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| Sitting here on the Saturday night when the clocks go back an hour, listening to the first Elliott Smith album. I heard last night that he killed himself earlier in the week and I still can hardly believe it. Okay, so I didn�t know the guy personally but I�ve fucking loved his music ever since the first time I heard it. When I saw him live a few years ago I was pretty disappointed because I felt like he was trying too hard to make his songs rock and they�re way too intimate for that kind of treatment, especially in the confines of a three-piece band. Anyway, I always hoped to see him play solo acoustic one day. That won�t be happening now, obviously, and what a great shame it is because I�ve got a solo bootleg of one of his gigs and it sounds great. His songs are like miniature short stories. You don�t always know exactly what�s going on or even who the characters are but it doesn�t matter because they carry an emotional weight all of their own. And you can fit them into your own life, like all the best songs. A lot seem to deal with addiction and abuse and Elliott was always kind of reluctant to talk about this in interviews but he almost always conducted interviews and did most of his writing in bars, and I think that kind of speaks for itself. He felt like a kindred spirit wandering around the world somewhere. His lyrics pop into my head at the oddest times. I especially love the song �St Ides Heaven� from his second LP: �Walking out between parked cars with my head full of stars, high on amphetamines�. And, of course, the constant references to alcoholic beverages always struck a great chord with me. He said in an interview years ago that he once tried to kill himself by jumping off a cliff, so I don�t know why it came as such a shock to find out he had really gone through with it. Maybe it�s hard to believe someone so gifted could ever really do such a thing. But, sadly, it seems like the most gifted people of all often feel the worst and can�t see any hope for themselves while the useless and talentless cunts of this world just go on and on living forever and contributing nothing at all. Strangely, I was playing Elliott�s most famous song (the Oscar-nominated �Miss Misery�) on Tuesday, the day he�s reported to have died, although I didn�t know it at the time. I was also paying a lot more attention than usual to the �Figure 8� sticker which is on my stereo. Now he�s bound to be immortalised as some sort of tragic Nick Drake/Kurt Cobain figure which is inevitable, I suppose. Only last night someone emailed me about the clip I have of him doing a song on some TV show. The clamour has started. It happens every time someone famous dies. Just don�t forget he was a fucking great songwriter and, above all, a human being. I hope he finds some peace wherever he is now.Sitting here on the Saturday night when the clocks go back an hour, listening to the first Elliott Smith album. I heard last night that he killed himself earlier in the week and I still can hardly believe it. Okay, so I didn�t know the guy personally but I�ve fucking loved his music ever since the first time I heard it. When I saw him live a few years ago I was pretty disappointed because I felt like he was trying too hard to make his songs rock and they�re way too intimate for that kind of treatment, especially in the confines of a three-piece band. Anyway, I always hoped to see him play solo acoustic one day. That won�t be happening now, obviously, and what a great shame it is because I�ve got a solo bootleg of one of his gigs and it sounds great. His songs are like miniature short stories. You don�t always know exactly what�s going on or even who the characters are but it doesn�t matter because they carry an emotional weight all of their own. And you can fit them into your own life, like all the best songs. A lot seem to deal with addiction and abuse and Elliott was always kind of reluctant to talk about this in interviews but he almost always conducted interviews and did most of his writing in bars, and I think that kind of speaks for itself. He felt like a kindred spirit wandering around the world somewhere. His lyrics pop into my head at the oddest times. I especially love the song �St Ides Heaven� from his second LP: �Walking out between parked cars with my head full of stars, high on amphetamines�. And, of course, the constant references to alcoholic beverages always struck a great chord with me. He said in an interview years ago that he once tried to kill himself by jumping off a cliff, so I don�t know why it came as such a shock to find out he had really gone through with it. Maybe it�s hard to believe someone so gifted could ever really do such a thing. But, sadly, it seems like the most gifted people of all often feel the worst and can�t see any hope for themselves while the useless and talentless cunts of this world just go on and on living forever and contributing nothing at all. Strangely, I was playing Elliott�s most famous song (the Oscar-nominated �Miss Misery�) on Tuesday, the day he�s reported to have died, although I didn�t know it at the time. I was also paying a lot more attention than usual to the �Figure 8� sticker which is on my stereo. Now he�s bound to be immortalised as some sort of tragic Nick Drake/Kurt Cobain figure which is inevitable, I suppose. Only last night someone emailed me about the clip I have of him doing a song on some TV show. The clamour has started. It happens every time someone famous dies. Just don�t forget he was a fucking great songwriter and, above all, a human being. I hope he finds some peace wherever he is now. |