For many members of the buzz Music team, Elliott Smith was our first introduction to “indie” music. The music buzz once described as “engrossing and beautiful” has held its staying power long after Smith’s passing–certainly a testament to emotional prowess. Below you will find some of our favorites, picks that have seen us repeat the inevitable cycles of falling in love and breaking up, finding ourselves and losing touch.
“Miss Misery,” Good Will Hunting Soundtrack
Rewritten exclusively for the classic 1998 film Good Will Hunting, the Academy Award-nominated track ironically catapulted Elliott to the forefront of pop culture, yet like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to Kurt Cobain, “Miss Misery” became a constant source of public discomfort. The song is also generally disliked by most fans, with Smith’s label Kill Rock Stars waiting nearly a decade before releasing the original recording on the New Moon collection of b-sides and rarities. Smith avoided playing the song live (after the stiff and uncomfortable performance at the 1998 Academy Awards show, it’s easy to see why), but it really isn’t such a bad song. At the very least, it’s a necessary place to start understanding the tension between celebrity and privacy that would come to, in many ways, define Smith’s career. –Tyler Durgan
“A Fond Farewell,” From a Basement on the Hill
Elliott Smith’s posthumous release From a Basement on the Hill is innately somber considering its circumstance, but in true Smith fashion, it’s overwhelmingly alive with his genius meld of merciful melodies, honest humility and unforgiving pain. In this way, the album is uplifting, resonating as a reminder that near perfection and striking melancholy can and does exist in music. “A Fond Farewell,” placing itself a third of the way through the album, encompasses these Smith characteristics all too well. Painfully truthful in Smith’s portrayal of dealing with oneself in the daily drag and labor of life, “A Fond Farewell” manages to not only display drug addiction and depression, but hope and strength as well. Smith’s lyrics describe one part of him talking to another, seeing the struggling half nearly evaporate as it’s caught in a “romance” with the fighting, healthier half. His vocals layer as if to display this dual life; while strengthening the sound, the eerie beauty is a true representation of his “fond farewell to a friend.” – Carrie McMenamin
“The Biggest Lie,” Elliott Smith
Singers of power ballads, take note: the key to tugging at a listener’s heartstrings has little to do with the volume of your voice. “The Biggest Lie” clocks in at under three minutes and features vocals rarely louder than a whisper, but still has the ability to make any listener ache in that profound “all I can do is stare at the ceiling and press replay” kind of way. Every element of the song is filled with exceptional thought and care; the gingerly plucked guitar strings, the simple yet soul-crushingly beautiful lyrics, the raw, unedited sound of his voice. It’s one of the most soulful pieces of music I’ve ever heard. –Anwen Parrott
“Ballad of Big Nothing,” Either/Or
This was the first Elliott Smith song I ever heard and it will always be my favorite. It had me hooked from the smooth slide of the song’s opening note. And then there’s the drums that seem to sputter in and out then come in at the perfect time like a guy praying for his old car to start and after pounding on the dashboard, it finally kicks in. “Ballad of Big Nothing” is a perfect mix between feel-good sound and angst-driven lyrics. The perfect introduction to Elliott Smith. –Sean Neumann
“Alphabet Town,” Elliott Smith
While this song isn’t my favorite song in his catalog and usually isn’t even my favorite song on the self-titled, I think it is essential to any Elliott Smith play list for the fact that it is overwhelmingly and whimsically pretty. There is a certain melancholy that sneaks into almost all of Smith’s music, but “Alphabet Town” always sounds like an honest grasp at a cloudy and confused contentedness amidst an album full of songs that tend to highlight Smith’s restlessness with reality. Specifically, the harmonica creates the sort of dreamlike quality that accompanies some of the truly remarkable moments in human relationships. To me, this song is a meandering walk on an Autumn afternoon with the imperfect person that you love in spite of your struggle to love the imperfections in yourself. –Nick Rossi
“King’s Crossing,” From a Basement on the Hill
When a certain subject matter resurfaces time and time again in the music world, a song addressing that subject has to be something truly spectacular to stand out. “King’s Crossing,” one of Smith’s many compositions about his drug addiction, is such a song. With a ridiculously clever use of metaphor, an unusually dramatic and full buildup, and a spooky organ-esque instrument occasionally chiming in, Elliott produced one of the more haunting and personalized songs about addiction. The unique tune, which resembles a nightmarish twist on the waltz, is one you remember, but the stinging lyrics, which give the listener a glimpse into the artist’s tortured mind, make this piece impossible to forget. –AP
“Angeles,” Either/Or
Is it possible to listen to “Angeles” and emerge unaffected? Whether it be the delicacy with which chords are plucked or the fact that the lyrics could be taken straight from the pages of a poetry book, something about this song manages to simultaneously pinpoint the vulnerability of both the artist and the listener. It’s an enchanting song, and makes for a great introduction into the desolately brilliant world of Elliott. –AP
“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Figure 8
Just a short, simple song that is often over before I even realize I’m listening to it. The guitar just rolls smoothly under four concise quatrains consisting of slightly bitter yet bold jabs at somebody that irked Elliott by irreverently disregarding their relationship. Personally, I imagine him singing this song with a sarcastic smirk on his lips and that brings smile to my face every time I listen to it. Although easily applied to a failed romance or a former friend, many muse that the song’s lyrics was actually written about Smith’s Heatmiser bandmate Neil Gust, adding a whole different twist on the intention of the tune. In that multi-faceted meaning is the beauty of the song: the message is universal enough that it can be applied to just about any rotted relationship. Whoever the intended recipient of the criticisms in “Somebody That I Used to Know” in Smith’s mind, we can be sure that they could get bent. –NR
“Between the Bars,” Either/Or
This was my favorite Elliott Smith track for a long time. The seeming simplicity of the waltz time signature and winding vocal melody is betrayed by a rhyme scheme that begins basic enough, but quickly turns in on itself, twisting into odd convulsions that finally dissipate when the final line of each verse suddenly introduces a brand new consonance. It is a disjointed, jilting feeling that mirrors the alienation of an alocholic from his friends, singing from inside a prison cell, reaching out to us between the bars. –TD
“Angel in the Snow,” New Moon
After the massiveness and in-studio excess of Figure 8 and From a Basement on the Hill, it became easy to forget the power inherent in the simple duo of Smith and a single acoustic guitar. The 2007 release of New Moon, a collection of b-sides and rarities dating from between 1994 and 1997, prompted a welcome reminder of this emotional prowess. Lead track “Angel in the Snow” is one of the best on this record. Coming to us from way back in the Elliott Smith sessions, the song marries Smith’s early quietness and affection for 3/4 timing with his later emphasis on weaving bass lines. You could be forgiven for mistaking Smith’s single guitar for many more–his skill as a guitarist, often understated, is pushed to the forefront here by its close mimicry of the vocal melody. When a second guitar does come in over the bridge, it serves as a continuation of the vocals’ character, rather than a brief distraction. Even this early in his career, Smith was already a determined, thoughtful artist. –TD