I despise self-pity. I just have no time for it. It adds nothing,

Again, it's not like Smith's music is bad (although the clunky beat of "Pictures of Me" that sounds like it's a half-beat too fast for Smith's 'singing' comes close), and I daresay Either/Or, up against its deadly dull competition, offers up more momentary pleasures (key word: momentary) than any of Smith's other albums. I like the awkward pause followed by a sad, gentle nudge forward in "Alameda" when he sings 'for one or two...minutes she liked you'; I like the drum fills in "Speed Trials" (even though they're pasted into the song poorly; fragmented), and the way he sings the word 'sockets' is pretty disturbing. The electric guitar lines in "Cupid's Trick" portend something serious if not important. "Rose Parade" and "Say Yes" are tuneful, and the line about tripping over a dog's choke-chain in the former, though ironic, is at least ghoulishly ironic.

Mostly, though, this music is unremarkable, imbued with significance by lazy Gen-Xers and their impressionable followers, simply because they care more about the story than about the music. Y'see, Elliott Smith was a tormented guy whose life would make a dramatic biopic, so by extension his music must be poignant too — that's the logic. (This is the same lazy and backhandedly cynical thinking that turned Daniel Johnston into a cult figure.) Certainly I've never seen any write-up about the guy that's ever come close to ringing true about why Smith's music stands out from all the other bullshit agoraphobic modern indie, and every time I see someone lazily throw out Smith's name as an example of a 'great melodist,' I just feel embarrassed for everyone involved.

Thing is, Smith isn't 'fucking up the simplest lines,' as he sings whispers in one song, because he doesn't have the balls to be truly ragged and off-the-cuff. No, no — these songs are supposed to signify, but not with any immediacy; they're practiced and rehearsed and carefully written. Problem is, they still weren't worth writing in the first place; you end up straining to make out lyrics that end up not being worth the trouble. I remember first hearing him sing about the cathedral with its 'glass stained black' in "Speed Trials" and thinking to myself, 'Of course. Of course it's black. What else was it gonna be in this guy's hands?'

But oh, how morbidly ironic he is! How affectedly brazen he says the word 'fuckin'' when he sings 'down on my fuckin' knees'! How liberating it is when he says 'You can do what you want whenever you want to,' which, ironic or not, inadvertently parodies the very people who try to slip into Smith's tiny, insignificant shoes — people who claim independence through indifference but actually just reveal themselves as utter tools by merely being complacent. I've always thought that people who claim indifference as spiritual superiority are some of the most insufferable people in the world, and ultimately "Ballad of Big Nothing" is the most fitting and unintentionally hilarious title for this type of music. Christ, can you imagine how much of a sociopath you'd have to be to actually listen to this stuff for pleasure? 'So sick and tired of all these pictures of me' — yeah, sure you are, dude.

Do I doubt that Elliott Smith's personal depression was real and awful? Of course not — I mean, look at the way he decided to leave. But his struggles were his and only his, and to paraphrase someone else writing about someone else, the harsh truth probably lies somewhere between the man and his dealer. Moreover, the fact remains that the depression that comes across in the music isn't particularly bracing or poignant or (certainly not) profound — it's just frail, which I guess we're supposed to equate with purity. It's Nick Drake for people who don't wanna think particularly hard, except that Nick Drake, for all his sadness, always expressed a sort of fragile wonder at the world and the totality of it all quietly bearing down on him; there was a feeling of struggling against it in a humble and beautiful way. Not so with Smith — and that's even leaving aside the fact that Drake actually played guitar in an interesting way, a way that you couldn't just hear by taking a lunch-hour trip to the least-frequented stairwell of any suburban high school.

I'm gonna repeat and add to something I've said about such other non-entities as Justin Vernon (who at least has a more interesting voice), Iron & Wine, and Will Oldham: that Elliott Smith's music is mostly for people who don't actually know what real depression feels like, but would like to think they do because it makes a cool fashion statement; people who barely listen to any music made before 1991 and rarely listen to music made by black people unless Pitchfork tells them it's okay; people who think the '90s were an Important Decade For Art; people who pretend that there's no objective, qualitative differences between anything (because it's easier that way, y'know?); people who think leaving their room is a struggle worthy of the civil rights movement.

Except Elliott Smith's music is too deadly-dull to even give a transgressive sense of introversion; it just feels like you're sitting in the same grey room with boring wallpaper, unwashed dishes all over the place, and never getting off your ass to even go for a walk. Leave the fuckin' room, dude — it's not healthy to stay still in this kind of environment.

Anyway, Either/Or is pretty clearly the worst album in RYM's top 100 chart. And even if you don't believe that, I'd love to hear an explanation as to why it isn't the most average, the most easily-replicable. If you have an alternative, PM me and we'll argue it. After all, what've you got to lose?

***ALL PROCEEDS GO TO Planned Parenthood***

I wrote this song a year ago after I was catcalled repeatedly on my walk home from a guitar lesson. I left the lesson feeling so huge and high and proud of myself, and I could feel that confidence diminish with every comment from passing strangers. When I was almost home, a man grabbed my shoulder and said, “I don’t know who you are but you have to come home with me, I need to be with you.” I tried to say no and brush past him, but he followed me the remaining blocks to my door, begging me, and yelling at me to talk to him. When I finally convinced him that I wasn’t interested, he screamed “CUNT” and spat at my feet.

Sadly, this isn’t shocking. Stuff like this happens to me all the time, it happens to my friends all the time. I don’t know one woman who hasn’t experienced being touched, licked, kissed, etc. without consent. When we are on tour I ask Spencer to wait for me outside the bathroom door because I have had so many terrifying experiences with gas station attendants, especially in states where bumper stickers that say things like “Girls are like guns, keep them around enough, you’re going to want to shoot them” are commonplace. I am a white woman from an extremely privileged community, and this is my daily reality. I shudder to think of how much worse that daily reality is for my poc friends, my queer friends, my muslim friends, and my trans friends.

We have just elected a President who believes that this type of behavior from men is totally acceptable. A scary demogorgon who perpetuates this type of behavior himself! I wrote this song to make me feel like I had some power in a situation where I felt totally powerless, and we’re releasing it for the same reason. If you are able to buy this song on bandcamp, all of the proceeds are going to Planned Parenthood. We stand with love and we believe in a future free from bigotry and fear.

In your dreams, Mr. President! (turd)

Eva

this isn't pasta is it?

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what the fuck

Daily reminder that Elliot Smith was attractive, therefore his depression was not real

>>74284202
He was ugly as shit my man, occasionally he would take a good photo where he looked decent

>>74284202
are you saying this because people say it about Hayley? Elliot Smith was ugly as shit

This retrograde exercise in masturbatory writing made me interested in Elliott's music. Where should I start?

>>74284318
Either/Or

Are you alright OP?

If this isn't pasta then I think you're making an over-analysis of his music based on your own preferences and biases.

I didn't read all of this, only scanned a few paragraphs here and there, because I thought that any person that wrote something as long as this wasted their time doing it.

>>74284005
If there's anything to despise more than apparent selfpity, it's undoubtedly someone's self-professed disgust at it, Well done! You sure are able to see past Smith's alleged facade of melancholy ambling. Are we meant to be impressed now? I seriously cannot grant this vacuous attempt a circumlocution the benefit of the doubt, as I cannot believe someone could be so devoted to presenting themselves as self-congratulatory without meaning it.

>>74284005
Elliott Smith's music isn't synonymous with self-pity ya dumbo. You're picking on the wrong guy, because Elliott Smith was an incredibly talented musician. You're saying that Either/or is easily replicable? I wonder if you play music yourself. Like holy shit dude can you write and play a song like Angeles on guitar? The fingerpicking is so fast and complex.

And Ballad of Big Nothing is in fucking open C tuning, and I can't figure out where the guy pulled out the guitar parts for it, because it seems so random and all over the neck, and still sounds good.. Another example is the song Independence day from XO. Only Elliott Smith could have written Independence Day.

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>>74284005
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