Ballad of Big Nothing

"Throwing candy out to the crowd Dragging down the main"

• Candy being his often negative, depressing lyrics that he throws out to the main, which is the general audience, the recievers of his messages. I believe Elliott thought he was a bad influence, so this fits with that motif nicely.

"The helpless little thing with the dirty mouth Who's always got something to say"

• talking about himself, referring to himself as a helpless little nothing with only negative, critical assesments of the world. However, having an artistic, analytical mind, he's always got an opinion, and something to say, but from his perspective, this isn't always a good tihng.

"You're sitting at home now Waiting for your brother to call I saw him down at the alley Having had enough of it all Said you can do what you want to whenever you want to You can do what you want to, there's no one to stop you"

• whether he's referring to his actual brother, or perhaps just a friend, a symbolic brother, to call, but since Elliott was a bit of a difficult guy, his brother basically says, 'fuck it- you're too difficult. i wanted to help, but you're not getting anywhere."

"All spit and spite, you're up all night And down every day"

• all spit means he's all talk, which is only fueled by his own spite. He's awake all night and depressed everyday.

"A tired man with only hours to go Just waiting to be taken away"

• he's just waiting for death, hoping it'll come for him soon.

"Getting into the back of a car For candy from some stranger watching the parade with pinpoint eyes Full of smoldering anger"

• while his fans get a rise from his lyrics, i assume he gets his rise from whatever this stranger has to offer, maybe just company, maybe sex- it's hard for me to guess here. all the while he's watching the parade, which is a metaphor for life, with his analytical eyes tearing everything a part and making assessments and judgments with a deep seated "smoldering anger" because of what he sees in the world.

"You can do what you want to whenever you want to You can do what you want to, there's no one to stop you Now you can do what you want to whenever you want to Do what you want to whenever you want to Do what you want to whenever you want to Though it doesn't mean a thing Big nothing"

• repeating the main part of the song, which reveals a theme that i think hints at suicide, but also at how others get tired of his antics, if thats what you want to call it. in the end, elliott is the big nothing, big perhaps because of fame, but nothing, because that's how he viewed himself.

this all just guesswork and how i view the song, but thought i'd throw it out there.