Wow. It is really a shock and incredibly sad. What's even rougher is that when I listen to his music tonight in tribute I am most likely going to cry. His music makes you want to cry without death being involved so I think I'll be out of luck.
R.I.P. Elliott Smith.
More information at: MTV, Pitchfork, NME, NME Tribute Board, AP (via Miami Herald), Rolling Stone
Amazing commentary from Margaret Cho.
Update: bah, I spelled his name wrong. I knew there were two t's, honest.
10/23/03 3:35 PM
elliot smith sucks!!! damn crybaby...
10/29/03 1:11 PM
The person who said that Elliot Smith sucks obviously never has really dealt with depression and addiction, his own or someone elses, and therefore, is ignorant of understanding.
It is a disease, often terminal, especially if left untreated. Just as you would not chastise someone for dying of cancer, someone afflicted with an illness eqaully as pernicious, desersves the same kind of compassion, especially in death.
10/29/03 10:27 PM
Elliot Smith was an amazing artist some people are idiots and need to be drawn and quartered
11/06/03 4:45 PM
He was depressed, he may have done drugs. Point is....if he ever turned on the TV once there are hundreds of ads daily about meds to help you if your depressed. Either way he lost his battle. People will put up shrines just like they did for Kurt Cobain, he'll be immortalized in posters and whatnot...the funny part is we give parades to the losers who couldn't hack it, and we worship corpses of artsy musicians who had little talent, and even less self respect. I know this sounds harsh, but I think it's time we gave ourselves and our kids heroes that stuck it out, not ones that ducked under the curtain at the first signs of trouble.
11/25/03 2:19 PM
i wish that elliott smith could have seen even a tenth of the light that he had. his words, his voice, his notes stike something deep within the soul.
i wish he could have known how much he ment, how much he really did give...
10/27/04 11:37 PM
Elliot is simply an effect of society. If honesty leads you in America, you eventually get killed by the general nuerosis of this country. It's not a personal failure, it's a societal failure. Hell is a mindstate, as is heaven. If virtue is sacrifice, Smith showed us that in its most Shakespearean form. He only follows a tradition of brilliant artists who die before 35 in America. That's how fucked up this hemogeny is. If you choose to be yourself, and the media subsequentially elects you to a plateau for economic prosperity, escape is a must and it is just. Listen to his message, listen to all the existential messages from all of Elliot's kind. Listen and understand.
11/28/04 10:46 PM
elliot smith's artistic creations are the defintion of beauty.
praise him today tomorrow and always because butterflys with broken wings still fly...and he will soar forever
XO