I Don't Think I'm Ever Gonna Figure It Out

This song reminds me of a quote from the "Inside the Actor's Studio" interview with Anthony Hopkins. When asked what his favorite swear word was, he answered "Fuck." He told the audience a story about asking a priest once what, in his opinion, was the quickest and most effective prayer. The priest told him "fuck it," because in so relinquishing responsibility for things you can't possibly influence, you admit that there is something larger than yourself (not necessarily religious, Anthony Hopkins certainly wasn't) that makes it impossible for you to insinuate yourself everywhere and be in control of every possible moment or passing thought that occurs outside yourself. Elliott seems to espouse almost jokingly about his lover's mind or the landscape of emotions between them being like "some wild last frontier," and I don't often hear him admitting that he doesn't understand feels okay about it very often, so, to me, this is his happiest song. Apart from "Happiness," of course.

As to what its about, simply, the songs about him never going to figure it out. As to what hes trying to figure out, thats beyond me

Sadly i think that he is trying to figure out what love is. for the last few weeks i've been thinking about what love is and this is pretty wuch how i've felt. like i'm never going to figure it out and wondering what "she" is up to. or thinking about.

The song is about misunderstood communication amongst people who put themselves in shitty(drunkeness) situations.

How I interpret the lyrics is just wondering what others are thinking about and knowing you'll never know. Just like no one knows what youre thinking or going through.

awesome. beatles-esque

seems to me like it's about his girlfriend with whom he is constantly arguing....could be the same girl as the girl in Baby Britain. i say this because in that song the girl is also "alcoholic and very bitter"..............................RIP

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is, quite possibly, the happiest Elliott Smith song. It's so upbeat for him that I thought, for the longest time, that it was a cover. Brilliant, playful and fun.

"after all the alcohol, the pretty words that devolve down to slurs and drunken shouts" kind of makes me think of the relationship he and jennifer chiba had? at least from what I heard...