October 22, 2003
Elliott Smith Dies
Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died yesterday of an apparent suicide. He was found in his Silver Lake, CA apartment and brought to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead an hour later. According to MTV News, there was a single knife wound that seemed to be self-inflicted but police are investigating. This is very sad to hear about this death because his songs, depressing and dark countered with his soft voice and lyrical guitar playing, have made our days much sweeter.
Elliott Smith's albums on Amazon. Our favorites are XO and Either/Or, but really, they are all good. And don't forget Mic City Sons by Heatmiser. An Elliott Smith fan site, Sweet Adeline.
|
Advertisement: Gothamist Continues Below!
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
so sad. so very very sad. we are all worse off for this loss, i think.
It is really sad. LIstening to his music, you could tell he had some serious issues (and considering he'd always write about drinking and being drunk...), but there was my hope that he would take solace in the fact that his fans loved his music and what he was giving them. But it's not just about that.
Elliott Smith has been one of my favorite 'new' music artists of the past 10 years or so. Still remember when I first heard "Either/Or" a number of years ago. "XO" is my favorite but, as Jen mentioned, all his stuff is good. Heartbreaking.
jesus! this is terribly sad. of course, listening to "needle in the hay" (especially as the soundtrack to the suicide scene in The Royal Tennenbaums), you sort of get a sense that he had pretty bad problems with depression. it's still heartbreaking, though.
A terrible loss. He had an incredible sound, was an amazing musician.
Isn't it Mic City Sons?
and yes, I am sad.
Oops, you're right, Kyle. The x- and c-keys are next to each other.
The saddest part? That so many never knew him. While in classes today, I mentioned it casually to people around me. 95% had a puzzled look on their face.
That seems weird considering the push that X/O got. I remember when that came out he was in every magazine imagineable. Maybe they all listen to John Meyer or Jason Mraz. Ugh.
I wonder if the "new album" will ever come out and if so, will it be finished by someone else or released like Buckley's "Sketches For My Sweetheart" or whatever it was called.
The thing I'll remember about Elliott is when he played Tramps right before X/O with just an acoustic guitar and everyone was sushing each other throughout the entire show so they could hear him.
Didn't he play Field Day this year? I missed him if so. Damn.
Jen, I figured it was a typo, just wanted to point it out.
didn't Elliott's music get a lot of play also having been featured on the soundtrack for Good Will Hunting? I think that's where I first heard his work, sadly enough. Although he's crazy huge in Seattle. they love him up there. must be all those overcast days. so very sad he's gone, he made beautiful music.
I went to a party for KEXP, this cool Seattle radio station, on Tuesday night but didn't hear until Wed. morning. I'm just in such a daze about his death, and that is was self-inflicted. Very tragic. Only thing that makes me feel any better is that he left us with so many beautiful, brilliant songs, the kind you can listen to for the 100th time and still discover something new about. I like pretty much all his stuff but am very partial to either/or.
There's this line from "independence day" off xo, that goes "you only live a day/but it's brilliant anyway" that I've always admired. The thing is, it doesn't seem like Elliott's days were that brilliant, obviously, but it's still tragic. There's an interesting and extensive interview at Under the Radar from August 03.
In semi-related news, Mary Lou Lord is playing 2 shows this weekend with a full band for CMJ, Friday night a boat cruise and Saturday at Piano's. She was friends with Elliott and often covers his songs in concert, which I'm hoping she'll do this weekend.
Elliott Smith was a selfish hedonist. Any artist who commits suicide should be remembered for being a complete moron and fool. It's not a tragedy that he died, perhaps a casualty. His music will be remembered for sounding excellent, but Elliott will go down as the clown who stabbed himself. For what? Azzhole Elliott Smith. You have to love yourself before you can love someone else. He never got past the first step. What a dik. Oh well, we'll keep listening to his great tunes, but you have to admit.......what a debauchery of our emotions this whole thing has been. Punk!