I Miss You Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith

On October 21st 2003 I felt the same pain of a loss of a great musician as I felt when Jeff Buckley died. I had a friend who was in tears. I had a radio show to do that night and I quickly ran to the station to put in a request for change of show. When I went to school and was on the radio you could do variety shows or for me I did a few specialty shows. When I submitted my change for that night I got a little resistance, but I made my point. The person who said they were a music director had no idea who or what was an Elliott Smith. I gave him a lecture like he was a two year old and won my battle. Elliott Smith was one of the most important people in modern rock.

Elliott Smith came into my life in the summer of 1996. He was played on the two college radio stations I listened to frequently. I liked the layered sound of the instruments and his haunting vocals. Elliott was not like the indie rock of the day. Most music was caught on and quickly thrown on MTV and within two weeks was quickly circulated out for something new. With Elliott Smith he was so below the radar that MTV could not catch him. It was not till he did the music for Good Will Hunting is when his popularity surfaced.



I really did not pay attention to the popularity I just continued to listen to him more and more. When I went back to college in 2000 I kinda forgot about him for a while. Not that I was not listening to him, but I wanted to hear other stuff. Then one day I had a friend who had a bunch of Elliott Smith bootlegs that I should check out. I asked him the obvious question if he could make me a b-sides comp. Without fail he did. It was great, and I used it for a radio show or two. Elliott's music was full of pain and at sometimes wonderful lyrics and truth. He loved to cover artists that I enjoyed listening to. He was a huge Beatles fan as well as Neil Young. The only thing I did not know about Elliott was that he was in a full fledged band before going solo. His band I was not familiar with until his death.

Elliott's music once more became popular when one of his songs was featured in Royal Tenenbaums and at that point it made me review his music once more. I thought the song that they put on the soundtrack was wonderful. I might have over played it while at college, but it was a song that needed to be heard. It was amazing that his popularity did not gain more in popularity. At that point I liked his music more and more.



Over the next year before his death I always included a Elliott Smith song on my indie rock shows. Elliott was someone special and his words were now more important then ever. I would go back to the older albums and pick some songs that spoke volumes and should be heard. My listening became more and more intense. I thought that most of his music was the best thing I ever heard he was second to Jeff Buckley as a modern solo artist.

Then tragedy struck one of the most important people in music. In the fall of 2003 I hosted a show that specialized in modern, indie and Alternative Rock. This show I think was one of my best short shows. I had an hour, but I packed in a lot of this kind of music in this hour. I played Built to Spill, Fugazi, Elliott Smith, Pavement, Bjork, Radiohead, Death Cab For Cutie and Beck just to name a select few. I went to the record store I visit very frequently and that eventful day I came in to get ready for my show and tell my trainee who happened to work there that I will let her do the whole hour. She was in tears. When I asked what was wrong, she informed me of Elliott Smith's passing. I told her that we will do a whole show devoted to him and if we can we spill over to do a second hour. We got a set together and thanks to a friend we got some rare stuff to play.



It was a great show, but it was for me a time to reflect on how great he really was. After college they put out his last album. I'm not a person who likes put pushing posthumously albums, but this one is a true gem. There are so many songs on here that are true Elliott Smith songs. His words and the music go together so well. He will be sorely missed, and once in a while I listen to how much he has meant to me. Normally, I suggest songs for you to listen to, but this time I just suggest you listen to his whole catalog. I leave you on this post with his haunting, but great lyrics to one of my favorite songs. The song is called "A Fond Farewell." Enjoy!

The Litebrite's now black and white
'Cos you took apart a picture that wasn't right
Pitch burning on a shining sheet
The only maker that you want to meet
A dying man in a living room
Whose shadow paces the floor
Who'll take you out in the open door
This is not my life
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
It's not what I'm like
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
Who couldn't get things right
A fond farewell to a friend
He said really I just want to dance
Good and evil match perfect, it's a great romance
And I can deal with some psychic pain
If it'll slow down my higher brain
Veins full of disappearing ink
Vomiting in your kitchen sink
Disconnecting from the missing link
This is not my life
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
It's not what I'm like
I'ts just a fond farewell to a friend
Who couldn't get things right
A fond farewell to a friend
I see you're leaving me
And taking up with the enemy
The cold comfort of the in-between
A little less than a human being
A little less than a happy high
A little less than a suicide
The only things that you really tried
This is not my life
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
It's not what I'm like
It's just a fond farewell to a friend
Who couldn't get things right
A fond farewell to a friend
This is not my life
It's just a fond farewell to a friend