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Jealous Guy
Elliott Smith Lyrics

i was dreaming of the past
and my heart was beating fast
i began to lose control
i began to lose control

i didn't mean to hurt you
i'm sorry that i made you cry
i didn't want to hurt you
i'm just a jealous guy

i was feeling insecure
you might not love me any more
i was shivering inside
i was shivering inside

i was trying to catch your eyes
thought that you were trying to hide
i was swallowing my pain
i was swallowing my pain

Contributed by Alexis B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them

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Comments from YouTube:

rosieplaysbass

3y↑288

I'd love to watch a documentary on why anyone would dislike this video

Dan the Gypsy

35w

Because sound is so bad on every Elliott Smith video.

Ryan Suzette

44w

@Brian Hansen Nothing this world that’s extremely beautiful (like this) isn’t at least somewhat painful in some way.
I’ve always made “sad/beautiful” music playlists…even here on YT I have one by that title.

monklington everjet

lmao

Laurie Chase Kruczek

Because Elliott is so high it's sad.

Perfectoid

1y↑1

** on todays episode of "when did we go wrong???!!"...

13 More Replies...

Andrei Silvester

5y↑204

beautiful cover, unlike most on the youtube where singers really overdo the vocals. this song has to stay simple.

Jim Troeltsch

Absolutely. Word. He does such a wonderful job of it.

roninreturns

4y↑15

You nailed that comment @NightEldar, many songs like this you want to remain quiet and low key, if it isn't broke, don't 'fix' it. The song stands on its own, just play and sing it as it was written as an homage to John Lennon, the starkness is part of the beauty, that is what such a beautiful piece deserves.

Cipriano

4y↑159

When Elliott Smith sings I will always be shivering inside

Fabrizio Taff Smith

3y↑6

the whole universe does it or should do it !!

Joseph McCafferty

3y↑84

I wish I could play bass notes with my thumb like Eliott could. His guitar playing was amazing. He is probably the most underrated song writer and musician of the 20th century.

Jeanne d'Arc

I just wish I could easily move my hands swiftly throughout the fretboard from any distances possible from the nut, I wish it was intuitively easy, Elliott was an amazing pioneer at this.

Andrew Pearson

2y↑2

Listen to John Fahey & Elizabeth Cotten, then play their transcriptions, to learn how to play thumb bass

Daichi Alcarez

52w↑7

IT SOUNDS SO GENUINE IT SEEMS AS IF HE WROTE THE SONG MAN!!!! I CRIED

Joseph Doherty

3y↑21

Smith's voice sounds like it came from another planet.

Fred Rung

4y↑14

The way he says sorry is adorable
His left foot is like a metronome throughout the entire song. he's mesmerizing such a talent

Mr6stringchaos

2y↑11

Lennon and Elliott! 2 artists that were taken way too soon. I know if John was still alive in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, he would’ve loved Elliott.

Junk Bond Trader

2y↑2

Most definitely.

roninreturns

4y↑126

List of the top three people I'd most want to see cover Jealous Guy, and similar Lennon songs:
1. Elliott Smith
2. Elliott Smith
3. Elliott Smith, featuring Elliott Smith and Jon Brion.
Hilarious chat as well between the two before the song.

Arq.Ana Laura Casaballe

Pink moon

Parker Chace

Donny Hathaway had couple awesome covers of John Lennon songs Jealous Guy and Yesterday

Alden Burt

@g d yeah fr Mac and Elliott were on the same level of genius. both gone too soon :(

g d

3y↑2

Mac Miller would have a shot at it in his own way

Daniel Killorin

Clint Sherman yes but the point of his comment is that he is a very big fan of this cover

2 More Replies...

atticus finch

48w↑4

thank god for Jon Brion for making this happen and having recorded this so this magic didn't evaporate like a distant memory

Andy Trullinger

6y↑30

This is a heartbreaker. Bravo.

Sammy Sue

4y↑16

His left foot is like a metronome throughout the entire song. he's mesmerizing such a talent

Charles Foley

4y↑8

Such a voice and soul. The world is less complete with his loss, and so rich for what he gave us. We should be more thankful.

Spencer

4y↑21

A beautiful version from the greatest songwriter of his generation. His covers are usually better than the originals, sorry John.

Jim Troeltsch

1y↑1

I've said this many times. Elliott Smith was certainly the best of his generation, and perhaps one of the best singer songwriters of the last 100 years. He is in my book anyway, ;)

Christy

2y↑4

That was such a great cover. Way to go Elliot and John! However, Elliot, you were a bigger perfectionist than I have ever hoped to be and that is saying something! R.I.P. Elliot....

Bop Bop Perono

6y↑75

God, he was always such a lovable guy but as Jon Brion stated, something was clearly not right with him here. Apparently it was the last time he saw him before he all but disappeared for a few years.

Mike Quinlivan

3y↑1

Elliott's eyes look pinned. I mean, they always sort of did, but when he was at his worst (and sadly, there us footage of him at his worst) he would act befuddled. He is doing it just a smidge, here. Sadly, it was a foreshadow of the near future.

C S S

4y↑9

it doesn't seem to me that ellitott was particulaly close to him

David Payne

2y↑3

Beautiful cover of a Lennon classic! Just wonderful!!

June Asiimwe

2y↑4

I never thought about it before, but Elliott Smith is the perfect person to cover a John Lennon song. His voice has a beautiful vulnerability that shines through in performance.

paulyd

2y↑6

The smile after nailing the whistle part <3

Junk Bond Trader

2y↑1

love that part too :)

reallynow1445

3y↑10

Simply beautiful. I miss his genius 💔

Lillie Eve

4y↑69

Jon Brion loves him so much you can tell by how he looks at him. It’s sweet

Cline M

3y↑2

@dot bluer think I read Jon Brion wouldn't tolerate the drug use

dot bluer

4y↑3

Verty how do u know this ?

APBradley

10y↑22

Jon Brion and Elliott Smith covering John Lennon in a show directed by P.T. Anderson? Epic!!

Jeff Maxwell

1y↑3

The purity and innocence portrayed by Smiths voice is killer. He may not have been meant to live among the rest of us.

Still Reading Books

6y↑8

holy fuck i totally forgot all about this lennon song until i heard him sing it. fucking amazing, and exactly how i'm feeling in this moment.

Gigi Stephens

9y↑67

Elliott has such technical chord transitions, what a tearful song as well.

William S.

3y↑2

@Ryan Hutton
No, he didn't. You were replying to Gore Elohim, who said that The Beatles "made it look easy with 15 different chords in a song." Never said this song.

Ryan Hutton

Yes gary stephens said that

William S.

3y↑1

@Ryan Hutton He never said this song had fifteen chords.

Ryan Hutton

@Lord Goat I don't think 15 chords is accurate there are G Em D D7 (D7sus4 if u want to spice it up) back to Em to Em6 D Em to C is the verse and chorus is G F C G F Bb G F#/G to Em C back to G. So as far as different chords not that many

Ryan Hutton

I've been playing the guitar for a year now and I can play and sing this song now (being my favorite song) but this song isn't actually very hard

11 More Replies...

Damon Deloatch

3y↑4

When Elliott Smith sings I will always be shivering inside
His left foot is like a metronome throughout the entire song. he's mesmerizing such a talent
With the way the video was titled I totally thought you were calling Jon Brion a Jealous Guy.

Junk Bond Trader

Haha yes I realize this now. Fixed it =p ty

green top

3y↑4

Beautiful cover. Tender and talent personified

Konundrum

5y↑9

Once they got it going, it went really well.

Carlos Velez

4y↑6

I miss Elliott. Joy, passion, confusion, pain, sorrow; Elliott lived them and shared them with us. You’re with us no longer makes me ‘want to cry.”

fshoaps

I miss John.

Czar Worm

5y↑3

No matter who I play this for, it’s always received with the same appreciation

Eddie Madrid

9y↑3

Very nice cover, one artist paying tribute to another.

bryan s

10y↑2

Really nice. No one whistles like John Lennon. :)

Robert Cameron

9y↑1

What an awesome cover R.I.P Elliott Smith you are truly missed

Joey Bove

4y↑30

... that moment at 3:10 when they have little smiles on their faces... :)

icbm777

5y↑1

His voice made this cover all the more better, even though the guitars were awesome.

divorced truck driver

2y↑1

This is show is literally my favorite performance elliott has ever done. The happiness from it has to be my fav

Junk Bond Trader

Oh hey Paul, yeah it's so solid

Resist Fight Back

5y↑3

Wow, so beautiful!

Cara Mason

2y↑1

Awesome and beautiful voice 😊❤️🎶🎶🎶.

Moira Russell

9y↑3

Wow, that is amazing.

KoRn Hub

A good day to love Elliott Smith

Lukey85

2y↑1

Got my girlfriend to thank for getting me into Smith. What an artist😔

José María Moreno

I’m sure that John would’ve loved this! Rest in peace dear Elliott, say hi to John for all of us

Johana Andrade Beteta

Love it!!!

fenderjag10

9y↑1

Beautiful cover

Junk Bond Trader

10y↑26

It just surfaced last month, the entire concert is in one piece if you search "Elliott smith on jon brion show" or something like that :) .. I can't take credit for this though, I simply sliced it up into pieces :p

Michael Jampour

underrated voice.

Dionysoshaman

2y↑3

It breaks my heart to think some poor souls in this cold world are so broken that they dislike such a beautiful Elliott performance

Dionysoshaman

@Joe Swanson Agreed and well said brother

Joe Swanson

@Dionysoshaman Whenever someone says go listen to this it’s not the same as discovering the song it’s hard to like when it was recommended

Dionysoshaman

2y↑1

@Junk Bond Trader One thing that I've been noticing for years now is that people who don't discover Elliott Smith themselves have little appreciation until they have something happen (usually sad or difficult times)!in their personal life and then listen to Elliott's music and suddenly realize that everything they are hearing in his lyrics mirror. the same hardships that they are going through as . This seems to be the reason that so many people in almost all of Elliott's comments have at least one mention of how "Elliott's music has saved their lives" The guy is magical. The Motto for anybody that is going through emotional pain should be "Elliott knows"

Junk Bond Trader

I don't get it either

Stella Bella

2y↑1

Seriously makes me cry 😢. He’s such a lovely person. I’m sorry life let you down. It sucks that beautiful souls like yours slip through our fingers. See you on the other side.

Lowe Quay Shush

When Elliot really gets started words can't epresess what your seeing and hearing. Sadness for what more the world could have been gifted to witness.

TamagoNoise akaModkre

10y↑1

wow awesome ! thanks for posting this ! i haven't seen these ones ! :)

teresa duffy

3y↑6

I am a total snarky butch to anyone who covers the beatles or john but hes the only one i want to hear sing em. Miss you so much Elliott ❤

fshoaps

@MyNameHere No need to be a condescending jerk, my friend. Is that how you normally treat fellow human beings?

What are some great Beatle covers in your view?

MyNameHere

@fshoaps I feel bad for you, missing out on a LOT of great Beatles covers out there. Oh well, your loss.

fshoaps

I feel the same way - almost any other artist I would mock for a cover of Lennon or The Beatles, but the way Elliott does it, is very incredible.

Junk Bond Trader

haha I hear ya totally.

Everybody's An Actor

4y↑1

I see how Jon grabs on to talent.

Matthew Burton

10y↑1

fantastic!

HelloOutsiders

21w

I was jamming to music in the background then decided to watch this til the end...I watch your trip videos sometimes so I almost loled when your logo popped up at the end, caught me off guard. Small world.

johnnyscifi

4y↑5

Jon Brion is so underrated!!!

Cole Heideman

Little person, from synechdoche new york, is an incredible song, Jon Brion is definitely great.

vargaso

He's stupidly talented.

jason Lawson

@johnnyscifi Oh yeah, I am familiar with his soundtrack work. He has done tons of stuff

johnnyscifi

Wait a second...you dont know him from all his soundtrack work? Or Late Registration!!!?

jason Lawson

4y↑1

He is legendary to me, his work with fiona apple is where i mostly know him from...they make magic for sure! But the guy has done much more even

M M

2y↑1

I think Jon made this Happen for Jon. He is noodling along just to listen. I don’t blame him. This is Sublime.

Junk Bond Trader

Haha you might be right, and yeah I can't blame him either.

Al-amin Arafat Arshin

Tbh..it was the best cover of this song

William Cole

3y↑1

Truly the greatest

William Cole

3y↑2

One of the greatest

Mariano Carral

10y↑1

Que temazo elliot. QEPD

Vijeta O

4y↑9

Oh Elliott, you heartbreaker! :')

Jud S Carie

2y↑2

Awww Elliott... such a sweet guy

Marla S.

3y↑1

wow, pure emotions.

Junk Bond Trader

2y↑1

distilled down to an even even rawer form!

Junk Bond Trader

10y↑2

and it great quality too! Quite epic indeed :)

Junk Bond Trader

10y↑3

Certainly! Though I can't take credit! If you're interested, I thought you might like to know the whole concert is uploaded in a single file as well. Cheers! Thanks for commenting :)

The JamnasiuM

3y↑7

Jon: I can count it in if that'll help

me: that won't help

Cole Torquemada

Feels good to see the guy smile

Junk Bond Trader

2y↑1

I do like that

Antoine Couret

3y↑4

un ange écorché par trop d'démons

Connecticut Collectibles

2y↑1

BRAVO!

Elliot Childers

2y↑6

Who else has watched this over 100 times

June Asiimwe

Me! I love it so much.

Adam

2y↑1

My first time, I am sure it wont be the last.

Junk Bond Trader

Me! haha.

Victoria

i always thought i heard the john influence in some of his songs

Victoria

Junk Bond Trader oh interesting..i'm with him, george is the best

Junk Bond Trader

2y↑1

Elliott was a big Beatles fan for sure. He was a big George fan specifically, but yes, no doubt John's music influenced Elliott a lot. I mean, that's probably true for most artists nowadays haha whether indirectly or otherwise.

J Anthony

7y↑1

Any guitarists out there who knows what key Elliott is playing in?

J Anthony

+Gitai Vinshtok that makes perfect sense. Thank you!

Fluffers TheFirst

7y↑12

It's in the key of F, his guitar is tuned a whole step down so he's playing in G but it sounds like F if that makes sense.

Candace Winfrey

6y↑15

Such a sweetheart.

Miquel

6y↑45

I guess the reason why he didin't get as big as he deserved is the fact that to like him, first you've got to accept that life is ugly and pointless. Most people are afraid of coming up with this realization, and that's why Elliott never really hit the mainstream and will never do. His music points out life contradictions and gets you to call it into question. That's obviously not a bad thing, but somehow people just want to stick to the ideal meaning of life where everything is achieved with effort and life is always fair. Fuck no. Life isn't good all the time. And that's what Elliott's music is all about, at least for me. This is why a lot of people won't never like Elliott. They'll say that "his music is sad", when in fact, it's only about their fear of accepting that life isn't as good and happy as we are taught to think, that, indeed, life can get you all fucked up.

Trenzalore0801 :

3y↑1

Miquel I completely agree, well said, however, while the pain in your life does not go away by putting meaning into life, it definitely does dampen the pain and give you something to fight towards. Other than that, your comment is truly poetic.

Timothy Lewis

4y↑1

@hot doge One of the best comments I've seen on YouTube. I absolutely agree, Life is what you make of it. You can take It come what may or endeavor to make something meaningful of it for yourself and therefore, those you love. Life is so fragile, random and brutally unfair. Live it don't fear it, share it, don't try to hoard it.
"There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved."
George Sand

Miquel

5y↑6

hot doge I agree with the "meaning" point. You've got to make it up for yourself. If you wait for it to come to you, you will fall into the dangerous trap of nihilism since meaning will never come by itself. However my point was that happiness or sadness themselves don't exist as a mood. You're never fully happy and never fully sad. It's normally a mix of both. All of us have concerns that feed the shadows of our life and other things that light it as well. And Elliott's music seems to meet that sort of contradictions that existence has in its nature. Of course you can find a meaning in life, but it won't remove the pain. The pain won't remove your meaning either. I think existence is way more complex than just being happy or sad, which is what we are taught as kids. The first mistake is to think that we can find a full state of happiness and leave all pain behind. And only when we realize the cold truth that pain tends to strike back, and that it's impossible to get to that ideal state of full happiness, it's when we feel disappointed with ourselves and fall into depression, because you know, we thought we had overcome pain forever and it was never going to come back. Because we think we can only be happy or sad at one given point in life. The sooner we assume that pain is likely to hit us in the future, the less afraid we will be of it and therefore the happier we'll get. It's like people can't assume that pain and happiness can walk hand in hand, because that's what existence is all about. If you don't assume it, and think 100% of happiness is possible, whenever a 10% of pain strikes back it will completely overshadow the remaining 90% of happiness. Life is all about contradictory emotions and Elliotts music sums it up pretty good. I know it sounds so easy to do, but putting it into practice and assuming or being tolerant with pain is probably the hardest thing to do on earth...

Arturo Perez

5y↑12

Hope you are ok man, life is good, you have elliots music and mario kart in the world

hot doge

5y↑13

I don’t think that life is pointless, life can be meaningful and good. It’s obviously not gonna be great all the time though. I believe that is what people are afraid of, the bad times that will inevitably come. But I have learned to accept that and have also learned to accept that bad times will eventually fade away and good times will come back. The only meaning in life is the meaning you put into it and if you don’t have faith in the meaning you apply to life, then it’s gonna be very sad and depressing. It takes effort to be happy and it takes none to fall into sadness. I choose to fight for myself instead of laying down and giving up to the constant barrage existence puts on our souls. We should all strive to do this no matter what situation we are in because it will make us all better people. The reality and truth in Elliot Smith’s music has taught me that you just have to be real with yourself during every moment in life and the beauty and magic in his music has taught me to not question everything and let the good flow through me. I’m not a religious person, but I believe faith in something real to you is the key to happiness in life.

1 More Replies...

AthosJosue

Elliott was a good enough Lennon's imitator.

Alex Spruch

8y↑68

With the way the video was titled I totally thought you were calling Jon Brion a Jealous Guy.

Gian Garcia

hahaha, every time I come back to this cover, I can't help but immediately find this comment

Junk Bond Trader

8y↑12

Lmao I see what you mean now... Lol "and here we have Elliott, and.... Jealous guy over here... But in reality Brion probably was a jealous guy, of Elliott haha. No offence to Brion, but c'mon, Elliott's the envy of the indie/folk world lol.

Monterrey Oso

5y↑9

I miss you Elliott

lostplanet93

10y↑1

thank you for this rare video !

zen

10y↑4

Elliott you are so lovely. miss you <3

allafleche

brilliant

Antonella Cannelli

2y↑1

❤️❤️

Daniel Senser

It doesn't get more metal than this.

Junk Bond Trader

3y↑1

He should have worn his I Heart Metal shirt.

Alecks Awklr

3y↑1

Wow

Mbali Gysman

9y↑6

didn't want to hurt you, im just a jealous guy

Candice G

God he kills me.

Junk Bond Trader

Bittersweet!

Kaio Freitas

33w

For those who are in a hurry: 1:02

Sally Shaar

10y↑1

I laughed too hard at the count in.

asacoca

9y↑7

THANK YOU! From Lima-Peru

asacoca

3y↑2

@Junk Bond Trader Better late than never ;)

Junk Bond Trader

3y↑1

Welcome from Canada 6 years later.

Jim Dor

7y↑1

the best

Ryan Hutton

4y↑1

Any guitar players know which fingering he is using for Em6. It doesn't look like 0 2 2 0 2 0 which I play it looks like 0 5 3 0 0 0 ? Which I think sounds closer to this recording

Carrywater

3y↑4

Any whistlers in the crowd?

Juan.

smith and brion covering lennon, show directed by paul thomas anderson, jfc.

Katia Bizzarro

5y↑1

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

FullychargedSausage g

5y↑5

I'm find myself constantly looking at his picking hand :)

monklington everjet

is that not a little creepy lmao

KAN FUKUHARA

3y↑2

yes you made me cry

umberto mentana

25w

I didn't know Messi was a good singer too

Elmore van dodewaard

4y↑2

When i see Elliott, it makes me kinda sad. I rather listen to his music.

Abhimanyu Naruka

Can someone help me with the chords?

GDWhiting

while he Googles the chords you can Google how to spell words.

Clint Sherman

Eaay skng to play google the chords

michavandam

2y↑1

Someone send this to Bryan Ferry. I hope it'll make him cringe over his past mutilation of this song.

Phew, had to get that off my shoulder...

George Nuhner

4y↑1

I hate to say it he has it Lennon’s version perfect spot on, but for me it just seems fake. I love Elliott’s rendition. But there’s nothing missing it’s Lennon’s just felt from the heart.