| | Between The Bars Lyrics Artist(Band):Elliott Smith
With the things you could do You won't but you might The potential you'll be that you'll never see The promises you'll only make Drink up with me now And forget all about the pressure of days Do what I say and I'll make you okay And drive them away The images stuck in your head The people you've been before That you don't want around anymore That push and shove and won't bend to your will I'll keep them still Drink up baby, look at the stars I'll kiss you again between the bars Where I'm seeing you there with your hands in the air Waiting to finally be caught Drink up one more time and I'll make you mine Keep you apart, deep in my heart Separate from the rest, where I like you the best And keep the things you forgot The people you've been before That you don't want around anymore That push and shove and won't bend to your will I'll keep them still If you find some error in Between The Bars Lyrics, would you please submit your corrections to me? Thank You. Thanks to ohfauxshow@hotmail.com for submitting the lyrics. Review about Between The Bars The ghost of alcoholism | Reviewer: Mostor Astrakan | 9/21/09 I agree mostly with Sam's 4/11/09 comment, but instead, I think the speaker in the song is alcohol itself, or perhaps the ghost of alcoholism. Seductive, destructive. Heard from the singing of Madeleine Peyroux. I may want to add it to my own repertoire. my take | Reviewer: Sarah | 5/8/09 I agree it is a song that is very open to interpretation. When I first heard the song I thought it sounded like a lullaby and that he was singing to a baby, kissing it between the bars (of the crib) and projecting his own grief and problems upon it. It seems to me that Smith intentionally made a double sided comparison with a baby because they are still so innocent and such innocence adds greater contrast to his own situation. Alcoholic to an Alcoholic | Reviewer: Sam | 4/11/09 I agree that this song (along with any real piece of art) can be interpreted many different ways and I love that there's so many to read here. Personally I thought it was an alcoholic speaking to an alcoholic when I heard this song. From the point of a man who is a shell of who he once was to a love that is now going through the painful, downward spiral that addiction eventually brings. How the the singer constantly tells the other to drink up and: forget all about the pressure of days And drive them away The images stuck in your head It felt to me that this advise was coming from first hand experience. He knew exactly what she was feeling and how hopeless life becomes. Then going on to saying: The people you've been before That you don't want around anymore All the persona's we make as individuals. We're never truly ourselves. Whether its in front of a boss, friend, loved one, etc. But for some reason these two people felt kindred and he felt that he knew how to "fix" her or at least numb her pain. With the: I'll kiss you again between the bars Where I'm seeing you there with your hands in the air Waiting to finally be caught I thought of (at first) a woman in a prison cell after a horrible binge and a lot of bad decisions. Purposely sabotaging her life just to finally not be a danger to herself anymore. Then I thought of her between bar runs looking up at the stars, hands in the air, ready to fall back. To be caught by someone. But they mean the same thing, all around. Just someone who is craving for support when their life is in disrepair. Meaning of "Bars" | Reviewer: Garrison | 4/2/09 I find it interesting how many different meanings we've applied to the word "bar". I've seen the meaning of candy bars and a bar where you buy beer. My interpretation was that his lover is in a prison cell, and he's kissing here "between the bars". I immediately interpreted this as a Romeo and Juliet type of situation. I see them "drinking up" poison, killing themselves, because the girl is in prison and they are going to be forever separated. I also think, though, that it might just be the man encouraging his lover to drink the poison, because of the line "Keep you apart, deep in my heart" I'm surprised at how many interpretations different people have about this song, and I'm sure to each of us our own sounds the most logical. Longing for forbidden love | Reviewer: Jessica | 10/10/08 I don't believe that anyone person can decide what the artist meant...songs all touch us for different reasons which is what makes music so personal. This song for me the first time I heard it was about someone who would do anything for another that he just can't have. She is trapped in a world that doesn't include him (ie. marriage, family...) for whatever the reason, yet he loves her enough that he will hold onto whatever he can to be with her, help her, protect her...even though he knows he truly can't have any of it. Between the bars, to me means whatever holds us back, not literally a pub/bar...the bars of life, bars of love...the bars that keep us scared from doing what the heart wants to really do. What this songs means to me... | Reviewer: B | 3/18/08 I love this song. When I met my boyfriend I was an alcoholic. And he saved me from myself and all of my vices. I am not sure what Elliot Smith was saying for himself. But for me the part where his says "The potential you'll be that you'll never see The promises you'll only make" is basically where I was. I had been coping badly with everything that life had handed me. My boyfriend met me at a bar and we ended up at a party afterwards, I was drinking alot then, and he just sat there with me picking apart my drunken ramblings, figuring out what I was hiding, why I was this way. He could see past every drunken wall that I would put up. "The people you've been before.That you don't want around anymore. That push and shove and won't bend to your will I'll keep them still." This is where I am now, I can't go back to that life style... A complex Relationship | Reviewer: V | 3/18/08 this song is not about alcholics, it is not about stalker(s) or anyone stalking. What I think is going on, is pure tradition. Just having one of those moments with you and your lover, and drinking to drench out the negetivity that the world has made. "Drink up baby, look at the stars I'll kiss you again between the bars Where I'm seeing you there with your hands in the air Waiting to finally be caught Drink up one more time and I'll make you mine Keep you apart, deep in my heart Separate from the rest, where I like you the best And keep the things you forgot" It prooves too, how much this person really commits himself to the drinker and how much He/she really loves the other person, meaning by giving the drinker their free will to drink. plus no one is discouraging it, just letting the other person drink only because of their own beliefs, such as trying to forget about everything else that sucks. It is a really passionate song and it explains how complex love really is. A treasure among gems | Reviewer: CanUK Girl | 3/10/08 It's true that one of the beautiful things about Elliott's songs is they are open to the listener's interpretation and this song is probably the best example of this. This song is a paradox- heart-wrenching yet comforting, sad yet somehow sweet. Even the title- could be a reference to a jail cell or it could be a reference to hitting a flask as you stumble from one pub to another. I once heard somebody say they thought that this was a love song sung by a bottle of whiskey to Elliott (and I think he's right, which is heartbreaking if you think about it for too long). Or, it could be a love song about his own "Sweetheart the Drunk" (apologies to the Jeff Buckley fans, but it's the term just fits here). Or it could be about a really messed-up alcohol and lord knows what else-fueled realationship between two troubled people who love each other regardless. Elliott- you really understood the human condition, XO. My Personal Interpretation | Reviewer: Anonymous | 2/24/08 Maybe this is just me, but the first time I heard this song, I thought of my own habit. My habit of eating, eating candy bars more specifically. For me, when he says "The images stuck in your head" I think of the images I have burned into my head of my fat rolls in the mirror so fat I can't see my junk I don't have a bellybutton. "The people you've been before That you don't want around anymore That push and shove and won't bend to your will I'll keep them still" To me this reflects on all the fat people I've been before and how I want to stop eating candy bars. "Drink up baby, look at the stars I'll kiss you again between the bars Where I'm seeing you there with your hands in the air Waiting to finally be caught" This is like when I'm trying to hide all my candy bars and twinkies and stuff and I hear my girlfriend downstairs who is also very fat coming up (slowly of course) and I have to hide all my candy bars otherwise she will eat them all!! But I think this song just speaks to each one of us in a different way depending on our trials and tribulations and I'd like to hear from someone else who has the same interpretation as I do. ... To my Sweetheart the Drunk ... | Reviewer: Lucrieno | 1/31/08 I truly believe that the song is about alcoholism. Those who have have struggled with alcohol can easily identify with the lyrics; however, the beauty of Elliott Smith's songs is that they're open to interpretation and people can identify with them on so many levels. Thank you Elliott for such a beautiful song. PEACE. P.S Someone said that they didn't understand the following: 1." I'll kiss you again between the bars..." I think of it as Elliott kissing is flask, or bottle going from bar to bar, I used to do the same thing. If you think of it as the alcohol speaking to him it makes sense. 2. "Hands in the air waiting to finally be caught..." This could mean a number of different things really, but we do know that Elliott was involved in a number of illegal practices and being drunk in public with alcohol is one of them. Also, he could be acting the fool, stirring up some shit, seeing how far he can take it. We see this all the time with people who have been drinking excessively. 3. "That push and shove and won't bend to your will, I'll keep them still..." This is from the "people that you've been before" line and that refers to Elliott outside of his drunken state. People who drink steadily usually have a lot of alcohol in their system and it can take some time to detox. When you're a drunk you become someone else and it's hard to break out of that cycle, your alcoholic personality takes over. I used to have that problem too, I'd be on a binge and completely lose myself to the alcohol. People used to say that I "went away". So back to the lyrics, he's talking about the people that you don't want around anymore as himself. His sober personality, or personalities are too strong and they don't want to drink; however, once his drinking side comes out, it's all over and the alcohol will keep them too, because they're gone. Does that make sense? haha. It's kind of hard to explain. Review By Pages: 1 2 3 Review the song Between The Bars The area is only for review, if you want to submit the lyrics or the corrections of the lyrics, please click the link at the end of the lyrics.  Download "Elliott Smith" Music | |
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