A man reminisces about one night stuck in a Honda truck with the love of his life during a downpour. It would be the last time they were together before he left town. Still reminiscing about that moment, and his regrets, he buys a truck to keep the memory alive. The scenario plays like the setting of a dramatic screenplay, or as if someone lived it in real life, but “I Bought a Honda” is a fictionalized song pulled from miscellaneous moving pictures in Elliot Greer’s mind.
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On the sentimentally drawn ballad, the New York City-based Scottish singer and songwriter’s mind floods with relatable scenarios and the “what ifs” of lost love. If you ever find that you’ve given up / You’ve made a mistake or you’re just out of luck / We could go right back to that night / Only this time do things right, Greer sings.
“Like many of my songs, ‘I Bought A Honda’ is a fictional story derived from glimpses of personal experience, fleeting feelings that led my spiraling mind into some other walk of life; in this case, a man romanticizing his past so much that he buys an entire car just to feel connected to it,” said Greer in a previous statement. “It’s silly when you say the name or try to summarize the concept, but the actual lyrics and melody will try their best to break your heart. You do have to listen carefully, but it’s worth it for the punchline I think.”
Capturing the more lonesome lyrics, the song is complemented by a video, directed by Sergio Miranda, which was shot along some backroads of Upstate New York. A follow-up to Greer’s 2020 debut, Handcrafted, and his most recent releases “The End,” “Bleed,” and “33,” his new batch of songs were all written in December 2022.
For Greer, who has generated more than 1.4 million views (and growing) across TikTok and Instagram, these current stories are the beginning of something new. “I Bought a Honda” enters a more fulfilled era of songwriting for Greer.
“‘I Bought a Honda’ is a shift from my other recent releases in that we’ve experimented with a fuller, more produced sound,” shared Greer, who co-produced the song with Nick Ruth. “It’s exciting. It builds and takes you somewhere. … It really sparkles.”
Greer spoke to American Songwriter about some of the themes surfacing in his new songs and making more stories up as he goes along.
American Songwriter: When did some of these new songs start piecing together after the release of Handcrafted (2020)?
Elliot Greer: These new songs “The End,” “Bleed,” “33” and “Honda” were all written in under a month. Now, this may seem impressive, but I spent years writing and writing and most songs didn’t come to much. That’s until I started writing outside of my own spectrum. To me, it was almost like unlocking a new level of songwriting.
Someone very dear to me once said “When you write from what you know you eventually hit a ceiling, but when you use your imagination there is no limit.” That’s my approach now. I also believe songs are always for the listener, not the writer. It’s for you, not me.
AS: As you spend more time with these new songs, are there any threads you’ve noticed between them?
EG: I think there are clear themes of addiction, struggling with vices, death in relation to love, there’s also a lot of driving in my songs. I’ve noticed people are pretty shocked to discover that I don’t have a big personal connection to the threads they may pick up on in these new songs.
I’ve never struggled with addiction, I’ve never dealt with the death of a significant other, I don’t even have a U.S. driver’s license. I’ve, of course, experienced intense heartbreak, but not the exact heartbreak I’m describing in these songs. I think that’s the big thread: all of these songs tie back to that very real, high-stakes sort of love. That’s the emotion I’m passionate about conveying.
AS: There’s a definite sense of longing and grief for something that no longer is on “I Bought a Honda.” How does it weave into this new batch of songs that you’re working on now?
EG: This song, the more I live with it, has struck a chord in me. Again, it’s not a personal experience but the more I live with these characters that I created, I feel heartbroken for them. It’s essentially a love story about a guy who leaves his hometown and his lady behind and years later discovers that he made the biggest mistake of his life. So despite living in New York City, he buys the same Honda she drove the last night they saw each other as it’s the closest thing to her he’ll ever get. I don’t drive as much as I used to but I bought a Honda to remind me of you.
“33” is about losing someone you love to addiction; “Bleed” is the opposite in that it’s about someone you love keeping you away from your vices. “The End” is about falling back into your vices after losing someone you love; and “Honda” is about fear of love, and losing someone because you weren’t strong enough to stay.
AS: Sonically, was there something you wanted to approach differently with these songs from Handcrafted?
EG: Sonically I wanted to achieve a record that has at times less elements but feels more epic than Handcrafted. I wanted to achieve a rawness with a romantic undertone to most of these songs. I also included a small glimmer of hope in each of these songs. What I mean by that is as the listener I want you to think, “This guy is really going through it but maybe things will turn out alright in the end.” I think as human beings we need hope. If we lose hope, we lose everything.
AS: How do songs typically come together for you these days?
EG: Today my songs come together from more of an observational storytelling perspective.
I used to pull from personal experiences and now I find inspiration in other people’s stories. Something from a friend of a friend, something I read, a passing thought in a TV show. I find inspiration in the least inspiring places at times.
Pulling from my imagination means I’m only limited by my imagination. A lot of songs these days and even my previous writing is more vague, trying to relate to everyone. By putting myself in the position of others, I’ve allowed myself to unlock a new level to my writing and express the same emotions I felt before in a more vivid way.
Photo: Sergio Miranda / Courtesy of Arista Records
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