Elliott Smith

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Elliott Smith

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Why Elliott Smith is not bigger than the Beatles I will never know. This album (his second) is full of beautiful melodies and even more beautiful lyrics about alcoholism, an unhappy childhood, dependency, and just generally screwing up. Elliott tells it like it is and does not pity himself or whine. It is also the most personal album I have ever heard, and it sounds like he is playing to you while you're sitting around in your room. Probably that is due to the fact that it was recorded on an 8-track in people's basements, but it is also due to the fact that what he sings about is so real to anyone who has any type of dependency or has ever felt depressed. Actually, forget that-I think any HUMAN can relate to his words. But its not a depressing album, honeslty. In fact, if you didn't speak english, songs like "St. Ides Heaven" (about an unrepentant drunk) and "Coming Up Roses" may sound pretty happy. It is that contrast between the sweet melodies and ! shockingly real lyrics that makes Elliott's songs the original masterpieces that they are. The opening song, "Needle In the Hay" is about a junkie madly in search of a fix, but (here is another brilliant thing about Elliott), his songs go beyond surface level. The song is about dependency in general, which makes it light years more powerful. I always used to think that the screaming ways of punk rock were the best ways to express how you really felt, but the quiet words of the eternally shy Elliott are millions of times stronger. He sings with such an honesty and such force that no amount of screaming could compare. Anyway, I could babble on and on about how brilliant and incredible this album is, but please, buy it for yourself, before this man becomes any more famous. And forget this critical stuff-his music just sounds great.