Placeholder
Elliott Smith Lyrics
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All these records look like big zeros
Got your picture on the back of a forty-five
A placeholder 'til you take up mine
A placeholder 'til you take up mine
I'm the person you'll never need
The biggest loser on sixteenth street
The invisible man with the see-through mind
A placeholder 'til you take up mine
A placeholder 'til you take up mine
Break off of in someone's laughter
You can tell right there
He's still a square
He likes the way that you look now
Like an open book
Just like my favorite song
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
Like a package sent priority overnight
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
The song "Placeholder" by Elliott Smith can be interpreted as a song about unrequited love and the feelings of inadequacy that come along with it. The lyrics are filled with self-deprecating remarks such as "I'm the person you'll never need" and "the biggest loser on sixteenth street." Smith uses the metaphor of a "placeholder" to describe himself in the relationship. He feels like he is just filling in the gaps until the person he loves finds someone better suited for them. He even goes as far as to say that he's just "the invisible man with the see-through mind."
The chorus of the song emphasizes this feeling of not being enough, with the repeated line "A placeholder till you take up mine." Smith is resigned to the fact that he will never be the one his love chooses, but he still hopes for it anyway. The ending of the song is particularly poignant, as he pleads with the placeholder (whoever that may be) to finally come and take his place, so that he can move on from this unrequited love.
Overall, "Placeholder" is a bittersweet song about the pain of loving someone who doesn't love you back. It's a reminder that sometimes we can't control who we love, but we can control how we cope with those feelings.
Line by Line Meaning
Looking at all the rows
I'm scanning through rows of records
All these records look like big zeros
None of them seem significant or valuable
Got your picture on the back of a forty-five
I have your picture on the back of a vinyl record
A placeholder till you take up mine
That recording is only a temporary replacement until I see you again
I'm the person you'll never need
I know you don't need me in your life
The biggest loser on sixteenth street
I feel like a total failure
The invisible man with the see-through mind
I often feel ignored and unheard despite my thoughts being transparent
A placeholder till you take up mine
But I hope to be a placeholder in your life until you finally consider me
Break off in someone's laughter
I get lost in the laughter of others
You can tell right there
It's clear that I don't fit in
He's still a square
I'm not cool enough for the current situation
He likes the way that you look now
I wish I could be the one admiring your beauty
Like an open book
Your emotions and intentions are easy to read
Just like my favorite song
But like a favorite song, it seems like you won't be around forever
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
You said kind things, but they haven't really come to fruition
Like a package sent priority overnight
What I want from you is urgent and important, like overnight delivery
Placeholder come and take up mine
Please, let me be a placeholder in your life until you choose me
Placeholder come and take up mine
I hope you choose me soon
Placeholder come and take up mine
I want to be with you more than anything
Placeholder come and take up mine
Please, let me be with you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Steven Paul Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@magno1856
Looking at all the rows
All these records look like big zeroes
Got your picture on the back of a 45
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
I'm the person you'll never need
The biggest loser on 16th Street
The invisible man with the see-through mind
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
Break off up in someone's loft
In midtown 'round there next to the square
He likes the way that you look now
Like an open book
Just like my favorite song
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
Like a package sent priority overnight
Placeholder, come and take up mine
Placeholder, come and take up mine
Placeholder, come and take up mine
Placeholder, come and take up mine
@knuckle12356
Ok, the refrain gives us the key to discerning a timeline. Only then can we know what's coming or going, right?
Placeholder. We like to put elliott at the center of his musical adventures. I do, at least. But I don't read this as someone coming into music industry, or drugs, or whatever, I read the narrator as "the future," or a warning eventuality. Perhaps an inevitable fate. The third ghost of Ebenezer.
The first verse has rows of records looking like zeros. Records like music or records like rap sheets? . Your Face on the back of a 45. Albums. Of course. Placeholder til you take up mine.
The future is looking at this inexorable slide toward oblivion being played out by whomever "You" in the song is. You may be putting out 45s right now, but they don't look like the solution. Zeroes don't necessarily mean zeroes on a paycheck. I read it as the future warning "You" that each fancy record ultimately amounts to nothing. So what will "you" be taking up? Who is this narrator?
Verse 2: funny you should ask! They're the person you'll never need. Biggest loser on 16th street. Sound like a junkie/drugs dealer to me.
Invisible man with the see through mind. The homeless man you pretend not to see, who only wants to get drunk or high or fix for the day. nah'm'sayin? And that one there is waiting for you to take up their spot on skid row. Plenty of spots, come on and take up mine. (You can take mine, because I'm a junkie, a placeholder. I won't be around for long, so you can have the spot.)
Somewhere there is laughter loud enough to intrude on the junkie's sick mind. Junkies don't laugh. Not like that. Usually short, bitten off sarcastic chuckle belies the smoldering anger driving them.
So you know this happy asshole somewhere is clearly not a doper. He's a square.
Liking the way you look, like an open book; this feels scummy to me; getting girls addicted, so they will f••• you to get high, so that they will be vulnerable as sickness approaches.
So now "your" music career is gone, and you yourself are likened to a song; 2-3 minutes of beautiful similes and metaphors. The song is over far too quickly.
Like a package sent priority overnight; a desperate junkie in a new town has no connections. Anyone who has seen Drugstore Cowboy knows the importance of sending luggage via certified mail, to ensure caches of dope will be awaiting the traveling junkie, who usually uses a network of greyhound busses for travel, back when you could get away with buying tickets with just cash and a driver's license, driver's licensenot necessarily with your photograph on the permit.
So what is being sent priority overnight is a dope package shipped off to someone suffering withdrawal in a town they don't know. And they'll be at the post office 30 minutes before they open, to be CERTAIN they secure the front of the line to sign for and collect the "get WELL" package, and probably try to use the bathroom at the post office to fix, despite all signs pointing to that being a TERRIBLE idea.
So it is a cautionary tale of the slow death of the junkie, and any seemingly stable plateau is just a placeholder before slipping lower, stage by junkie stage.
...Come and take up mine.
~~~~~~
As far as your earworm lyrics, the difference could be alt/live recordings vs new moon version, iunno. But I think it is just a trick on your ear. Listening in multi-track stereo, his vocal track layers are clearer. I hear the official lyrics (come and take up mine.) Not to take up mine. The future devastation is enticing the greenhorn junkie to follow in their footsteps. From one "placeholder" to another, come,
🫴 and take up mine.
I hope this helped. If it inspires any different interpretations from you, it would be great to hear them. Or if I'm whiffing something big time, let's discuss.
That's the best part; most ES fans are just so damned reasonable, and on balance pretty kind. I'm always down for a respectful discourse.
Peace .✌🏼
@CuzDud
[G]Looking at all the [D]rows
[F]all these records look like [C]big zeros
[Eb]I got your picture on the [G]back of a [F]forty-[Eb]five
[Gm]a place[F]holder till they take up [Eb]mine
[Gm]a place[F]holder till they take up [Eb]mine
[G]I'm the person you'll never [D]need
[F]the biggest loser on [C]sixteenth street
[Eb]the invisible [G]man with the [F]see-through [Eb]mind
[Gm]a place[F]holder till they take up [Eb]mine
[Gm]a place[F]holder till they take up [Eb]mine
[G(Gm)]Break [D/F#]off of [Eb]in someone's loft
in [Bb]midtown 'round there
[Bb]next to the square
[G(Gm)]he [D/F#]likes the [Eb]way that you look now
[Bb]like an o[F]pen [Eb]book
[Gm - F - Eb x2]
[G]Just like my favorite [D]song
[F]some pretty words that didn't [C]last that long
[Eb]like a package sent pri[G]ority [F]over[Eb]night
[Gm]place[F]holder come and take up [Eb]mine x4
[Gm - F - Eb]
@kevinthomas4180
Looking at all the rows
All these records look like big zeros
Got your picture on the back of a forty-five
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
I'm the person you'll never need
The biggest loser on sixteenth street
The invisible man with the see-through mind
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
Break off of in someone's laughter
You can tell right there
He's still a square
He likes the way that you look now
Like an open book
Just like my favorite song
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
Like a package sent priority overnight
Placeholder come and take up mine x4
@pedrodevogelaere5146
Looking at all the rows
All these records look like big zeros
Got your picture on the back of a forty-five
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
I'm the person you'll never need
The biggest loser on sixteenth street
The invisible man with the see-through mind
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
Break off of in someone's laughter
You can tell right there
He's still a square
He likes the way that you look now
Like an open book
Just like my favourite song
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
Like a package sent priority overnight
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
@ThePacnot1
Break off up
in someone's loft in
midtown 'round there
next to the square
He likes the
way that you look now
Like an open book
I think this fits it a bit better although I'm not sure. I just can't hear "He's still a square"
@fkle32rw14
Looking at all the rows
All these records look like big zeros
Got your picture on the back of a forty-five
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
I'm the person you'll never need
The biggest loser on 16th street
The invisible man with the see-through mind
A placeholder till you take up mine
A placeholder till you take up mine
Break off up in someone's loft
In midtown 'round there
Next to the square
He likes the way that you look now
Like an open book
Just like my favorite song
Some pretty words that didn't last that long
Like a package sent priority overnight
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
Placeholder come and take up mine
@SeanLawlorNelson
"Just like my favorite song; some pretty words that didn't last that long"
@MiloMay
When the song described itself
@mateusg
like a package sent priority overnight
@jeffgaryhockeyful
I mentally come running to Elliott Smith when I'm feeling upset... his self destructive lyrics can be overwhelming but holy fuck are they relatable..."the person you never need, the biggest loser on 16th street, the invisible man with the see through mind"
@christiankiernan4476
The invisible man with a see through mind
@mattsmith1327
Such a good album.
@dwyurr
honestly my second favorite album, behind Either/Or which i view as the ultimate album of why I love Elliott Smith.
@Kings_Crossing
It's stunning how they could make a 2 disc album, composed of songs which didnt make it onto Either/Or, for whatever reason. Im just happy they did release this music at last, it is worthy of being cherished.
@jaagenderb3177
Yesh
@Trenzalore-gn6xq
You know he was talented when all the songs he didn’t add into either/or are still legendary