I love how the early versions of Elliott's songs often have a more direct meaning and a more personal story. (See the early versions of "I didn't understand" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" too). This one seems to me to be about Elliott fearing that the woman he is dating is in love with the public idea of 'Elliott Smith' rather than the real him. The one she really loves is the Elliott on the blue screen or on the coin-op tv. He fears he "can't compete" with the image of himself that is out there. His public image is totally wrong, but he feels it is better than the real him, and he can never measure up to the pictures of him.
The chorus makes so much more sense with the rest of the lyrics in this version than in the other one. I think this often happens with his songs, where he first writes a really personal story and then he changes it so it's theme is no longer as recognizable or as personal. Sometimes it even feels like he puts two completely different songs together in the final versions - like the verses are from one song and the chorus is from another. I feel like that a little bit with the album version of the song, but not with this one - this one is clear and heartbreaking. I just wish I had a better recording of it. Mine has a lot of fuzzyiness in the recording quality. If anyone knows if there is a cleaned up copy, let me know.
I love how the early versions of Elliott's songs often have a more direct meaning and a more personal story. (See the early versions of "I didn't understand" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" too). This one seems to me to be about Elliott fearing that the woman he is dating is in love with the public idea of 'Elliott Smith' rather than the real him. The one she really loves is the Elliott on the blue screen or on the coin-op tv. He fears he "can't compete" with the image of himself that is out there. His public image is totally wrong, but he feels it is better than the real him, and he can never measure up to the pictures of him.
The chorus makes so much more sense with the rest of the lyrics in this version than in the other one. I think this often happens with his songs, where he first writes a really personal story and then he changes it so it's theme is no longer as recognizable or as personal. Sometimes it even feels like he puts two completely different songs together in the final versions - like the verses are from one song and the chorus is from another. I feel like that a little bit with the album version of the song, but not with this one - this one is clear and heartbreaking. I just wish I had a better recording of it. Mine has a lot of fuzzyiness in the recording quality. If anyone knows if there is a cleaned up copy, let me know.