Ten Years Gone: R.I.P. Elliott Smith

It was on the Yahoo! home page, of all places, where the top story was that today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Elliott Smith, for my money the most quietly powerful singer-songwriter of the past twenty years or so. 

Smith was genuinely gifted; he had the rare ability to break hearts and blow minds with the simplest of melodies and chords, and at the same time, his music was sophisticated. 

It's a gift that very few possess, and for some reason, many of those who possess this gift, such as Smith and John Lennon and Kurt Cobain, seem to leave the world too early and under dark circumstances. 

It was said that Smith died of a self-inflicted stabbing wound to the chest after an argument with his girlfriend, and while he did have problems with drugs, he was sober at the time of the incident. It just seems like an unbearably gruesome way to go out, which is why some smell foul play.

Anyway, let's remember the music, not the nefarious circumstances. Elliott wrote one of my absolute favorite songs of my adult lifetime: "Waltz #2 (XO)" from his 1998 LP XO, his major-label debut record on DreamWorks records. 

As advertised, "Waltz #2" is indeed in 3/4 waltz time, and weaves a forlorn tale of lost love and obsession. The tone of regret and sadness for me often calls to mind one of Paul McCartney's masterpieces from Revolver, such as "For No One" or "Eleanor Rigby." 



The studio version of "Waltz #2" is a baroque, Beatle-esque arrangement courtesy of Jon Brion, but the solo versions he played live were at least as powerful, such as this one from Jools Holland's show.



Elliott Smith left us lots of great records, but XO is in my opinion, his masterpiece and a great place to start. And yes, it does contain a "Waltz #1" - it is lovely too.



Buy Elliott Smith's XO on iTunes here.