Sad soundtrack
by Lisa L. Dendy
This morning I chose Elliott over Squeeze, again, for the drive to work, listening to "Sweet Adeline" and "Waltz #2" in the morning. During my drive home this evening, I was thinking how Elliott Smith, undoubtedly one of the few pop geniuses of this era--along with Jay Farrar, Beck, Elvis Costello, and Kurt Cobain--had not released an album in a few years. I remembered my boyfriend's story of seeing him play at the Lizard and Snake in Chapel Hill nine or 10 years ago. Elliott was, according to my boyfriend, pimply, with greasy hair, unassuming, and hidden in the shadows until he was announced at the mike, when he walked up, sat down with his guitar, and transformed himself and the small space with his eloquent music. I remembered when I first heard his album, XO, and declared, "This album is a work of genius."
I remembered that I had heard a few years back that Elliott, long haunted by alcohol and drug abuse, had gone into rehab and was now supposedly clean. I couldn't help thinking of other musicians who had stopped using drugs and alcohol, only to find themselves unable to produce music at the same level of genius, or unable to stay clean. I wondered if Elliott Smith, who always wrote such tortured lyrics, was at a breaking point.
This evening I learned that Elliott Smith had died after stabbing himself in the chest with a knife. Shaken and saddened, I sat for a while, wondering how these things happen. And then I realized that for better or worse, perhaps Elliott Smith had found his own path.
- To create paragraphs in your comment, type <p> at the start of a paragraph and </p> at the end of each paragraph.
- To create bold text, type <b>bolded text</b> (please note the closing tag, </b>).
- To create italicized text, type <i>italicized text</i> (please note the closing tag, </i>).
- Proper web addresses will automatically become links.
Latest in Front Porch
-
Being the community
In Raleigh's Moore Square and around Main Street in Durham, we ignore people who we assume don't have housing. Rocky and those like him go to Love Wins or the Maurin House to find eye contact, to hear a "good morning," to be a part of their cities.
- May 15, 2013
-
High places
Quietly, by the guidance of our flashlights, we climbed a very long, tight spiral staircase up to the top of the Duke Chapel tower. And not just the bell-tower top, but beyond that.
- May 8, 2013
-
Blade running
There it was, for half price: a snow blade/grader attachment for my almighty DR All-Terrain brush mower. "Who doesn't need one of those?"
- May 1, 2013
- More »
