elliott smith songs are like my bible, and one of the reasons is that his songs are so rife with both literal meanings and allegorical connotations that any number of these interpretations could've been intended (it's one of the ways that fans like us relate so well to the songs, and smith himself even said that his songs were multi-layered with intended meanings). anyhow, i just wanted to offer one that hasn't been said yet. the opening of the song to me sounds like it's about dying. smith was a philosophy major in university, so he'd be familiar with the idea of a ferry shipping people to the land of the dead, so he's "waiting for the train, the subway that only goes one way" in a sense that is a modernized version of crossing the river styx. again, "the stupid thing that'll come to pull us apart, and make everybody late" make everybody late? the late(dead) so-and-so? also, the part about spending everything you have seems to be an allsion to blowing all your money on substances to feel better "wanted everything to stop that bad." this doesn't seem to be about himself because he says "you spent" and then later refers to himself in a different context. knowing how generous smith was to his friends, he might be describing how his dependant lover has sapped both of their resources, which could also be a literal and allegorical idea, both money and patience/hope/love/whatever. this is before smith had problems with substance so it's unlikely it's about him, but some of the company he kept at this time was pretty shady. "you turned white like a saint" he loves them even though what they've done to themselves has made them pale. smith again laments about dying "tired of dancing on this pot of gold flake paint" tired of performing and being put on a pedestal he felt he didn't belong on, flake paint = shoddy, low quality. and then to me the last part is him leaving us in doubt, is the biggest lie saying he and his love are precious or that he wants to die? i also really liked dorareever's interpretation, and i feel this fits with that. but man. elliott smith, the poet/songwriter? fucking intense.
elliott smith songs are like my bible, and one of the reasons is that his songs are so rife with both literal meanings and allegorical connotations that any number of these interpretations could've been intended (it's one of the ways that fans like us relate so well to the songs, and smith himself even said that his songs were multi-layered with intended meanings). anyhow, i just wanted to offer one that hasn't been said yet. the opening of the song to me sounds like it's about dying. smith was a philosophy major in university, so he'd be familiar with the idea of a ferry shipping people to the land of the dead, so he's "waiting for the train, the subway that only goes one way" in a sense that is a modernized version of crossing the river styx. again, "the stupid thing that'll come to pull us apart, and make everybody late" make everybody late? the late(dead) so-and-so? also, the part about spending everything you have seems to be an allsion to blowing all your money on substances to feel better "wanted everything to stop that bad." this doesn't seem to be about himself because he says "you spent" and then later refers to himself in a different context. knowing how generous smith was to his friends, he might be describing how his dependant lover has sapped both of their resources, which could also be a literal and allegorical idea, both money and patience/hope/love/whatever. this is before smith had problems with substance so it's unlikely it's about him, but some of the company he kept at this time was pretty shady. "you turned white like a saint" he loves them even though what they've done to themselves has made them pale. smith again laments about dying "tired of dancing on this pot of gold flake paint" tired of performing and being put on a pedestal he felt he didn't belong on, flake paint = shoddy, low quality. and then to me the last part is him leaving us in doubt, is the biggest lie saying he and his love are precious or that he wants to die? i also really liked dorareever's interpretation, and i feel this fits with that. but man. elliott smith, the poet/songwriter? fucking intense.