Waltz No. 1
Elliott Smith/Elliot Smith Lyrics

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Every time the day
Darkens down and goes away
Pictures come
Into my head of me and you
Silent and cliched
All the things we did
And didn't say covered up
By what we did and didn't do

I thought you knew
Now i take it from the top
And make the repetition stop
It never ever went away

Now I'm scared to leave my zone
We're both alone

I'm coming home
I wish I'd never seen your face

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Elliott Smith's No Name No.1 depict a sense of regret and longing for a past relationship. The opening lines of the song describe a particular time of day when memories of the past flood into the singer's mind. The memories are both positive and negative, as the singer thinks about "all the things we did / and didn't say." These reminiscences are complicated by the fact that the past is "covered up / by what we did and didn't do." The verse ends with the singer expressing disappointment, as they thought their former partner was aware of their feelings.

In the second half of the song, the tone shifts to one of fear and isolation. The singer reveals that they are now "scared to leave [their] zone" and that they and their former partner are "both alone." The singer expresses a desire to return to the relationship by saying "I'm coming home" but there is an underlying bitterness to these words, which are immediately followed by the line "I wish I'd never seen your face." This final thought serves to underscore the complicated and painful nature of the singer's emotions.

Line by Line Meaning

Every time the day
Each day when the sun sets

Darkens down and goes away
When it gets darker outside, and the day ends

Pictures come
Memories rush into my mind

Into my head of me and you
Recalling moments with you

Silent and cliched
Quiet, overused moments that have lost their uniqueness

All the things we did
Reminiscing all the past experiences we had together

And didn't say covered up
Things we could have said to each other that were left unsaid

By what we did and didn't do
Haunted by the actions we undertook, and the ones we ignored

I thought you knew
I believed you were aware of my feelings

Now i take it from the top
Restarting the narrative

And make the repetition stop
Attempting to end the recurring cycle of memories