Elliott Smith OPO

baby britain

"I Can't Answer You Anymore" is kind of a sneaker.

well, it'd have to be something from either/or or s/t

so, make that 'ballad of big nothing' or 'southern belle'

"needle in the hay", especially in that royal tenenbaums scene.

"Clementine"

I've always had a tremendous soft spot for "Condor Ave." "Needle in the Hay" runs a close second.

"Between the Bars"

hmm, Angeles or Condor Ave.

for the last couple of years i've kind of been obsessed with "last call".

and "twilight" has been a late bloomer for me.

lol ILX won't go near this guy

I recently discovered "Stained Glass Eyes" which is nice

Baby Britain

'High Times' today, 'I Didn't Understand' tomorrow...

twilight's a good pick, charlie h.

everything means nothing to me

yeah I love that song. Figure 8 has its moments.

thanks markers. for me twilight has a really engaging sense of balance about it -- nicely poised between despairing and optimistic, yearning and fulfilled

always found everything means nothing to me to be one of the more affecting songs on F8. he really nails songcraft on that album, but the exacting approach leaves less room for rawer and more grounded observations that really penetrate and get under your skin. that song is an exception to this.

the one that still comes into my brain constantly is "Rose Parade." i still know all of his songs though.

being a teenager sure did suck.

"when they clean the street i'll be the only shit that's left behind"

so self-deprecating it's almost funny.

http://www.spin.com/articles/elliott-smith-paul-thomas-anderson-jon-brion-show-john-lennon-kinks-big-star-video?utm_source=spintwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=spintwitter

Not sure if this is the place for this, but whatever.
Second track, Independence Day is sublime.
He also covers John Lennon, the Kinks and Big Star.

really great stuff that makes me sad to see

what aero says...

I feel fortunate that I got to see him so many times, including many before the throngs caught on, which coincided with his physical decline, too. I miss having him around, but unlike a lot of acts who died too early, I feel like he gave us enough to live on in his absence.

The latter is definitely true. Unfortunately, I never got to see him live. Yet I am so entwined with his music, his thoughts, his very being.

I never knew ya, dear Elliott. But I miss you every day.

going with "between the bars"
i dunno, though, i still find it kind of hard to listen to the dude, ten years later. feel like there's no way out of his songs.

This is my OPO, tho it's been hard to listen to since his death because it feels so predictive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLOMm0ntEAs

st ides heaven

good choice

that or Angeles or Alameda for me

Pictures of Me

big decision or say yes

Waltz #2

Man, I'm trying to remember which movie trailer - credits? - used "Waltz #2" to really good effect. Maybe an alternate "Good Will Hunting" spot?

happiness

"bottle up and explode!" is my OPO - just a tremendous song, though both "Son of Sam" and "Needle in the Hay" are in the same class

Love "Needle in the Hay," and it may be the first ES song that really caught my ear way back when, but I always think of the song as an unrepresentative outlier in his catalog for some reason.

happiness

I refuse to be moved by this guy but can say that "Happiness" is both well-constructed and well-performed

obviously listening to this guy is very tangled up in the context of his life, &c, but it's so moving to hear him, imo - like i don't think it is projecting too hard to say that his voice sounds, just based on the reading of what the tones & volumes of a regular-human-speaking-voice carry, like something that is coming pretty hard, is pretty hard-won. i like that thing somebody said about alex chilton, about how he wasn't someone who could competently use his talent, that his voice cracked in all the wrong places; there are a bunch of elliott recordings which are def shooting for an emotional affect in their phrasing & close & whispery singing, &c, but for the most part i feel like a lot of them are moving just as an extension of hearing him, like him, talk or sing (like: in addition to being just tremendously moving as songs, not solely cause of what he betrays tonally). there is that really beautiful coda in happiness that gets to such a pure hope that it would sound trite, but yeah i mean it sounds hard won cause he's all wavering. i am talking about live recordings here mainly, probably. opo: st ides heaven, rogue polemical pick would be a basement jam from the henry fonda shows or something like it, or else him playing wouldn't mama be proud acoustic, cause it's a really good song & i don't really like him in electro-beatlesy mode.

Thanks for that excellent link to the Jon Brion, PTA thing, scubasteve, There used to be all these great cover versions by him over here http://www.sweetadeline.net/multimedia.htm, but now the links lead to one of those generic they-forgot-to-pay-for-their-domain-name-so-now-please-forward-to-us sites. Would love to hear his version of "Chelsea Girls," "These Days" or especially "Walk Away Renee" again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNKFVKCacJ0

(Get out your handkerchiefs)

More Big Star, Kinks and John Lennon with his old band
http://www.rawkblog.net/2009/02/elliott-smith-the-complete-live-covers/

Wow! Thanks for that link. I thought I'd heard most of his covers, but nope, not even close.

I really like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFdHazy_4Nw

the song "either/or" is pretty great. i dunno if that would be my OPO... prolly have to go with "Christian brothers."

oh damn i forgot christian brothers

Christian Brothers really creeps under your skin and is pretty fascinating lyrically.

Pitseleh. i can't believe i'm the first person to say it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrtdazkYzSU

:'(

at the moment it's this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_LCi9NtqvE

Dad's little hands sat in his lap
Like a couple of crabs who got caught in a trap
And he shook my hand from so far away that
He looked like a spot on the sun
And I guess that's where I get it from

"You're no good, you're no good, you're no gooooood"

You're everybody's second home