Status
Elliott Smith Song
Written By
Elliott Smith
Recording Sessions
Mid-June - Early July 1996 (??, Portland, OR - Either/Or session - B-sides)
March - July 1996 (The Shop, Humboldt County, CA - Primary Either/Or Sessions) - organ part
1997 (Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA - Soul Coughing)
Availability of Official Release
New Moon
Horse Tricks
Lyrics
He waved hello, silent like a mime, meaning there’s no changing my mind-
I won’t walk the stairs with you tonight, going nowhere.
The clock moved a quarter of a turn-the time it took her cigarette to burn.
She said, “You got a lot of things to learn”-going nowhere.
I saw you move a certain way. I missed you a lot.
Return to this abandoned place that should’ve been forgot.
Echoes drown the conversation out, echoes that only seem to bring about
A silent expression, easy read aloud-going nowhere.
The steps made a pattern I’d never seen. I felt like a kid of six- or seventeen.
I was off in some empty daydream, going nowhere.
It’s dead and gone and-matter of fact-it may be for the best.
We said some things you can’t take back-honestly, I guess.
The old records are sitting on the floor, the ones I can’t put on anymore.
He walked over to her like before, going nowhere, going nowhere, going nowhere.
Note
In 1997, shortly after he had contributed an orchestral version of “Between the Bars” for the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, Elliott recorded a stripped down vocal and piano version of “Going Nowhere” in the studio collaborating with Soul Coughing along with two other acapella songs. These recordings were ultimately not released on the album they were recorded for, El Oso, however Soul Coughing member Mark de gli Antoni ultimately ended up using the recording of “Going Nowhere” for his 1999 solo release Horse Tricks. In 2014, the band’s former frontman Mike Doughty also culled from these recordings and posted a song entitled “Burn (Aah Fuck)” using the same recording of “Going Nowhere” that his bandmate had used years before. In this version, Elliott uses the lyric “whiter than a mime” instead of “silent like a mime.”
First known live performance
2002-05-02 (Riviera, Chicago, IL, USA) (aborted)
Audio