One You Should Know: Elliott Smith

Before I got locked up in the basement at work a month or so ago, I had the chance to read Benjamim Nugent's Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing, the first biography on my end-all, be-all fave of the same name. So I figured I'd take this opportunity to combine efforts and give a little recap of the book while also giving my rundown on the best of Elliott's earlier work.

Nugent's book is a frustrating read -- the first "official" biography to come out, it tries to tell the story of Elliott's life from youth in Texas to his wrenching demise in Los Angeles. (And for my tastes, spends far too long dwelling on those earlier years -- parents divorcing, poor relationship with his stepfather, possible, unexplained abuse. As a result, the first chunk of the book moves at a snail's pace.) The problem with this effort -- and one that compounds the aforementioned statement -- is that, despite being an "official" biography, the people closest to Smith refused to go on record and talk to Nugent themselves. His closest friends in the music community, his family, etc. They are all conspicuously absent.

Which makes reading this book (and Nugent's admittedly difficult task in writing it) a bit like a transcript of a game of Taboo -- there's a lot of talking around things and gaps in what actually transpired. You get a sense of what happened and what Nugent is getting at, but there's all these words he can't say (mainly because he himself doesn't know). It's an admirable effort -- and I've since heard that Smith's family and friends have agreed to talk on a true, "official" biography -- but it means that overall, the book leaves you feeling that you're no closer to understanding Smith and his life than you were when you began.

And part of that comes from the book's focus -- for me, when I pick up a book on Elliott Smith, I want to know how things in his life were translated in the lyrics and melodies of his absolutely heartbreaking music. What drove him to write the brilliant songs he did and to craft such devastating lines? (Like this example, from one of my favorites that appears in the tracklist below, "Pitseleh."

I'm not what's missing from your life now
I could never be the puzzle pieces
They say that God makes problems
Just to see what you can stand
Before you do as the devil pleases
Give up the thing you love...

*

The first time I saw you I knew it would never last
I'm not half what I wish I was
I'm so angry
I don't think it'll ever pass
And I was bad news for you just because
I never meant to hurt you...

It's rare for a songwriter to be as open about the problems he was dealing with as Elliot was in his lyrics and not have it come across as sappy and trite. He wrote about the drug use, alcohol, and depression that plagued him with astonishing honesty, so it's sad to see a somewhat diminished focus on the music that came out of him as a result. One of Elliott's immense gifts was in finding beauty in the sadness -- pairing his wonderful melodies to words that resonated far louder than his dual-tracked whisper of a voice.

One of the best parts of the book -- partly because it seemed like all of the people involved were there on record (Elliott had isolated himself from almost his entire circle of friends by this point, the ones who were so crucially mum earlier) -- was the latter portion detailing the recording process of what would turn out to be his final album, From a Basement on the Hill. His drug use and drinking had become worse than ever, as had his paranoia and somewhat manic behavior, but what comes across in this section is not a tawdry rundown of all his rock and roll excesses, but how immensely gifted and deliberate a musician he was, in spite of those things.

Despite not eating or sleeping much at the time, while still pouring a sizable amount of drugs and alcohol into his system, Elliott was consumed with the recording of the album. He was constantly fiddling with the sound of the album and the equipment used to capture it, doing multiple takes on his guitar parts and vocals just to get it "right," before passing out from exhaustion on the floor or the recording booth's tiny love seat. The album and his music were still the anchor -- some might argue life vest -- that he clung to in the midst of his burgeoning meltdown.

And it comes across in the music. I remember one of the most heartbreaking things about Basement when I first heard it was how happy and confident it sounded. How it finally seemed like Elliott was getting things together and had turned the corner on the darkness that kept threatening to consume him, which made the sadness over how his life ended that much more potent. Unfortunately, as you read about this time of his life in the book it compounds that gutted feeling, both because you realize how bad things had gotten and how fleeting and elusive that last victory was. (Elliott is thought to have stabbed himself in the heart only a few weeks later.)

And so sad biographies aside, what we're left with is the music -- the brilliant, brilliant music. The true gift of Elliott's music, besides the aforementioned descriptions, is in how versatile it is and how it fits such a wide range of emotions. You can listen to the same song dozens of times and the intent and tone of the song will shift with each listen. The nuance and subtlety of his lyrics -- one time thru you'll read a line as happy, the next time as a callous F.U. to whoever's in the crosshairs -- is remarkable and means the songs never get old, despite repeated listens. This list of songs below is the starter set I give people I really like -- I'm not going to betray such a jealously guarded part of myself, and such a brilliant musician, on just anyone -- when I want to introduce them to Elliott.

Comprised of songs off his first four albums (chronologically, this time) -- Roman Candle (songs 1-8), Elliott Smith (9-13), Either/Or (14-18), and XO (19-23) -- they take you from his formative years in Portland to his time in LA and New York. It's a bit heavier on his earlier stuff -- his entire first album (barring the instrumental outro track) is here, as I continue to maintain (as I do with Led Zeppelin) that despite later brilliance, nothing matches the perfection of his debut. Highlights from the rest include the amazing guitar work on "Angeles" (a flawless song -- I get chills every time), the thinly-veiled venom of "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" (a blistering middle finger written after a failed intervention by his friends and family), the bluesy blear of "Alphabet Town," the quiet menace and desperation of "St Ides Heaven" -- the list goes on. They're all jewels.

Every time I give this CD out to someone, I listen to it through again and still find myself struck by how gifted Elliott was. Initially I identified with the difficulty of his life and was captivated by what he made with it. Now I find myself constantly striving to do that which he so repeatedly achieved -- find beauty in the sadness. Enjoy, my friends...

Elliott Smith:

1. Condor Ave.
2. Roman Candle
3. No Name #1
4. No Name #2
5. No Name #3
6. Drive All Over Town
7. No Name #4
8. Last Call
9. Christian Brothers
10. Southern Belle
11. Coming up Roses
12. Alphabet Town
13. St Ides Heaven
14. Angeles
15. Alameda
16. Ballad of Big Nothing
17. Rose Parade
18. Between the Bars
19. Waltz #2 (XO)
20. Baby Britain
21. Pitseleh
22. Independence Day
23. Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands