Song · Elliott Smith
“Between the Bars” by Elliott Smith
From the album Either/Or (1997)
“Between the Bars” by Elliott Smith appears on 5 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2007 and 2023. It was first released in 1997 on the album Either/Or. Its best result is #47 on the KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,932 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Between the Bars" sits on Either/Or, Elliott Smith's third album, released in 1997, and it sounds like a song being sung to you from the next pillow over. Smith wrote every word and note himself, and Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf handled the mix.
The melody sways like a lullaby, and that's the trick: underneath the tenderness, as Pitchfork later pointed out, lies the soft, seductive pull of the bottle, drinking dressed up as comfort. The same year it became one of three Either/Or tracks picked for the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, and it has since turned up in the film Stuck in Love and an episode of Rick and Morty.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 566 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2018 | 741 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2019 | 47 | KEXP | KEXP Listeners' Favorite Songs of All Time | 627 |
| 2021 | 692 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s | 908 |
| 2023 | 312 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s | 893 |
Also listed as: Between The Bars.
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