Elliott Smith - Condor Ave. Lyrics

I'm lying down, blowing smoke from a cigarette,
Little wispy smoke signs that you'll never get!

Such a phenomenal song. He is so underrated.

hell yea

What.a solo debut.

He was 16

Wow.....

You'll never be a whisper brother I'll always keep you close to my heart

Damn. So good.

Connor Avenue not a whisper from the letters

All in Welch.

Unplugged Jimi hendrix

he wrote this when he was 8, such a genius, moth metaphor so deep

He was 17, still super young. Honestly I would be disturbed if an 8 year old wrote some of these lyrics

Thank u Elliott❤

I can't get my head around the lyrics. What are they telling. Did the narrator lose somebody in a car crash? Too cryptic for me.

nejc kastelic the song is a made up story, basically. It’s about a girl who gets into an argument with her boyfriend and storms out of the house. She takes her Oldsmobile and is driving away but she’s really tired, so she goes to sleep whilst the road is straight. She then crashes the car, killing herself and a homeless man who I guess was by the side of the road (“They took away the bottle and the hat he was under.”) a lot of people think the moth lyric is referring to the girl, but I believe it refers to the homeless man and how his death mattered to no one because he hadn’t any family members or “a lightbulb who loved him very much”

@Owl 463 Cool

I love this song!!!! I have TANK to thank for playing this. Now I've lost them ...

So, now I'm leaving you alone
You can do whatever the hell you want to.
Na----------- Na Na Na Na Na

She took the Oldsmobile out past condor Ave.
And she locked the car and slipped past
Into rhythmic quietude
Lights burning
Voice dry and hoarse
I threw the screen door like a bastard back and forth
The chimes fell over each other
I fell onto my knees
The sound of the car driving off made me feel diseased
A sick shouting like you hear at the fairground
Now I'm picking up to put away anything of yours that's still around
I don't know what to do with your clothes or your letters
It'll make a whisper out of you
She took the Oldsmobile out past condor Ave.
The fairground's lit
A drunk man sits by the gate she's driving through
Got his hat tipped bottle back in between his teeth
Looks like he's buried in the sand at the beach
I can't think about you driving off to leave barely awake
To take a little nap while the road is straight
I wish that car had never been discovered
They took away the bottle and the hat he was under
That's the one thing that he could never do
And it'll make a whisper out of you
She took the Oldsmobile out past condor Ave.
Cops were running around the scene
Looking for some kind of clue
They never get uptight when a moth gets crushed
Unless a light bulb really loved him very much
I'm lying down
Blowing smoke from my cigarette
Little whisper smoke signs that you'll never get
You're in your Oldsmobile driving by the moon
Headlights burning bright ahead of you
And someone's burning out, out on condor Ave.
Trying to make a whisper out of you
What a shitty thing to say
Did you really mean it?
You never said a word to me about what passed between us
So now I'm leaving you alone
You can do whatever the hell you want to
Na, na, na, na, na, na, na

Pure genius

When I play is it sounds... not so good. hahah

Fun fact: Elliott never wrote the lyrics. They were written by a friend.

How do you know?

I dunno—I read that the lyrics of the early version were mainly by a friend and Elliott wrote the melody, but then later he reworked the song including new lyrics for Roman Candle. It’s not really clear how much of the song is Elliott’s and how much is that of his friend and former writing partner.

Heaven adores you is the first source of this info that comes to mind, however I read it in a 20 year markup about the album.

it was also recorded with a toy guitar for some stuff

Fun fact : he only came up with the title and a couple of lines. See: every other example of Elliott's catalog for examples of his genius

after listening to elliots music not only does other chart topping artists sound
shameful and embarrassing like someone below said its like all other music is
he really finds that medium of songs and poetry so melodic but never corny no filler lyrics and structurally his guitar lines blossom like a beautiful fucking flower smh this is perfection

Wish I knew how to write a song. This guy did more than me at 13 than I did my whole life

Never too late

I can't help to think of 95 when Elliott was just introduced to me via a cassette my friend gave me and I was just a 17 year old trying to find herself in the world without a care of the future. I miss those days! His music is timeless and beautiful.

Wow! What do you do now?

I was born in 95 and Elliott is my favorite artist ever

Same. Except I'm older. Obviously. A ratty cassette copy. Which only added to the charm of it all.

RIP Elliott, thank you for giving me hope.

Elliott lives on. His spirit is in his music. I play it now, and he's the one songwriter I don't put my own spin on. You can't fuck with perfection. When I get one of his songs down just right, I can feel him in my hands and heart. I wept when the radio said he died. Wept.

[(Octave walk- G# - G - F#)]

[F (sus4) - Fsus4/G - G# (sus2) - C#maj7 - C# - Ebsus2 (Bb - Ab - G) - Fm - (G - Eb) C#maj7 - C# - Bbm7 - Cm - Cm/G- G#5 - G5 - C#]

[F]She took the [Fsus4]Oldsmo[Fsus4/G]bile [G#]out past condor avenue
and she [C#maj7]locked the car and [C#]slipped past
[Ebsus2]into [Fm]rhythmic quie[C#maj7]tude
[C#]lights [Bbm7]burning
[Cm][Cm/G]voice [G#5]dry [G5]and [C#]hoarse

[F]I threw the [Fsus4]screen door [Fsus4/G]like a [G#]bastard back and forth
the [C#maj7]chimes fell [C#]over each [Ebsus2]other
I [Fm]fell onto my [C#maj7]knees
the [C#]sound of the [Bbm7]car driving [Cm]off [Cm/G]made me [G#5]feel [G5]dis[C#]ease

[F]A sick [G#]shouting like you [Bbm]hear at the fairground
[F]now I'm picking [G#]up to put [Bbm]away anything of yours that's still a[F]round
[F]I don't [G#]know what to do with your [Bbm]clothes or your letters
it'll [F]make a [Eb]whisper out of [C#]you [G# (G - F#)]

[F]She took the [Fsus4]Oldsmo[Fsus4/G]bile [G#]out past condor avenue
the [C#maj7]fairground's lit
a [C#]drunk man sits [Ebsus2]by the [Fm]gate she's driving [C#maj7]through
[C#]got his [Bbm]hat tipped bottle [Cm]back [Cm/G]in be[G#5]tween [G5]his [C#]teeth

[F]Looks like he's [Fsus4]buried [Fsus4/G]in the [G#]sand at the [C#maj7]beach
[C#]I can't think about you [Ebsus2]driving off to [Fm]leave barely a[C#maj7]wake[C#]
to [Bbm]take a little [Cm]nap [Cm/G]while the [G#5]road [G5]is [C#]straight

[F]I [G#]wish that car had [Bbm]never been discovered
they [F]took away the [G#]bottle and the [Bbm]hat he was under
[F]that's the [G#]one thing that [Bbm]he could never do
and it'll [F]make a [Eb]whisper out of [C#]you

[F]She took the [Fsus4]Oldsmo[Fsus4/G]bile [G#]out past condor avenue
[C#maj7]cops were running a[C#]round the scene
[Ebsus2]looking [Fm]for some kind of [C#maj7]clue
[C#]they [Bbm]never get up[Cm]tight [Cm/G]when a [G#5]moth [G5]gets [C#]crushed

[F]Unless a [Fsus4]light [Fsus4/G]bulb really [G#]loved him very much
[C#maj7]I'm lying [C#]down
[Ebsus2]blowing [Fm]smoke from my ciga[C#maj7]rette
[C#]little [Bbm]whisper smoke [Cm]signs [Cm/G]that you'll [G#5]nev[G5]er [C#]get

[F]You're in your [G#]Oldsmobile [Bbm]driving by the moon
[F]headlights [G#]burning b[Bbm]right ahead of you
and [F]someone's [G#]burning out, out on [Bbm]condor avenue
trying to [F]make a [Eb]whisper out of [C#]you

[F]What a shitty [G#]thing to say
[Bbm]did you really mean it?
[F]you never said a [G#]word to me [Bbm]about what passed between us
so [F]now I'm leaving [G#]you alone
you can [Bbm]do whatever the hell you want to
[F]na, na, na, [Eb]na, na, [C#]na

[G# - G - F# - F]

you can hear angeles in here

And angels.

This album often makes refferences to his childhood and his stepfather abusing him and his mother. Maybe this lyrics tells a history of his mother slipping away

The sound of the car driving off made me feel diseased <3

Cuz Dud
Huh.
I've always thought it was "diseased"
But it does sound like disease, you're right

Molly Carlini What part of the song

I think he's saying "Made me feel dis-ease". I think it's a play on words; the origin of disease.

This makes me weep
past the deep of solitude

Proof that beautiful things often come from dark places.

Artistically, yes. Absolutely.

He seemed full of light too. Maybe more like moonlight. Light nonetheless. But where there is light and something to reflect it, there is shadow. Obviously. Too bad his shadow took over. Maybe some people can learn from what happened. Like do not just cold turkey meds. If it can helped.

I wonder if the title is a reference to Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa" which means the "Condor Road" or "Condor Ave."

el condor pasa is a peruvian folk song that translates to "the condor passes."

DIGmusic7 Condor Ave. is a street in Portland.

DIGmusic7 yea i love it when you do that

Condor Ave is in Portland. He lived here in Portland then.

Elliot smith music helped me out wished I met him

not bad for a drummer. One of my favorite albums and artists

We still miss you, Elliott

amazing...

Elliott wrote this when he was only 17!

how do you know that?

Air Guitar he says it himself. You can watch him say it here: https://youtu.be/f8EmC2WNDDw

Reminds me of Connor Oberst writing the songs he did when he was in high school. Some of his early work is angsty teenager stuff, but when you consider how old he was when he wrote it, it’s amazing.

Amazing and sad at the same time. His life was already half over at 17. Fuck.

lol btw steven tyler wrote dream on at seventeen

I believe the music of Elliott Smith represents the pinnacle of late 20th and 21st century recorded media. Compare any "chart topping" artist to this. They will sound like a bland and shameful embarrassment.

They never get uptight when a moth gets crushed unless the lightbulb really love him very much

The cops generally don't care and won't heavily investigate the death of a nameless teenage girl, at the level of a mere insect ("a moth"). They only would if the girl's lover or carer, who had influence perhaps, pressured the police to investigate. Also, lightbulbs attract moths.

Thanks!

Hahah elliott referenced the moth meme

Damn...especially harrowing considering that LAPD shut his case down despite the autopsy essentially saying he was definitely murdered by someone. Who, we may never truly know...

@Rachel Burton Could the light bulb also be who she was attracted to? Yes. Are police more likely to investigate if there was a lightbulb involved? Probably

This album is a true headbanger album.

The My Show idk if headbanger is the right word, but i wholeheartedly agree

Just a good album

Lol I love this. Headbanging to Drive all Over Town next <3

This guy's 97% Eric Gaffney

Except he's way better than Gaffney

Lol did Eric Gaffney post this.

I think this is an absolute masterpiece.  These lyrics are unbelievably good.  Elliott is a genius.

I can't wrap my head around how good these lyrics and his guitar playing is!! He was just so good...

WHO

THE FUCK

DISLIKED THIS?

the vid doesn't move enough, for sure :p

well, you know–where's the drop, bro??!?

+htownallday281 there's a first for everything

People watching it with the mute button on.