Hell Below/Stars Above

I think this song just says "I'm moving on now so fuck you" which is probably the healthiest sentiment to come from Todd Lewis considering the way he deals with this sort of thing in other songs. ("Quitter" and "Jigsaw Girl" for example...)

this is the album I put in my car when I want to go driving...and this is the best driving song on the whole CD.

I think it's about how he loves a girl, who breaks up with him for another guy, and though he is dissappointed, he is still somewhat happy since he loves her so much, that he is happy just because she is happy, even at his own loss. So, the stars are above, in that things could be better, but hell is below, because her happiness is worth being miserable, and it could be worse.

Maybe i'm obsessed... but what I love about this song is that Elliott Smith plays the piano in it. hoooray! Hooray for Elliott Smith getting down and precosious with the toadies... I don't really mean that.. about the precocious thing.

Very well put, arcarsenal. Good point.

Wow, most of you all missed the whole theme of this one.

The first part of the song, is the "Hell Below"

It is the pain he feels seeing his girl with another guy. Note the angst and fast paced anger of the first part.

Then, the second part of the song is the "Stars Above" portion. He is saying, now that he has gotten over her, there isnt anything else that is gonna hurt him in this life. He really is over here. "I close my eyes, and I can't see your face...." and "I slip away, happy as a clam"

Its about the initial pain and the following relief you get from ending a shitty relationship.

I think the song is about suicide.

The chaotic pace of the song to begin with is indicative of his feelings and his life all tied in knots. He's going crazy thinking of the girl who left him, and seeing her with another drives him mad. The reference to hell bellow me is "hell on earth" to him, but there's stars above, AKA, a way out, or a release. I think he's wrestling with the choice to end it all "hell bellow me, stars above, hell bellow me, stars above..." When the song changes pace to "stars above" only, I think he is dying through some self-inflicted wound. Perhaps laying on his back at night, facing the stars above.
Notice how the tempo slows way down, like his life-blood draining out. This is why he says "I slip away", "nothing ever gonna hurt me now", When he closes his eyes, he "can't see her face" anymore. This is one dark song, but so is a lot of their music. This song reminds me that there can never be anything so bad that one would take one's own life. All one need do is look up to the stars and realize this life is bigger than one and one's problems. There is a plan.

To me, this song starts off with the narrator feeling like there's a hell in life, but no real heaven after a girl broke up with him. (Hell is below him, and then he suggests all that exists above is stars, and no heaven'). The end of the song where it comes in with the backup vocals and the change of the instrumental suggests that even though he won't find this 'heaven', he has found that there are still good things to be found (The stars that are shining on him).

Anyone else think this song reeks of the Pixies? Not that that's a bad thing.