics, a record "of quiet instrumentals" (presumably by Antonios Carlos Jobim). The man lies and tells him he liked his lyrics, his music, his collection of sour notes (painfull moments?). Elliott knows it's a lie, the man knows it's a lie.
Knowing a little about Elliott's history, it's easy to think this is about him showing Roman Candle to his step-father, who did feature heavily in the lyrics of that album and it's B-sides. But who knows, and unlike the songs which actually mention his step-father by name (Some Song, No Confidence Man, Flowers for Charlie), I don't want to make too many assumptions in this case, but it makes sense to me.
My one question: Who should have been thankful to be alone, the man or Elliott?
Reading your comment now I think he's talking to his mother instead of his step-father. He says "You should've been thankful to be alone" It makes since if he's telling that to his mom. Maybe his step-dad was gone or something. IDK. I could be wrong.
Continuing your theory, it would be Elliott telling himself he should be thankful to be alone. It's really a tragic place that writers get into... it's a craft that requires isolation and which leads to greater isolation, as one grows and has powerful experiences which objectively distinguish oneself from "herd-members'." So the writer gets into a sort of trap whereby the only way he can really communicate to more socially-integrated-types is through his writing. Which raises the stakes and makes it so devastating and existential dread-inducing when someone important fails to get it.<br /> It's, in the end, a stoic mantra or lie that Elliott tells himself: "Be thankful to be alone, to be on your lonely path of being Elliott Smith."
I like the idea of the person who should be thankful to be alone being Elliott's mother, but I don't think that's right in this case. He is clearly talking about a man ("tell him", "he'd hear"). Myrmidon might be right, he might be talking to himself, berating himself for making this trip to meet with the man about his record and his lyrics. Maybe he's mad at himself for trying to forge a relationship with someone he knows won't understand him or his "sour notes". Or worse, with someone who was the cause of those sour notes. This is likely the case.<br /> <br /> On another hand, it's still possible he is talking to the man, saying that he should have stayed away from Elliott and his mom, he should have been happy just to be alone rather than make other people miserable (there's a line in some other Elliott song that I can't put my finger on that's a little like this, something like 'why couldn't you just leave her alone')