Elliott Smith

Tomorrow will mark the 10th anniversary of Elliott Smith's death by suicide. I doubt it will be an event that garners much attention. Most people, if they know who Elliott Smith is at all, know him as the guy who sang a song at the Oscar's in a white suit. I saw Good Will Hunting with the biggest music geek I've ever met and he was able to identify the songs as Smith's without us having to sit and wait for the music section of the end credits. The next day I went and bought all his CD's I could find - not many, I think just "Elliott Smith" and "Either/Or"; the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting wasn't released until after the theatrical run and no record store in London Ontario had his back catalogue.

I don't want to even try to write about Smith's music. I'm not a fan of attempts to describe music in words. I think album reviews should consist of stars (or some other measure) and not more than one sentence. My review of Miles Davis Kind of Blue would be "10/10 - Buy it, listen to it, become a better person." My review of Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People would be "8/10 - Would be a 9 without Pacific Theme."

Other than the fact his music was typically good, sometimes great, and occasionally (three or four songs) breath-taking, what fascinated me about him at the time was he was ugly. He had a beat up face with lines in the wrong places. By the late 90s an ugly singer was not something that happened. I don't know if he made videos, his wasn't a career built by MTV. He was ugly, spoke in a whisper, dressed badly, and made no attempt to be cool. Although 24 is kind of old to have heroes, Smith was definitely one of mine. I had bad clothes, a soft voice, and wasn't cool. Unlike Smith I am a very very handsome man but there's nothing I could do about that.

I guess I don't have anything intelligent to say about Smith, his music, or his suicide. The 10th anniversary of Kurt Kobain's death was covered by CNN. No one is going to "cover" Smith's. I was a fan. I am a fan. Tonight I'm going to turn the lights down and listen to XO with headphones on, like I did when I was 25.