Lyrics for Rose Parade as interpreted by EnjOy IncUbus

Rose Parade Lyrics
They asked me to come down and watch the parade
And to march down the street like the Duracell bunny
With a wink and a wave from the cavalcade
Throwing out candy that looks like money
To people passing by that all seem to be going the other way
Said, "Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?"
Tripped over a dog in a choke-chain collar
People were shouting and pushing and saying
And when I traded a smoke for a food stamp dollar
A ridiculous marching band started playing
And got me singing along with some half-hearted victory song
Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?
Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?
Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?
The trumpet has obviously been drinking
Because he's fucking up even the simplest lines
I'd say it's a sight that's quite worth seeing
It's just that everyone's interest is stronger than mine
And when they clean the street I'll be the only shit that's left behind
Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?
Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?
Won't you follow me down to the rose parade?

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  • 36 Comments
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moremodestmouse
08-20-2002

Rated 0 
such a good song.

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xthexpiratex
06-24-2003

Rated 0 
ROSE PARADE. yeah, its a wonderful thing. PORTLAND OREGON, BABY.

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zengrasshopper11
09-19-2004

Rated 0 
the fact that i live in portland and love this song is only a coincidence. the lyrics are easy to relate to, about not being interested and feeling like you're nothing and just coasting through your day. yeah.

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brown_polyester
11-29-2004

Rated 0 
again, elliott's self-esteem strikes:
"when they clean the street i'll be the only shit that's left behind"

so sad! why did he hate himself so much? :(

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NishFets
12-05-2004

Rated 0 
Because he was a depressed, drug-addicted alcoholic, whom I loved. "I'm never gonna know you now, but I'm gonna love you anyhow"...

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MARY K
12-23-2004

Rated 0 
i love how duracell bunny is really the energizer bunny and can totally visualize the whole scene right in my head. nothing more depressing about a parade anyway...they are full of such pomp and circumstance; and whether it's in portland and coincidentally in la, the idea of a parade on new years day is just another day of hangovers and trying to put on heirs that just get faked out anyways...
' it's just that everyone's interest is stronger than mine '
and how true for him. he always seemed to see the bigger picture! lovely.

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blackout2oo7
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
Well, I'm not sure whether he hated himself or not. People draw that conclusion too quickly and believe they can psychoanalyze another through poetry. Read some Kierkegaard, and you will understand.

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buwhaha
03-17-2005

Rated 0 
I think this song is about Elliott being wasted and walking around at the rose parade.

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lifeonautopilot
04-23-2005

Rated 0 
From an interview:


ES: And Rose Parade is a parade that happens in Portland every year.
Interviewer: Oh wow. So..
ES: But, \"Rose Parade\" wasn\'t really supposed to be about that parade. It was just supposed to be about parades in general, like the way people parade around and expect you to join in on their peacock march. You know? Someone does, \"We\'re looking good,\" that kind of attitude. It\'s like, people get fucked over a lot by sorta trying to parade around as something that they\'re not really, but they can be for a little while, but then it all goes wrong.
Interviewer: I liked how it was \"Energizer Bunny\" with the exclamation points in yr lyrics, that was pretty funny.
ES: Well, actually it was Duracell bunny, and the funny thing is that I just made it up that way, and I recorded it like that. And then someone was like, \"Hey man, it\'s the Energizer bunny.\" And I was like, \"Oh, yr right it\'s not the Duracell bunny!\" But actually, I like it even better that way.
Interviewer: Yeah, it\'s like you twisted it.
ES: \'Cause it\'s even less right. [laughs]

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badge
05-23-2005

Rated 0 
possibly my favourite old Elliott song. I love the way he is so passive in all his songs and this one displays it brilliantly. while technically he is taking part he is really a watcher, an outsider (read Albert Camus) and he just observes what goes on. He is an excellent analyst and this is what makes his lyrics so good....anyway, that's all i've got to say for now......RIP

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paytbidd
06-20-2005

Rated 0 
this is definitely about observing people that think they're super cool. I also see it as the perspective of someone who doesn't really fit in (depression, lonleyness). I like the Rose Parade connection because I live in Portland :D

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Merks
12-20-2005

Rated 0 
wouldn't it be ship thats left behind? doesnt that make a little more sense?

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alaskalover
01-09-2006

Rated 0 
no, shit makes more sense, because hes criticising himself. i hate that interview, because i always liked the idea that since the Energizer bunny was an "energized" active bunny, and since he was criticising himself anyway, that the Duracell bunny wouldnt be active and would be depressed, like he was. which was good and bad, because we got this great song, but a man that depressed, u gotta feel some sympathy for him, even if he did do drugs and was an alchoholic.. o well, great song, sad, yet meaningful.

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brown_polyester
01-16-2006

Rated 0 
yeah... it's shit because he says "when they clean the streets." think of a parade. you've surely seen the horses in a parade, right?

and i don't think the self-esteem issues were from the drugs and alcohol, though they surely impeded his recovery (of good self-esteem). i think the self-esteem issues were there before and probably had something to do with the onset of drug and alcohol addiction.

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gravitydwarf
01-30-2006

Rated 0 
"the trumpet has obviously been drinking
because he's fucking up even the simplest lines
i'd say it's a sight that's quite worth seeing
it's just that everyone's interest is stronger than mine"

Funny. Presumaby, 'everyone' is interested in the parade itself. But Elliott Smith's interest is in the 'sight worth seeing', which appears to be the trumpet player drunk and messing up his parts.

In other words, ES expresses his perceived distance from the crowds and his tendency to focus on the negative by picking out someone 'fucking up' where 'everyone' else is marching, winking, waving, having fun.

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hairydonut
02-01-2006

Rated 0 
Erm it's shit not ship because the lyrics are in the CD sleeve!

Perhaps some people just download, not buy Elliott's stuff! :-(

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RadishWhiteIcicle
03-06-2006

Rated +1 
"Perhaps some people just download, not buy Elliott's stuff! :-("

Umm... he's dead. I doubt your money is being delivered via the river Styx. Sorry to disappoint.

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fearnotofman
04-15-2006

Rated 0 
Seems to me that this song is more observational than the introspective work he typically did. He can't help but let his low self-esteem slip out at the end, but for the most part he's just remarking about how ridiculous parades are.

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Heather200408
04-23-2006

Rated 0 
yay for my first ever elliott smith song that I ever ever heard! thus is'll always be muy especial to me. :)

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han0512
04-23-2006

Rated 0 
again, elliott's self-esteem strikes:
"when they clean the street i'll be the only shit that's left behind"

so sad! why did he hate himself so much? :(
------------------------------------------------------
1st he was un ugly mofo

2nd

if you look at his biography, you can easily see that he was very attached to his gf. He even went to this one college just cuz she went there. Elliot Smith was a very emotional person. And people usually dont take emotional people seriously cuz they get depressed all the time. His gf probably didnt treat him that nicely. Well, its kinda hard for someone to treat someone nicely when he just puts himself under you. ==

3rd

his depression led him to doing drugs. and usually at one point, drug addicts feel like shit cuz drugs have like a complete control over them. he, at one point, did $1500 worth of drugs everyday. yes, Elliot was one very sad person.

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rose.parade
05-27-2006

Rated 0 
i wish you didnt hate yourself so much
now the world is deprived of any new songs you might've graced us with

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phx411
10-18-2006

Rated 0 
For one thing, lyrics have been left out. Anyway, I do not thing this song is literally about parades. I think it is about alienation (everyone seems to be going the other way) and about having depth as opposed to the shallowness of a consumerist and material culture (as illustrated by a parade). just my opinion anyway

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justashootingstar
03-08-2007

Rated 0 
i wish people would stop making assuptions about elliott's depression, alcoholism, and dugs addictions...most of you probably don't even know what it's like to completely despise yourself. but when you do, you can't stop it, and there's nothing you can do to change the way he was. it's a lot harder than you think. and if he wasn't this way, his songs wouldn't be like this.


anyway, this website is for the meanings of songs. i think it's about how watching happy people makes you sadder than you already were, and your opinion never seems to matter...especially in this part: "it's just that everyone's interest is stronger than mine"

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justashootingstar
03-08-2007

Rated 0 
assumptions* drug* oops...

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artslut
03-31-2007

Rated 0 
hello justashootingstar...

From your own post:

"i wish people would stop making assuptions about elliott's depression, alcoholism, and dugs addictions"

Ironically, the very next sentence:

"most of you probably don't even know what it's like to completely despise yourself."

Talk about assumptions...

Anyway, he killed himself. This may be an assumption here, but that is probably the point of many "tragic rock stars'" suicides: So that we will continue to make assumptions long after their deaths.

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