Angeles

I started a songmeanings.net account to write this comment, and I listen to the song as I write it.

Many reviewers on here write decent interpretations, but I think many are too literal (i.e. - "its about heroin") or too abstract (i.e. "all songs are up to opinions"). This song definitely has a point. The point is that there are forces out there - whether people, drugs, LA, emotions - that work to make you do things. Angeles as a force here is kind of like the devil, telling you "I can make you satisfied in everything you do." This is a muse singing to someone - telling you they will take care of you, "no one's gonna fool around with us" But it is a destructive muse. Elliott knows it is a bad muse. Maybe it is LA. Maybe it is drugs. Maybe it is a person. Doesn't really matter. It is a force that is ALWAYS trailing some new kill. Someone new to hypnotize into their world with promises of fame and money and beauty. And this pursuit is NOT a game...it is skill. Like the devil in "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones, this is a deliberate pursuit.

What I appreciate about this song the most is that he sings in 2 voices: his own voice at the beginning, describing the situation he is in as he sits watching Angeles woo his prey ("Someone's always coming around here trailing some new kill), and in the first person voice OF Angeles at the end ("I could make you satisfied in everything you do / All your "secret wishes" could right now be coming true).

He is watching it go down: to himself and to everyone.

this song is about how elliot smith decided not to sell out and not to make music in los angeles where he would be sold. And he talks about the people scoutting him...

someone's always coming around here trailing some new kill says i seen your picture on a hundred dollar bill and what's a game of chance to you, to him is one of real skill

that line explains how they only saw him as money to be made.

Oh, I forgot-this is my line, the one that kills me every time Elliott sings it-"I could make you satisfied in everything you do. All your 'secret wishes' could right now be coming true, and be forever with my poison arms around you. No one's gonna fool around with us."

Consider the title of the album (Either/Or) for a second -- angeles is about the struggle between the ethical and the aesthetic. I mean, come on, Either/Or is a reference to Kierkegaard's text of the same title which discusses this very struggle. The last part of the song is a seduction into the aesthetic, while the first part he's the speaker and it's basically him saying how he's susceptible to this. Everyone is. But as Kierkegaard points out, the person who follows this path will find themselves in a pit of despair. The "poison arms" are a great image of this. It can work on the drugs level as well, though, with the drugs being that aesthetic route while staying clean is the ethical path. And it's interesting to think of it that way considering what happened to him; he was so aware of the choices he made and yet he still let drugs take over his life for a while.And it can also work in regards to the music industry, which I think actually works a little better because he talks about how he needs money -- "Picking up the ticket shows there's money to be made." He picks up the ticket, and it shows him how little money he has. But I don't think Elliott Smith wrote it simply for its literal meaning. He wanted to explore this philosophy in context of his life, and drugs and the music industry were a major part in his. He also did major in philosophy.

For me (initially not knowing much about the artists background), this song tells of

1. the archetypal corruption of the good by the devil (like in Dorian Gray, or Faust)
2. some coming-of-age situation, the destruction of a childish paradise by reality, which is full of corruption and deceit.

I think limiting the meaning to Smith's opinion of LA / he showbizz is too small a horizon for this text... that would be quite trite, wouldn't it? I'm not saying he might not have been inspired by this, but this song goes much deeper.

Possibly my perception of this song was influenced by the context in which I heard it first - the movie "Paranoid Park" by Gus Van Sant.

hm... it's amusing to see all you people commenting on this stuff when you've heard nearly nothing of elliott's. but anyway... while people say this is about drugs, it's not at all. musicguru was close. it's about los angeles and the hypocrisy of the music business. at the time he wrote this he had just moved to LA and was going to release his next album on the Dreamworks label (XO), but this one was on the portland-based indie one, Kill Rock Stars anyway. "go on, lose the gamble, that's the history of the trade." the whole scene was such a rise. you either make it or you don't. he evidently found all that hypocritical.

oh, and adding all your cards up to zero is a method of counting cards in black jack. Cards are given values of negative and positive numbers, at the end of the deck you should be back to zero

Yes, Elliott Smith's lyrics are damned good, but that's not even the best part of this song-the guitar...ooh, wow, it gives me chills just thinking about it. He is one talented man-Who cares whether or not he's attractive-he melts me with sounds.

doesnt "poison arms" refer to his years of heroine addiction and the result that it had on him? his poison arms? or does he mean the arms of the music "industry"? It can definitely be poisonous. I am up in the air on this one, if its about drugs alone, it doesnt make sense, and having worked in the industry, yeah I can vouch for his thoughts. All I know is that its a great song, he was so brilliant.

To me he's talking about how moving to Los Angeles and getting signed to dreamworks major label, changed him, It made him lose himself because we all know he felt the music business would crush him. It all changed him and they wouldn't let him stay true to himself. He was sick of the fight and just dealt with it.

Someone's always coming around here trailing some new kill ( the music business looking to find someone to sign and destroy)

Says, "I seen your picture on a hundred dollar bill" ((the label's offering him money and fame to get signed (temptation))

And what's a game of chance to you, to him is one of real skill (the person being naive and willing to take the chance of signing while the music business knowing exactly what to do to trap you they know there skill. they know that they're going to do to you before you can even think, but he takes the chance, not knowing what's in store)

So glad to meet you Angeles (sarcastically referring to Los Angeles)

Picking up the ticket shows there's money to be made Go on and lose the gamble, that's the history of the trade (( Getting signed to a label equals money however there's a catch---you do what they say, you'll always lose the gamble because they have control over who you are, what you do, ect. ))

You add up all the cards left to play to zero And sign up with evil (weighing your options and deciding whether to sign to the label or not. eventually deciding yes and you've signed with something evil)

Don't start me trying now Because I'm all over it Angeles ( he's stick of fighting for himself, he's over it)

I could make you satisfied in everything you do All your "secret wishes" could right now be coming true ( this could be referring to 2 things: the temptation of drugs and what they can do for you/give you a false sense of satisfaction and "secret wishes" whatever Elliott's secret wishes in life were...maybe how drugs let him forget his past or just that by signing to the label they tempt you by telling you how successful you'll be and all the money you'll make)

And be forever with my poison arms around you (addiction to the poison of drugs or the contract, either have a hold on you and you can't break free)

No one's going to fool around with us No one's going to fool around with us (he finds there's no way out)

We all know how unhappy he was when he got signed to dreamworks, He knew they'd crush him. I'm sure he wanted out...