Half Right - Heatmiser
well you shouldn’t doctor yourself / well I pictured somebody else / someone who looks like / what I look like…
Yes, that’s Elliott Smith up there, rocking out back in his Heatmiser days. However, this song - a hidden track on what would be the band’s final record, Mic City Sons - most assuredly does not rock. In fact, it’s basically an acoustic Elliott Smith solo song, one that would not have been at all out of place on his own Either/Or record, which was released around the same time. It was also one of the only Heatmiser songs he would continue playing at his own solo shows over the years (“Plainclothes Man”, from the same record, being the other one).
would you say that the one of your dreams / got in you and ripped out the seams? / that’s what I’d say / that’s what I’d say…
It’s a typical Elliott song in many ways, with lyrics that twist and turn in on themselves, until you’re not entirely sure who he’s pointing the finger at, or who is actually to blame. It’s beautiful though, so you don’t really care.
Read the lyrics / Listen to a live version (Elliott Smith, 4/13/97) / Buy the record
