Elliott Smith
Forum
I came to talk about elliott smith, because he is the greatest song writer of the past 20 years.
He is, to me, on the level of, say, the beatles, or anyone else of that caliber. Say what you will, but, he speaks for himself.
>>By some guy (Friday, 18 Apr 2003 10:38)
got Elliot?
>>By logdogma (Thursday, 8 May 2003 23:12)
Elliot Smith one of the few artists that I can listen to on a regular basis and not get tired of.. His albums are solid from beginning to end. I ecspecially like the Rose Parade off of Either/Or. Another artist I am really into right now is Ashley McIsaac. What does everyone think of him and his fiddle talent?
>>By Drake1 (Thursday, 8 May 2003 23:46)
Elliott Smith is one of those few amazingly talented musicians in this day and age. He is somehow able to amaze me with every song that he writes, and i agree with "some guy" that Elliott is on the same caliber with the Beatles. Elliott's voice has an intruiging lilting quality to it that i have heard in no other human. I love "say yes" off of Either/Or -- it has a lot of Beatle-esque properties to it, but it also stand on its own as being a brilliant song.
Elliott...don't ever stop molding sound into music of the gods!
>>By Eleanor Rigby (Tuesday, 17 Jun 2003 04:44)
he is a wonderfull song writer i also think that Tool and or Maynard James Keenan is one of the greatest lyricists i have ever known along with many others........Mike Patton and Neil Fallon for example.......but gosh yes i love mr. Smith
>>By u4ea (Thursday, 19 Jun 2003 01:25)
elliot is godleness
>>By jonathan (Monday, 30 Jun 2003 07:27)
"continuous repeat" on his song Between the Bars.....what can i say besides smile gently and nod to the fact that this wee man is talented :)
>>By Miss Prim and Perverse (Saturday, 5 Jul 2003 10:26)
although elliot is a honest reminder of a terrible relationship i cannot help but to listen to his sounds over and over again. elliot rocks my world.
>>By blue (Tuesday, 15 Jul 2003 02:14)
Steven Paul (Elliott) Smith. August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003
Elliot Smith died yesterday........
>>By Campking (Wednesday, 22 Oct 2003 13:46)
i mean its not like his music/lyrics didn't foreshadow and inevitable suicide, but still, this is a sad, sad , sad day for for all that loved him.
>>By RIPelliot (Thursday, 23 Oct 2003 02:50)
horribly sad...
>>By Chelsea Hideous (Thursday, 23 Oct 2003 06:52)
How did he suicide? any note why?
he was working on his sixth album, guess that when it ever sees light it must the darkest ever.........
>>By Campking (Thursday, 23 Oct 2003 17:59)
i was completely devistated when i heard about elliot smith's death. he was like my musical father and i agree that he was the one artist i could listen to forever again and again. he was a great singer,songwriter, musician and person. i met him and i can honestly say i will miss him forever.
>>By shankara (Saturday, 25 Oct 2003 17:50)
I've been waking up to my brain playing, 'Waltz #2', and 'Happiness', the past few days. Jesus, Elliott. Why did you have to say good-bye so soon?
Thank you for the words, and haunting melodies that will forever be inside me. Wish you would have decided to stay a while longer. The gifts remain.
Be at peace Steven, XO.
Lisa
>>By legoflamb (Monday, 27 Oct 2003 23:06)
OK. Like I said in my bio, I think Elliot needed better advice about how to save his life.
I don't know a thing about his history, but I KNOW some anti-depressants might have just have lifted that dark curtain or tempered the pain and allowed him to work and "enjoy" life enough to give it a chance. Some people can't hear advice or they are just ignorant, stubborn, etc. Fuck that, just see a fucking regular doctor and he can help you with even severe issues such as depression, mania, etc. I imagine people said things to him like, "Elliott, man, you got so much going for you! We lover you, man. Don't do it!" But unfortunately it's not a choice you have control over. Your brain is SICK - that's it, goddammit. GET SOME MEDS and stop suffering! DUDE! That's what I would have told him.
People (especially "artists") think medication isn't cool - like it makes you some sort of classless fool. But playing around and mixing your own formula with iIllegal drugs is ok, right?
Hey, WAKE UP. If you have a kidney that was failing or your finger was bleeding, you wouldn't think... hey I wonder why I'm bleeding? or why I'm dying here with a bad tumor? - NAH!!! No way, you'd trek right over to the local clinic and push your way to the front of the line. So I imagine his close friends and experts were either too stupid or too scared to suggest that he take care of his depression and deal with it and MOVE ON. C'mon people - what the FUCK?
>>By agropoliusa (Saturday, 22 Nov 2003 01:24)
Finger is bleeding-->See a doctor to take care of it.
It's called common sense.But u see Elliott must have lost that.
That's what happens when you do shitloads of drugs.
>>By thom (Saturday, 22 Nov 2003 19:35)
It's called common sense.But u see Elliott must have lost that.
That's what happens when you do shitloads of drugs.
Perhaps but more likely the issue was not the drug use, but the emptiness left when the drugs wear off and the depression returns. That's where medication and therapy are the only way out of the trap.
You could say then that homeless people (usually with mental illness) are choosing to live life eating out of a trash can because they've forgotten what good food tastes like. It's much more likely that their brains aren't letting them realize that they are sick and thus we say, ok then, you think you're fine so go get a job and take a bath! Some people toss them a quarter or look the other way. If we say we want to help them and they refuse the help and argue that they are not sick, we accept their self-diagnosis and say "oh well, too bad."
There's a good book out there called "I'm not sick, I Don't Need Help". Take a look at that if you want the facts.
- XXOO
>>By agropoliusa (Monday, 24 Nov 2003 16:01)
Either it is the use itself or "the emptiness left when the drugs wear off", it's still about the drugs.And although I find your comparison of drug addicts to homeless people unsuccessful, I do think that eventually you are coming round to my point of view as far as common sense is concerned. Additionally, I believe you cannot force your help onto anyone if they feel they do not need it. Anyway, we can never really know what was inside the guy's heart and mind but I think his thinly veiled drug abuse prevented him from sorting it out.
>>By thom (Tuesday, 25 Nov 2003 00:13)
In interviews with close friends, they said he cut himself off from people who tried to help him the last years of his life. Maybe after trying every possible way to heal himself, and staying clean for awhile he still felt miserable and thought he would never feel better. You get to that point, when you think what more can I do, to feel something, anything to keep alive, and feel a beautiful moment. It's horrible to think of taking yourself out in such a violent way, but some of us can identify with that pain, and not care who we leave hurting. I hope he is at peace wherever he is, and I can only recently listen to his music, and feel joy, and want to continue on for a while longer in the world because of his amazing gift.
>>By legoflamb (Saturday, 29 Nov 2003 22:00)
sucks. I actually just started listening to him today and i think hes awsome. Im going to buy all of his cd's now. Its a shame, everytime i hear a great band/songwriter, they either break up or pass away. Im a big curse.
>>By hXc bill (Monday, 8 Dec 2003 00:08)
elliot smith wrote som fine songs. he also wrote songs that had already been written many, many times over by others. to put him on a par with the single most revolutionary, innovative, charasmatic, influential, and joy-evoking band in the histroy of modern popular music (the beatles, of course), shows very little knowledge of or thought into the history and process of making such music. name one innovation smith made? name one song as creative or complex as 'a day in the life' or 'across the universe'? name one album as important in this context, or as multi-layered as 'revolver' that smith made? you can't. hell, noone else of their time could either, so how could he by himself? the closest anyone else came was 'blonde on blonde' (equal to the beatles in lyrics and musicians), 'highway 61 revisited', 'freak out', 'beggar's banquet', 'astral weeks' (equal to the beatles in inspiration and spirit), and 'electric ladyland'. as far as the drug addiction goes, we should all know by now that there are multiple "grades" of human personalities and psychochemical makeup. the intense dependency one depressant develops may not be as strong on another person suffering from an equal degree of depression. just like there are addictive personalitites, there are those of us who can resist such addictions but still suffer greatly from the basic symptoms of depression. it becomes as matter of how much you want to live and how much you want to have others help you, be with you. mr. smith, if it was a suicide as it seems to have been, chose his limit to what you could stand. i can respect that because i have made my peace with this life, and i am hopefully optimistc that he did as well.
>>By exile103 (Friday, 12 Dec 2003 07:27)
what magazine article did you copy that out of?
...just kidding
.billy
>>By hXc bill (Friday, 12 Dec 2003 19:58)
Since his death remains an open-ended question at this point, and cannot be ruled out as suicide or homicide, your text, exile, remains moot. He was a prolific and beautiful writer, as well as a dexterious and crafty guitar picker.
His songs rival those of his favorite band, and George Harrrison, whom he'd listened to since the tender age of four.
It's Elliott, with the extra "t".... and he did write some fine songs.
Try 'Alameda', or 'No Name #5' at 2 in the morning when you can't sleep, and see where your heart lies.
>>By legoflamb (Friday, 2 Jan 2004 23:22)
Hey Exile 103, you left out one important and seminally-influential artist: Davi Bowie, who single-handedly presaged most punk, new wave, glam, and other genres. Talk about innovative!
>>By teacher (Tuesday, 9 Mar 2004 09:40)
I'm not sure I can add anything new that would impress anyone, but Elliott Smith's music has made a huge impact on my songwriting and my outlook on certain things. He touched so many and so delicately. For me, he is in the category that includes Lennon, Costello, Richard Thompson, Brian Wilson - real crafters of songs and expression. We can only imagine what he would have been capable of had he lived. God bless you, Elliott, for your gift of song.
>>By Thunderbroom (Tuesday, 23 Mar 2004 20:28)
Elliott is one of the best artists that have ever been on this earth. There is too much about him that is completely amazing. There are very few bands/artists that have affected me in a way that Elliott has. I could go on and on about him but I'll leave it.
>>By xfadetobrightx (Saturday, 5 Feb 2005 22:54)
i love this artist, anyone know when he is touring again?
>>By sp1kee (Thursday, 6 Oct 2005 16:02)
Hey exile 103, I like Elliot Smith very much, but your take on the situation is spot-on! Would love to communicate with you re. music (the Beatles are indeed untouchable!) and any other topics of interest. Elliot Smith was a genius, but there sure have been others...and some of them touched many more hearts. Exile 103, write back!
>>By teacher (Friday, 7 Oct 2005 15:30)
Hey sp1kee, he died, and will only tour in our hearts. You must know this, therefore your comment is quite cruel. If you do not know this, then why are you on this thread? C'mon, be informed, take a stand or get off!
>>By teacher (Friday, 7 Oct 2005 15:33)
teacher, don't expect a reply from exile103, he has gone, much like Elliott Smith, ironically, you might say. although, personally, i am over hearing about how the 1960s were the golden age of music and everything since is generic crap. partly because its true, it is impossible to argue that Lennon/McCartney weren't the greatest pop/rock songwriters of all time. but i hate living some sort of nostalgic time warp, as many do, and writing off all new or recent music as being inferior to the Beasties. but some people seem to choose to deliberately not enjoy this music. personally, there are albums i love more than the Beatles' best, because of more fuller production (better recording equipment, etc) and nicer voices. (neither Lennon or McCartney are my favourite vocalists, although both come close on occasions). none of Elliott Smith discs are among those albums. but i love the guy.
>>By sp1kee (Saturday, 8 Oct 2005 01:37)
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