Rediscovery, Issue 3: Elliott Smith - Either/Or
Album art for Either/Or by Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith. Just thinking about the name is enough to inflict me with a serious and seemingly uncurable case of writer’s block. Since the day this blog was started I have wanted to write about his music, but at the same time I find it to be so almighty and divine that I simply feel that I can never find words that adequately describe just how much it means to me.
In an attempt to overcome this mental block I have decided to take a stab at what was the late Mr. Smith’s third full-length release as a solo artist, Either/Or. Released in February of 1997, it was this album coupled with the success of Miss Misery, an original song he created for the film Good Will Hunting that resulted in an Oscar nomination, that really sent him in to the spotlight that he seemingly dreaded so much.
The title of the album is derived from a book with the same name by the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, and one could easily draw a parallel between the themes of the philosopher’s writings Elliott Smith’s lyrics on this album; They both existentialism, despair and death. While some might argue that this was Elliott’s natural state of mind and writing, it goes beyond any sort of doubt that his alcohol and drug abuse certainly influenced his writing. At one point he was even cited in an interview with Spin Magazine saying that he had no recollection of writing the song Cupid’s Trick (as he was under the influence), and therefore had absolutely no idea of what he was thinking about when he wrote it.
Getting on to actually examining the album, as we usually do in these type of articles, it starts off in a typical Elliott Smith fashion with Speed Trials. Soft and soothing vocals carry the song forth accompanied by a classic guitar and drums, and at the end it seemingly unnoticeably slips into track number two, Alameda. This song features a richer and fuller sound, complete with backing vocals, as well as a stronger focus on lyrics. The lines ” Nobody broke your heart / You broke your own, ’cause you can’t finish what you start ” serve as a perfect description of something most of us have probably experienced at a point in our lives: Letting our emotional inhibitions and fears of being hurt dominate us to the extent where we miss out on opportunities as a result of it.
Ballad of Big Nothing, the third track, might seem strangely optimistic for a song off of Either/Or if you simply listen to the chorus: ” You can do what you want to / Whenever you want to / There’s no one to stop you “, but as you start examining the verses and discover lines such as “Getting into the back of a car / for candy for some stranger ” it becomes clear that even in his most optimistic times, the negative and depressingly skewed world-view was never very distant for Smith.
The same type of bitter-sweet optimism is also present in Between the Bars, which serves as a perfect example of one of Elliott Smith’s most impressive traits as a songwriter. There is more often than not a duality present in his lyrics that means that the lyrics can be interpreted individually based on the listener’s experiences. While some see Between the bars as a sad, but romantic lovestory about two people who want to forget their troubles, others see it as a recollection of alcoholism and addiction.
Track number five, Pictures of Me, is one of the many highlights of the album. It’s more upbeat, fast-paced and catchy than the rest of the tunes, and such it easily stands out. Lyrically it seems to center around Smith’s inhibitions towards fame and celebrity, as illustrated by the lines ” So sick and tired of all these pictures of me ” and ” Everybody’s dying just to get the disease “.
Elliott Smith performing at a live concert in 1997
While up until now the album has mostly consisted of a string of pearls and highlights, the middle part slows down a little, consisting of some of the more forgettable songs such as No Name No. 5, Rose Parade and Punch and Judy. Don’t get me wrong, stand-alone these are solid songs, and they certainly give a solid contribution to the overall quality of the album, but they are merely less memorable and mesmerizing than many of the other songs.
Angeles however, which is the ninth song of the album, has nothing forgettable about it. And while taste is subjective and highly personal, many people like to cite this as one of the most beautiful songs ever made, and that is saying something. From the velvet soft vocals to the subtle guitar and the captivating lyrics, this song towers as an example of how you don’t need to bring the orchestra to create something that borders to perfection.
We’ve already touched in on Cupid’s Trick earlier, and while it is close to impossible to say anything concrete about what the lyrical theme centers around, it is musically one of the more daring songs of the album with rougher guitars and heavier percussion.
Even though 2:45 AM ends on a relatively dark note, Elliott takes it down a couple of notches for the last two songs, the aforementioned and Say Yes. The first is an intense and low-voiced confrontation of sorts, while the latter is a straight love-story, Elliott Smith style of course where you are left wondering whether or not it ends on a happy note.
Now if I throughout this review of sorts haven’t expressed myself clearly enough, I am going to reiterate by summing up the point I have been trying to get across in a way that cannot be misunderstood: If you have yet to check out the works of Elliott Smith, set aside some alone time for yourself and just immerse yourself in his music. It will be an experience that you’ll cherish forever and one that you’ll wish you had treated yourself to sooner!
To close off this article I have created a short video that will give you an introduction to Elliott Smith and his music. It features the song Between the Bars off of Either/Or, and it serves as an introduction for everyone who wants to know more about this amazing songwriter. Watch it below:
