He's talking about his stepfather's abuse of his mother and him, and his eventual exit to from Texas to Portland.
I kind of thought the rubber loop was represented his mother in his stepfather's hands, Charlie in control of her. A loop is a cycle, something happening over and over, probably related to abuse. I don't really see why he'd use a condom during abuse of Elliott?
This sort of "fuck off" language "Don't try to tell me your bullshit scheme/ I have no idea what you mean/ I'm just trying to sleep" could be said from anyone to any other person in the narrative: him listening to his Charlie's bullshit, or Charlie talking to him or his mother. Remember that it's a song so it's more written for how it makes the listener feel and relate than communicating documentation of exact events (of which the listener probably has no idea). The point is that it feels abusive, alienating, disconnected, mean, etc. But it's probably Elliott talking to Charlie right? The way he sings "just trying to sleep" feels more vulnerable and the speaker is probably the one being abused.
Elliott listening to parental conflict and any of Charlie's shit: "I've heard quite enough, just to listen is really tough".
Then an imposing figure in the household who is "on it all the time". Someone who is just always fucking there, always on you; an oppressive presence, maybe with drugs involved, but i think it more likely has to do with alcohol in Charlie's case.
Because I got to split, I'm late to leave: Elliott taking off to get away from the abuse. The "won't wake up no more" always felt druggy to me but I don't know what it means. Maybe someone's around who isn't supposed to be and asleep? Maybe the line is just super cool and feels right for the song. The lyrics are impressionistic typical of Elliott's writing, and sometimes the words are just there because of their feeling or connotation.
@pat1032312 - the late, great and haunted genius of Elliot smith can seem "too deep" for some to grasp. most Elliot fans know he was an addict and he expressed his fears, resentments and routine of copping through his lyrics in many songs.
The first time I heard this song I knew immediately that the "band in his hand" and the "rubber loop" describes a tourniquet that's used by many IV drug users. And there's no mistake who Charlie is: cocaine.
Elliot's songs about the imprisonment of addiction comes from several voices. In this song, the voice is of someone who wants...
@pat1032312 - the late, great and haunted genius of Elliot smith can seem "too deep" for some to grasp. most Elliot fans know he was an addict and he expressed his fears, resentments and routine of copping through his lyrics in many songs.
The first time I heard this song I knew immediately that the "band in his hand" and the "rubber loop" describes a tourniquet that's used by many IV drug users. And there's no mistake who Charlie is: cocaine.
Elliot's songs about the imprisonment of addiction comes from several voices. In this song, the voice is of someone who wants out of this scene. People are dying around him and it's almost like he knows he's stuck...
@pat1032312 Elliot's Mother was part of the abuses to Elliot. Not another victim of Charlie Welch, his step-father. Bunny Welch, Elliott's Mother always knew some kind of abuse happened to Elliott, and she never did anything to act against Elliott's abuser who was his own husband. Now, Elliott had a blind loyalty to his own biological mother because some times she treat his own 1st son as a loveful mother, so that also served to cover Elliott's abuser. Elliott left Texas because the systematic abuses of Charlie and the dispictable passive attitude of his own Mother. Now, in Tormented Saint,...
@pat1032312 Elliot's Mother was part of the abuses to Elliot. Not another victim of Charlie Welch, his step-father. Bunny Welch, Elliott's Mother always knew some kind of abuse happened to Elliott, and she never did anything to act against Elliott's abuser who was his own husband. Now, Elliott had a blind loyalty to his own biological mother because some times she treat his own 1st son as a loveful mother, so that also served to cover Elliott's abuser. Elliott left Texas because the systematic abuses of Charlie and the dispictable passive attitude of his own Mother. Now, in Tormented Saint, a quite complex but so damn well documentated Elliott's biography, you can read how Elliott saw his mother as a treachourous person, that just teared Elliott's appart. She was also an abusive woman because she never get rid of Charlie. She was a freakin rubber loop toy as you well described.
He's talking about his stepfather's abuse of his mother and him, and his eventual exit to from Texas to Portland.
I kind of thought the rubber loop was represented his mother in his stepfather's hands, Charlie in control of her. A loop is a cycle, something happening over and over, probably related to abuse. I don't really see why he'd use a condom during abuse of Elliott?
This sort of "fuck off" language "Don't try to tell me your bullshit scheme/ I have no idea what you mean/ I'm just trying to sleep" could be said from anyone to any other person in the narrative: him listening to his Charlie's bullshit, or Charlie talking to him or his mother. Remember that it's a song so it's more written for how it makes the listener feel and relate than communicating documentation of exact events (of which the listener probably has no idea). The point is that it feels abusive, alienating, disconnected, mean, etc. But it's probably Elliott talking to Charlie right? The way he sings "just trying to sleep" feels more vulnerable and the speaker is probably the one being abused.
Elliott listening to parental conflict and any of Charlie's shit: "I've heard quite enough, just to listen is really tough".
Then an imposing figure in the household who is "on it all the time". Someone who is just always fucking there, always on you; an oppressive presence, maybe with drugs involved, but i think it more likely has to do with alcohol in Charlie's case.
Because I got to split, I'm late to leave: Elliott taking off to get away from the abuse. The "won't wake up no more" always felt druggy to me but I don't know what it means. Maybe someone's around who isn't supposed to be and asleep? Maybe the line is just super cool and feels right for the song. The lyrics are impressionistic typical of Elliott's writing, and sometimes the words are just there because of their feeling or connotation.
@pat1032312
@pat1032312
@pat1032312
@pat1032312
@pat1032312 - the late, great and haunted genius of Elliot smith can seem "too deep" for some to grasp. most Elliot fans know he was an addict and he expressed his fears, resentments and routine of copping through his lyrics in many songs. The first time I heard this song I knew immediately that the "band in his hand" and the "rubber loop" describes a tourniquet that's used by many IV drug users. And there's no mistake who Charlie is: cocaine. Elliot's songs about the imprisonment of addiction comes from several voices. In this song, the voice is of someone who wants...
@pat1032312 - the late, great and haunted genius of Elliot smith can seem "too deep" for some to grasp. most Elliot fans know he was an addict and he expressed his fears, resentments and routine of copping through his lyrics in many songs. The first time I heard this song I knew immediately that the "band in his hand" and the "rubber loop" describes a tourniquet that's used by many IV drug users. And there's no mistake who Charlie is: cocaine. Elliot's songs about the imprisonment of addiction comes from several voices. In this song, the voice is of someone who wants out of this scene. People are dying around him and it's almost like he knows he's stuck...
@pat1032312 Elliot's Mother was part of the abuses to Elliot. Not another victim of Charlie Welch, his step-father. Bunny Welch, Elliott's Mother always knew some kind of abuse happened to Elliott, and she never did anything to act against Elliott's abuser who was his own husband. Now, Elliott had a blind loyalty to his own biological mother because some times she treat his own 1st son as a loveful mother, so that also served to cover Elliott's abuser. Elliott left Texas because the systematic abuses of Charlie and the dispictable passive attitude of his own Mother. Now, in Tormented Saint,...
@pat1032312 Elliot's Mother was part of the abuses to Elliot. Not another victim of Charlie Welch, his step-father. Bunny Welch, Elliott's Mother always knew some kind of abuse happened to Elliott, and she never did anything to act against Elliott's abuser who was his own husband. Now, Elliott had a blind loyalty to his own biological mother because some times she treat his own 1st son as a loveful mother, so that also served to cover Elliott's abuser. Elliott left Texas because the systematic abuses of Charlie and the dispictable passive attitude of his own Mother. Now, in Tormented Saint, a quite complex but so damn well documentated Elliott's biography, you can read how Elliott saw his mother as a treachourous person, that just teared Elliott's appart. She was also an abusive woman because she never get rid of Charlie. She was a freakin rubber loop toy as you well described.