Elliott Smith’s second studio album titled, “Elliott Smith” was released on July 21, 1995, and was initially a cult favorite among musicians. However, after the acclaim of Smith’s later albums brought him towards the mainstream, and his tragic death in 2003, the album was reevaluated and appropriately praised as a landmark indie album, and argued by some to be his best work.
This album holds a special place in my heart as a lot of the songs that made me love Elliott Smith come from this very album. The songwriting and lyricism is so smart and creative, showing Smith’s great songwriting strengths. The album is deeply intimate and personal, giving the listener a very close connection to Smith.
One of the songs that helped me really get into Elliott Smith is the third track on the album, “Clementine.” On an album full of intimate and personal tracks, “Clementine” stands out even further with its stripped back production, only consisting of a fuzzy sounding acoustic guitar and Smith’s soft soothing voice. “Clementine” is a story of being down on one’s luck and using unhealthy vices such as drinking to address that. The song even describes the intended effect of said vices with the lyrics, “Anything to pass the time / And keep that song out of your mind.”
“Clementine” still holds a very special place in my heart as it is one of the very first songs I heard of Smith’s. The atmospheric and thoughtful lyrics were immediately appealing to me along with the intimate feel of the song. Smith sings part of the song in the second person, addressing the subject as “you.” I think that this automatically makes the song more intimate and personal, and even allows the audience to easily identify with someone who is trying to cope using unhealthy means, which is something that I think most people can relate to to some degree.
The next song is “St. Ides Heaven,” which is one of my favorite songs from Smith’s discography as a whole. Smith’s vocals are double-tracked, much like most of his songs, but it is done in a way that fits with the stripped back, quiet nature of the album. Haunting is definitely the best way to describe this song, and not haunting in a bad way.
By haunting, I mean that this beautifully melancholic song sticks and lingers far after it has concluded. This effect is achieved through Smith’s distinctive yet quiet vocals, and of course his masterful lyricism. One of my favorite lyrics of all time comes from this song, “The moon is a lightbulb breaking / It’ll go around with anyone / But it won’t come down for anyone.”
The imagery of the moon being a lightbulb breaking has always stuck with me and I feel like it is a very imaginative and creative example of songwriting. I also really like the depressing nature of it being described as going around for anyone, but not coming down for anyone, because many perceive it to be a metaphor for addiction. The moon being an addict or junkie; who will do anything to get a fix, hence going around with anyone. However they will not come down for anyone, basically meaning they will not accept help or allow anyone to pull them out of their addiction.
Initially I thought the lyrics were depressing due simply to the fact that they give a feeling of a cycle or process without any true resolution or commitment, which combined with the deeper implications makes it a truly crushing set of lyrics.
A song I would like to look at is coincidentally the final track of the album, titled “The Biggest Lie.” To me the song is extremely sorrowful starting with the first set of lyrics, “I’m waiting for the train / The Subway that only goes one way / The stupid thing that’ll pull us apart / And make everybody late.”
This set of lyrics has multiple interpretations including, but not limited to buying or getting on drugs and suicide. The lyrics objectively refer to an irreversible action that has no way out to it, hence why the subway only goes one way. That action will also have some sort of consequences on others, in the song’s case that being a relationship where two people will be pulled apart by this action.
The last set of lyrics are interesting to me as well because of their ambiguity, “Oh, we’re so very precious, you and I / And everything that you do makes me want to die / Oh, I just told the biggest lie / I just told the biggest lie.” The listener is left to guess which statement is a lie, either of which having vastly different implications based on what one believes the lie and the truth to be, or possibly both are true or both are false due to the fact that Smith repeats, “I just told the biggest lie” twice which could mean that calling the statement the biggest lie is cancelled out by the repetition of the second.
Objectively, this song is about a failing relationship and the biggest lie refers to keeping up with something even though one knows that they are not happy in that situation, however they lie to themselves and convince themselves that they are in fact fine with the situation for whatever the reason may be.
Ultimately, this is one of my favorite albums of all time and will always hold a special place in my heart and mind. Elliott Smith is my favorite singer-songwriter of all time, and it feels like a gift to be able to experience and appreciate his art even years after its release and Smith’s death. This album in particular feels so intimate and personal, and it is wonderful to be able to look at this work as it feels like taking a quick look at a person’s ideas and mind.