Lyrics for Amity as interpreted by EnjOy IncUbus

Amity Lyrics
Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity
Caught stars in her arms
Hello, hello kitty, happy in New York City
Amity walking like a lucky charm
I'm a neon sign and I stay open all the time
So let's go, go, go, go
Amity, Amity, God don't make no junk but it's plain to see
He still made me, he told me so
I'm good to go
I'm ready to go
Because you laugh and talk
And because you make my world rock
I'm so, so, so, so
Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity, Amity
Good to go

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  • 28 Comments
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MoonyEremita
05-05-2002

Rated 0 
it's pretty.

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HoldMyBones
03-29-2003

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That it is

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noyes
10-17-2004

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it's about a girl named Amity who Elliott knew and loved but didn't want to be in a relationship with because he was too depressed. if this sounds wrong to you, don't doubt it cause it's the truth.

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brown_polyester
11-28-2004

Rated 0 
this line makes me so sad:
"god don't make no junk but it's plain to see he still made me he told me so"

it makes me sad that elliott's self-esteem was so low. :( i love you, elliott!!!

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NishFets
12-04-2004

Rated 0 
If I have a daughter, her first or middle name will be Amity.

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katei
12-20-2004

Rated 0 
amity isn't a name... it means peaceful relations.
I think it is about someone (himself, or a girl) who just isn't satisfied and can't be peaceful.

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brown_polyester
12-26-2004

Rated 0 
what do you mean, amity isn't a name? anything can be a name. cases in point: rivers cuomo; river phoenix; faith hill; chastity bono. lots of people name children after characteristics and virtues and items. think about some other names that are somewhat common. fern is a plant or a girl's name. forest is a group of trees or a boy's name.

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katei
12-28-2004

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I guess that came across as being rude, but what I guess I ment was I wouldn't have ever thought of it in the song as being a name. NishFets can name their kid whatever they want, and it's pretty and all, but I was reffering to Noyes thinking it was the name of the girl the song was about. I just never would have thought amity was a name.

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brown_polyester
12-28-2004

Rated 0 
oh, i see. i guess the first line sounds somewhat as if "amity" refers to the name of a person because it says, "amity caught stars in her arms," but i didn't really ever think of it being a girl's name in the song either. i mean, the other times he uses the word, it doesn't work as a name. *shrug*

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caveat emptor
01-01-2005

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Noyes is right, Amity is about a girl, it talks about it in Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing. There's also a picture of Elliott and Amity in it.

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lisalynn
01-09-2005

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yeah i could see it being about a girl and also about friendship, peaceful relationships, etc.. his songs all had more than one direct meaning.. this song works logically thinking about the meaning, and about her as a person.. i havent read the book cause it is an invasion of his privacy which he would have hated, but i think the idea of him not dating her cause he was depressed is odd cause he was usually in a relationship with someone.. even at the time of death he was.. so i dont see that as an excuse?

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lisalynn
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
well heres his answer in an interview:
elliott: it’s a really unguarded song - i made up the lyrics in a couple of minutes and didn’t change them. i like the way it feels, although it’s not an especially deep song at all.

pc: no, not at all. but i love the feel of it. i was dancing around my basement a la uma thurman in “pulp fiction”.
elliott: [laughs] it’s, i don’t know... just a big rock song. it’s a pretty simple song. it’s not so much about the words themselves, but more about how the whole thing sounds. some friends of mine said it sounded like i was trying to get something romantic going with someone, and that’s not what it was supposed to be about. it was supposed to be, “you’re really fun to be with and i really like you a lot because of that, but i am really, really depressed.” but i don’t know if that came across. when i said, “ready to go,” it was supposed to mean tired of living.

pc: oh?! like, ready to check out of this world?
elliott: yeah. sorry to make the song depressing for you now. [both laugh]

pc: that’s ok, i’ll still listen. i, too, had thought there was a romantic element to that song. i wondered if the word “amity” was a play on the french word “amite.”
elliott: actually, it’s a person i know.

pc: my favorite part of the song is where you sing, “’cause you laugh and talk/and ‘cause you make my world rock!” it’s such a departure from your usual style of writing, i liked the carefree aspect of it. i remember thinking that most songwriters couldn’t write those lyrics and get way with it. if anyone else had written that, i would have thought, “what a moron!”
elliott: yeah. [laughs] yeah.

pc: but you’re intelligent and your lyrics are so clever that i got the feeling you were purposely letting loose and having fun with the song.
elliott: it was very simple. i was saying, “i really like you and it’s really great to hang out with someone who is happy and easy-going, but i don’t feel like that and i can’t be with you.

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lost_in_twlight
04-04-2005

Rated 0 
lisalynn, i was just wondering how you see the book as an invasion of his privacy? Also i think the more you know about his life the more you know about his songs. it's a direct corilation....he wrote what he felt and it makes it easier to know what events led up to such emotions. Just my take.

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badge
05-28-2005

Rated 0 
i never got this song and it is basically the only elliott smith song i skip if i'm listening to any of the albums through but now that will stop........i always thought of it as a throw-away, nothing song......
how wrong i was! that's really cool, cheers for the insight guys...especially you lisalynn, very helpful.........................RIP

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Amity
10-28-2005

Rated 0 
lol My name is Amity. I wonder if it is about me

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_ellie
01-01-2006

Rated 0 
Elliott Smith always says he's good to go. We should adopt that phrasage, it means a lot now, I guess.

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dontask
01-21-2006

Rated 0 
for all those who say amity isnt real, your very much so wrong, in fact i know amity becasue she lives in my town and owns a vintage clothing store, shes an amazing person with impecable taste,
its no wonder why elliott would devote a song to her.

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mprhodes
03-30-2006

Rated 0 
A vintage clothes shop? Cool. My contribution, from an Elliott Smith news site in 1997:

"From an Elliott Smith news site in 1997:
"--> Elliott Sightings from Around the Globe

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mprhodes
03-30-2006

Rated 0 
(cont. from post above...)

"From an Elliott Smith news site in 1997: "...Elliott was once spotted courting a woman with a hello kitty wallet, hello kitty barrettes,and a keropi backpack (keropi - hello kitty's frog friend)-- more power to him .. hello rox my world.""

Correlating this, the interviews, and the lyrics paints an interesting picture.

Source:

http://members.tripod.com/~skylash/flash.html

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Antonskey
07-26-2006

Rated 0 
*Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing by Benjamin Nugent*

"When Smith toured with Santen in 1997 in 1997, Smith seemed to be trying to pull out of Portland emotionally. In his tradition of the including names of real people in his songs, he would record the song "Amity" for XO after getting involved with a young, pretty woman of the same name who appears in photographs taken during his 1997 tour" (Nugent 111). It then goes on to talk about those pictures, saying that Elliott and Amity could be seen walking around Cambridge with his arms around her waist and both smiling. During this time in Elliott's life though, he was determined to get his life in order. On his agenda was to buy a real home with the money he had earned (all this prior to the "Miss Misery" fame). So I think that this song is, in my opinion, most certainly about the Amity Elliott Smith was friends with.

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beside the dark
12-28-2006

Rated 0 
I met Amity, she owns a small vintage shop in Portsmouth, NH. She's a kind soul.

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dubtiger
02-07-2007

Rated 0 
god dont make no junk but its plain to see that he still made me

that line didnt even hit me until a few days ago

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smalltownwonder
10-26-2007

Rated 0 
It's too bad you guys don't know what this song is about. I am from Amity, Oregon and we love this song because Elliott Smith actually came through Amity (population: 1500) and then wrote a song about it. The line about New York? He's comparing New York and Amity.

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1 Reply
mariahcantswim
01-25-2008

Rated 0 
Amity tracked me down in a record shop in Portsmouth because she thought I shoplifted from her store. I hadn't, but it made me real sad that someone would steal from her because she is the nicest girl ever.

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sweetadeline112358
09-04-2008

Rated 0 
as Elliott explains in an interview for Magnet magazine, "i made up the lyrics in a couple of minutes and didn't change them. i like the way it feels, although it's not an especially deep song. it's not about the words themselves, but more about how the whole thing sounds."

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