Smith, Elliott - I Better Be Quiet Now Lyrics
Wish you gave me your number
Wish I could call you today
Just to hear a voice
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
Living alone'd probably be okay
It wouldn't be lonely
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
A lot of hours to occupy
It was easy when I didn't know you yet
Things I'd have to forget
But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on, and getting upset
But that's not what I wanted to say
I'd prefer to say nothing
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
Had a dream as an army man with an order just to march in my place
While a dead enemy screams in my face
But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on, not over it yet
Wish I knew what you were doing
And why you want to do it this way
So I can't go the distance
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
Other Lyrics by Artist
- Smith, Elliott - Wouldn't Mama Be Proud?
- Smith, Elliott - Shooting Star
- Smith, Elliott - Memory Lane
- Smith, Elliott - Little One
- Smith, Elliott - A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free
- Smith, Elliott - Angel In The Snow
- Smith, Elliott - Talking To Mary
- Smith, Elliott - High Times
- Smith, Elliott - New Monkey
- Smith, Elliott - Looking Over My Shoulder
- Smith, Elliott - Going Nowhere
- Smith, Elliott - Riot Coming
- Smith, Elliott - Last Hour
- Smith, Elliott - A Passing Feeling
- Smith, Elliott - Twilight
- Smith, Elliott - Color Bars
- Smith, Elliott - Happiness
- Smith, Elliott - Pretty Mary K (Other Version)
Rand Lyrics
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Smith, Elliott I Better Be Quiet Now Comments
Sipping wine on New Years to this was divine. Here's to 2020
i'll keep listening to Elliot's music til the day i die
Wish you gave me your number
Wish I could call you today, just to hear a voice
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
If I didn't know the difference living alone'd probably be ok
It wouldn't be lonely
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
A lot of hours to occupy, it was easy when I didn't know you yet
Things I have to forget
But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on and getting upset
Maybe IÂ got a problem, but that's not what I wanted to say
I'd prefer to say nothing.
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away.
Had a dream as an army man with an order just to march in my place
While a dead enemy screams in my face
But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on, not over it yet
Wish I knew what you're doing
And why you want to do it this way, so I can't go the distance
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away
such a beautiful melody, such touching lyrics. gotta love elliott.
(btw i made an acapella cover of 'between the bars' ^^)
I would've married Elliott...had he asked. <3
Elliot wouldve turned fifty this week. His music is a gift and a wonderful reprieve from this awful, violent world we live in. You are missed Elliot, wherever you are. The world needed more creative and sensitive people like you.
Forced to live this way
“Wasting my breath carrying on’’
He took something with him when he died. The Last remnants of my youth maybe, an innocence? An age? Something.
I think this is one of Elliott Smith’s most beautiful songs. It’s really sweet.
2019 this still epic
i play guitar and listen tons of musics but every time i fail at assuming whats next in the elliot's songs. extremely unique melodical jumps. they speak to me about beutiful man
i miss you so much dude
What a máster piece...so beautiful
Gracias Elliott por las madrugadas llenas de nostalgia e introspeccion autentica.
Only just discovered this one. His ballad-y type songs posses such a warm beauty. He was a master of unpredictable, complex chord progressions and this captured nuances of mood and mind, much like Mozart. I see his music as change. Original too and authentic. He could make something out of nothing. Peace
I met Elliot Smith with Andrew Loumis from Dean Moon when I lived in Portland. I was pretty good friends with Jerry A. from Poison Idea and he introduced me to them. I was in a band too. They were all really nice guys and I am grateful I got to meet them. He was in Heatmiser at the time I met him. They played a lot at the Starry Night Club and the Satyricon down off burnside. Why no one has named a street after him but they did after that slumlord Naito is beyond me. I don't live in Portland anymore - but someone in PDX should get this going.
Maybe my brother M******* will. call Ted Wheeler lets get that shit rollin.
New favorite Elliott track
Very bohemian. Did New Zealand ever get Germans?
Ahhh shit, just fudged my Monitor Trying to get that fly off... +1
I HAte your profile picture more than anything god you are scum, absolute scum. Nice video btw i love elliott
Nefesimi bosa harcamamin anlami yok
Neutral milk hotel cover!! Check it out https://youtu.be/EPzY5BZo_7k
It isn't so much music as it is medicine. Thanks for the therapy Elliott, you have helped me through a lot.
Be original buddy you saw that line in a video.
weird question but how many here is an INFP? kinda getting, that vibe from the comments. :-)
INFP right here
Another INFP here 🙋
almost.. INTP here.
Here. Big time.
If I only would've listened to his lyrics a decade ago..
I shot herion into my eye balls to this song, with a crying junkie women in background.
I feel like shooting herion into my eye balls.
Poor Elliott... Such great talent taken away so young by such a senseless murder
É impressionante como o cara consegue unir a sensibilidade e o pop. Genial!!!
Everytime I listen to Elliott Smith, It make me remember of a place and time that I don't know but familiar with.
I love him so much. But your profile photo made me thought I had a mosquito on my screen...
Maybe I have a problem,
but that's not what I wanted to say
I prefer to say nothing.
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away.
Bingo. This is the real crux of the song.
You know what Elliot is right human relationships are difficult
it's easier to date cows
How did he do it so fine? Every song is perfect from the first note to the last. David Gates could do it but Elliot's songs are so complex- he's such a treasure of a songwriter. rip
51 dipshits who disliked this. They're getting further away.
Elliott, you have my heart and tortured soul.
Your music is precious.
I love you, forever.
Ok let me tell you one thing
Que tal hermano???
l'avatar con la mosca è spaventoso ho pensato davvero di avere una mosca sul monitor!!!
Honest to god I can't tell if this is two guitars or just one Elliott
greta van fleet is sold out across the board....................................................................................... kill me please
But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on and getting upset
Maybe I've got a problem, but that's not what I wanted to say
I'd prefer to say nothing.
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away.
I don't have to say anything. Elliott said it for me. I'm almost done with this.
Music for the soul
Just to hear a voice..
listening to Elliott Smith with the morning smoke and coffee is the greatest
Please. ♥ I need a friend. Just one. A true friend. Please.
Thank you, Elliott, for this beautiful music. I don't know what else to hold on to.
Miss Lemon i think he did too
i wish more then anything that i could have shared his music with others earlier - might have saved a life.......maybe i'm just over optimistic - but Elliott has that ability and always will........
Are you home?
He didn't write a bad song ever. I feel like I knew him personally, and he actually has a place in my heart, like an old friend would. It's crazy how relatable he is. Best musician of my time, for sure.
Paul Huff - This is one of the reasons why celebrities distance themselves from their fans and others who have any kind of expectations from them. You feel like you know him personally. The way I look at it or experience it is that Elliott’s music touches me at a personal level. But I didn’t know him while he was here.
What happens is that people meet these celebs that they feel like they know when in reality they both are meeting a stranger. Some well off people with 7 different residences can go out and do some photo ops where they have “Close Encounters” with people... signing things, shooting the shit, taking photos with them... but after that hour or half hour of being “down to earth” and being fan friendly and “one of the good ones” they can escape to one of their various retreats and not be bothered. This makes it hard for smaller time artists with cult followings in that people say “ well that other guy or a gal was really down to earth and spent time with us whereas this guy who is less famous is rude and isn’t acting as I expected him or her to. In reality most rock stars who are forced to do meet and greets really don’t want to be there meeting strangersJust as you don’t want strangers knocking on your door at all hours of the day. You want to meet the fantasy you have about that person. The person themselves.
Example: Someone I know was living in a rural part part of Pennsylvania and this guy came in to his organic vegetable store. They had a really good conversation that lasted for quite a while. After the person left my friend realized that he had just been speaking and interacting with Gene Simmons of kiss. As many people know, Gene Simmons despises meet and greets and other Gushy Fan to artist experiences. On my friends Facebook page many people were asking him if he could get his autograph or some other form of memorabilia for them the next time Gene Simmons came in to his store. I told him that the best approach, since he was asking people what was the best way to handle the situation should he return to the store, would be to continue as if he didn’t know who he was because that was the whole reason he was able to have that kind of experience with him.
So basically, you're saying that we should not go crazy over celebs if we see them in public?
There's no better way to put it that your paragraph.
whyy you was soo good bro =( i'm soo sad because i never could go to your concert
"If I didn't know the difference, living alone would probably be okay.
It wouldn't be lonely..."
Fuck, this is too true... haunting walls, lonely thoughts and too much time to ruminate.
This is the best thing. Like finding a long lost friend. xxx
so good on weed u can litteraly see how structurally perfect this song is
It's been a rough fourteen years.
1st world problems ha....?
genious
i been listening to this for like 11 years now...
I stayed up till 2 in the morning crying listening to Elliott Smith I feel like Snape when he loved Lilly.
Every time I listen to Elliott it’s a few hours down the rabbit hole
Should have stayed up to 2:45
Every time you listen to elliot smith it gets better somehow
congruity
Scruffy P every time.
scruffy, you know something, i was lucky enough to have elliott play live for me and his friends liffy and sara tekula at their house. i can't agree more. "things ihave to forget"
@another human that's truly incredible. He died when I was 8. I'll never know that feeling. I once met someone who met him in Portland a few times. That was already a powerful experience for me lol.
Poeta !!
One of the best. When you listen to his music you can sense the pain he was feeling.
1:46 - 2:15
'If I didn't know the difference, living alone would probably be okay...it wouldn't be lonely..."
Jesus Tap Dancing Christ...talk about hitting on the head.
When you have been with someone you love for a long time, and then they leave abruptly you look around at your room, you wander around your quiet house as it slowly sinks in that she ain't coming back....it is like walking through a wax museum that is your house....a house full of ghosts...it's okay to despair. It's the only way things will get better. You have to allow yourself time to emotionally process the -trauma- of what happened to you. And make no mistake, it is Trauma. It is a deep mental wound that seeps and seeths with the memories that are killing you now because they have become poisonous. When the release comes, do not be ashamed of it and by god don't stand in it's way. Don't "suck it up" or "Be A Man", you let that shit out of you...let the tears come. Cry like a fucking baby. Just go somewhere private and get it out of you. I swear it feels wonderful, like flopping down under the covers on a cold night after a hard days work. It feels like finally getting to take a piss after having to hold it in way too long. It feels like that first glass of water after hours of sweating in the sun because you passsed out outside in the yard and you are so hung over and dehydrated. It feels like sexual climax after purposeful delay and denial.. It is one of those tings that your -body- thanks you for. You will feel so relaxed afterwards (physically) because you have been tense and keyed up, your muscles ready to make a move, your animal brain keeping them this way, keeping you flooded with chemicals that will keep you anxious and on your feet and ready to go, because alll that animal brain knows is that your Mate is missing and she may be in danger from a Bear or a Tiger. The animal brain does not understand that she is gone for good, devoured by that bear, until you give the signal. Wail. Scream. do whatever but fucking Cry. If you don't you swallow that black poison and you will drive yourself to ruin as your body and your lower brain continue to think, night after night, she will come back to you, that the bear did not tear her to pieces. Don't poison yourself.
Dude, this is great advice.
+EpicShibe XD I agree too
All bullshit. Time. Time. Time. That’s it. With death and a break up. Time
So I guess I'm listening to Elliott again because everything hurts
of course, but it's amazing to understand the plasticity of the mind, and at some point we have to take responsibility for taking our lives back. I'm a recovering opiate addict/depressant, and these tools i have had to learn.
Me too. Just another Son of Sam. Couple killer. Every fucking time.
It's okay tiny Rick. Every will be.
Cowboy Babylon would you like to talk about it?
tan dificil pero a veces es mejor (creo)
who needs religion - when there is Elliott - just wish I would have found him sooner......
Had a dream as an army man with an order to march in my place, while a dead enemy screams in my face.... chilling poetry
He was tortured as hell. Seriously, it's a shame what this world and that motherfucking Charlie did to him.
if it wasnt for charlie and this world that changed him he wouldnt of been the writer/poet/musician he was so kinda gotta thank them as fucked up as it seems
I wouldn't say chilling poetry, because it shows strength of being in a battle in life. That's how I interpreted it, but what puts me in awe is how I can't relate. Not that I can't empathize because I'm not emotionally intelligent enough, but the realization that I'm not as strong as he was mentally. I'm glad he was there for us.
Wish I knew what you're doing
And why you want to do it this way
So I can't go the distance
I got a long way to go, I'm getting further away
I got a long way to go, I'm getting further away
Such a long way...
+maze walker Yup, as well as 'Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands', 'Memory Lane', 'I Didn't Understand', 'Happiness', 'Shooting Star' and well most really but those in particular.
Maestro! Its just great.
3 RiP Mr SMith
great song and artist! he is missed! r.i.p.elliott smith
If this guy isn't remembered as one of the great singer/songwriters, this world is really fucked up.
i autotuned that comment and it told me to listen to LL Cool J.
The world has never seen,nor ever will see his equal.He painted brilliant masterpieces with words.
@ Outbaker....and you certainly are not infinitely knowledgeable about what constitutes incredibly well written music and deeply profound lyrics.Lady Gag is nothing but a prefabricated commodity promoted by record company PR men to advance the sale of vacuous,insipid musical fodder that's only redeeming quality is having a primitive,monotonous beat that cerebral Lilliputians find irresistible to get up and dance to and then to run out and waste their money buying in massive quantities.
Rick and morty introduced him to a new audience
Lynn Turman society’s fucked up, the world’s fine.
good song!two thumbs up! ;)
Grande grandissimo pezzo
so many things i think and just better not say
Thank's a lot Elliot, for your work. <3
He loves chromaticism so much when it comes to harmonies.. and it sounds perfect every. single. time.
+Vincent Newsom I don't know a lot about the terms used in music but thanks for pointing this out. A description of the type of chord progression I love to hear and play
well i've just read this and i gotta say, thank you kind sir.
After seeing your profile pic a question was raised in my head. How would a song between Eyedea and Elliott sound like?
i followed you man. This makes me appreciate Elliot more. Christ....talented dude.
For sure. In an interview somewhere he talks about being obsessed by passing chords and adding bass notes and stuff like that. The Beatles were the first group who really got their head around them in pop music - along with transposition and all that stuff which they used a lot in Sgt. Peppers. You can spend half a lifetime studying how The Beatles did all that, but Elliott Smith's stuff sort of takes that chromaticism to a whole other level. One song of note in particular is the acoustic version of Son of Sam - I don't think there's a straightforward, simple guitar chord in that entire song. Condor Ave. is just genius songwriting as well. What's genius is that it doesn't sound "weird" or "off" in any way, even though it technically should.
But I better be quiet now
I'm tired of wasting my breath
Carrying on, getting upset
I stopped thinking she'd come back today.
Can never forget her but I'll try to not remember.
I'm getting farther away.
How you doing, mate? Three years after.
HughTube
We all need to know how u doing
yes, we do
You cant get any better then that really.....
Elliott's greatest gift was to remind us that being humble is the most important thing. Its such an easy thing to forget in this day and age.
Wolfman1902
Where did you get his chord book?
BTW... I know where you got your name...
They may be nearly impossible to play, but he never told people that, he wasn't flashy with his guitar playing for the audience, he always acted like a normal, relatable person, just with a guitar. He wrote words that he meant and that other people would click with. He wanted to fit in with the crowd, and if that's not humble, I'm not sure what is.
He wasn't a show off about it. I mean, he never started playing solos with his teeth or anything! In fact, he was pretty self-deprecating about his music from what I can gather. He just thought he'd "got lucky" and I think he seriously meant that too. He just comes across as a kind, lovely down-to-earth sort of person really.
RandyNewmanFan - humility doesn’t mean shying away from excellence or non recognition that one is good or great at something. Also his difficult parts weren’t written or constructed solely to be difficult but to serve the song. The parts always serve the song.
@RandyNewmanFan He is humble to his brilliance
There was once that girl.
Great Elliott, great song. It's for me... totally for me now... I better be quiet now.
Thank you Elliott Smith for ever having existed. Your songs somehow calm me down whenever I want to quit everything.
The ...uninspired club....''we should get together'' ....talk about life and....? Camp out and talk !
I wanna hear more of 3:13 - 3:17
There's a great song ending economically done. He couldn't stop playing great, could he?
me also - it is like at the last minute you can finally see light coming through the corner of the window and there is hope that maybe things will be ok - just maybe.....
same - that is the moment where the sun just starts to come out - despite the ever present depression - and for a brief moment hope exists.......
a lot of hours to occupy it was easy when I didn't know you yet but I better b quiet now im tired now and im wasting my breath
wish I knew what you were doing and why you wanna do it this way so I cant go the distance I got a long way to go getting further away
Yeah but he had The Beatles, Dylan, George Harrison.. He may have listened to Nick Drake, Cohen (I wouldn't know, obviously)..
You should listen to Townes sometime. Good music, no bs.
the only one I Hold above Townes is Barrett...... .u know youre music Dude.......hmmm.... and were both Asian..... how delightful....
with music for me it's all about that purity and being genuine. No alternative motive, just them making music, showing their influences and being honest.
It's what's inside that makes someone beautiful outside. Please don't think this way. You are not alone. I am sure you are a very beautiful, special, wonderful human being. Ugly is to the bone. Maybe you're lonely, but you're not alone! I'm here! :)
I was introduced to him about 3 years before he passed. His music and Soul make/made him the most beautiful person/thing I've every seen. He speaks to my heart. RIP you dear, sweet, talented man. Thank you for giving me the words I can never find on my own. The loss of this man was truly a tragedy. Thank you Elliot.
well he did sell his services as a baker & as a construction worker because he had bills to pay like the rest of us who aren't living off of a trust fund - he's said that you can have a life and still make music. i get what you're saying though - i love that he didnt compromise his art
separation and heartache may be simple facts of life, but knowing that doesn't make it hurt any less.
this song, however, actually helps a little bit.
thank you elliott, wherever you may be.
Maybe I got a problem, but that's not what I wanted to say
I'd prefer to say nothing.
I got a long way to go
I'm getting further away.
Elliott was the man!
man this brings out emotions.
Don't worry. Just go and find yourself an Eleanor Rigby and smile about it. Lots of people are lonely and self-hating. Find one, and tell them the opposite. Everything I said is probably bullshit, but I still said what I said. Hope things work out for you, and I know they likely won't. But I still hope they do. Just like I hope for myself. Well, my sanctimonious speech is over. Let's all run and go to the sunniest sunny running land around town. There's always an antidote.
no one is ugly unless they make themselves ugly. dont u know most people go by first impressions, and that usually means how u dress and carry yourself. if you know you are beautiful, then u r beautiful. its true.