Status

Elliott Smith Song

Written By

Elliott Smith

Recording Sessions

1986-1993 (?? - Undated Pre-Roman Candle Demos) - 2 takes unofficially circulating, 1 complete and 1 partially complete

Availability of Official Release

N/A

Lyrics

I’m the kind of guy that likes to talk 
I’m the kind of guy hates to be frozen out 
I can’t stand it when I get this way 
Total mental shutdown 

And I choke up like a chump 
Words in my throat just become a senseless lump 
My heart’s not in it because it’s just a pump 

Body lying out on the pavement 
Eyes out of focus on the dirty street 
Standing right here is the person 
I’ve been waiting for months to meet 
And I just drop my eyes down like two rocks 
I hear my name, my circulation stops 
I peer up at her like I’m looking at a cop 

I’m the kind of dog that likes to sit in your lap 
I back away, about an inch tall 
That’s my special situation 

Now if I think about her at all I become a raw nerve 
Whole throat gets dry and vision blurred 
Thoughts in my head fall down like dead birds 
I don’t know what kind if any purpose I might serve

Note

* This track features tambourine.
* In the second partially surfaced take of this song which cuts in, the lyrics “I’m looking at a cop” are replaced with “My jaw locks”

Audio