Elliott Smith - Alameda

Today I sat in the train and I was listening to Elliott Smith. I realized I never really listen to what he sings and since I’ve heard that his lyrics are meaningful and philosophical, I decided to pay more attention to the lyrics (which I honestly should try more with songs of other artists too).

The first song I’m going to take a closer look at is Alameda.

Here is the song:

 
And here are the lyrics:

You walk down Alameda
Shuffling your deck of trick cards over everyone
Like some precious only son
Face down, bow to the champion
You walk down Alameda
Looking at the cracks in the sidewalk
Thinking about your friends
How you maintain all them in a constant state of suspense
For your own protection over their affection
Nobody broke your heart
You broke your own because you can't finish what you start
Walk down Alameda
Brushing off the nightmare you wish
Could plague me when I'm awake
And now you see your first mistake
Was thinking that you could relate
For one or two minutes she liked you
But the fix is in
You're all pretension
I never pay attention
Nobody broke your heart
You broke your own because you can't finish what you start
Nobody broke your heart
You broke your own because you can't finish what you start
Nobody broke your heart
You broke your own because you can't finish what you start
Nobody broke your heart
If you're alone it must be you that wants to be apart

I think this song is about a person who manipulates/ deceives his friends and who is feeling superior over them: ‘shuffling your deck of trick cards over everyone (manipulating)/ Like some precious only son (important)/ Face down, bow to the champion’ (being superior).

But then he sees the imperfections of his relationship with his friends and he starts to think about how he maintains all them in a constant state of suspense for his own protection over their affection. So nobody broke his heart, but eventually he breaks his own because he can’t finish what he started. He sees the mistake he made but he doesn’t learn from it. For one or two minutes a girl liked him because she thought he could relate to him, but the fix was in and he was all pretension again. Of course he pushes people away and he’ll end up alone. Lesson learned: ‘If you’re alone it must be you that wants to be apart’.