Elliott Smith Documentary - A Light Bulb Breaking
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 26. 02. 2021
- If you don't know Elliott Smith, you are missing out. Let me introduce you to him! In this video I examine Elliott Smith's music and persona through his live footage. There was a lot of footage of Elliott that surfaced over the years, and throughout the hours and hours of live performing, there were many interesting, funny, and endearing moments caught on film.
I wanted to keep it mostly light, and focus on his humor and audience connections. I added some fresh takes/previously unexamined excerpts for the long time fans of Elliott but mostly I want to introduce him to people who don't know him. There is SO much interesting audio/video of Elliott that isn't clipped, highlighted or even mentioned seemingly anywhere. There is hundreds of hours of Elliott media out there - I want to go through more of it and make another in the future.
Cheers, thanks for looking! Now do something for yourself - Get some good headphones, go download Either/Or and listen to it.
We love you Elliott!
I do not plan to attempt to monetize this video. I am only trying to spread Elliott's music and further his legacy. If you own a clip and want it removed, please contact me and I will do so. Thank you all for watching!
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Cheers! Thanks for the view! đ€đđș Leave a like, comment, and subscribe, if you feel so inclined.
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_________ - Hudba
I have to say something. This documentary certainly deserves a well thought out written response. Elliott as an artist, much more than any other, had such an impact on me. He helped me greatly in some very dark days. I wish I could tell him all this and that I named my son after him... Then watch his awkward response.
Honestly, as an old fan, the last line made me literally laugh out loud. Thats the kind of thing I'd share with other friends of mine that aren't around anymore for various reasons.
Wow
Should i get one, I'm going to name my son after him too. It's already been decided between me and the Mrs.
Iâm only 18, but Iâve decided that when I do have a son im going to name him Elliott :)
@@DuskerFluto You don't get to solely decide the name of your offspring.
After discovering Nick Drake and devouring/becoming obsessed with his three masterpiece albums, I came across this on my recommended videos, having knowing nothing about Elliott Smith or any of his music. That was a few weeks ago, and I have listened to all 7 of his albums multiple times since and love them all. He's one of my favourite musicians already. Thank you for introducing me to the world of Elliott Smith and his magnificent music and fascinating life.
I'm a simple man I see anything related to Elliott Smith I hit that like button
haha I'm the same. Cheers
@@JunkBondTrader all jokes aside this was some great content đ
Very rad. There's not much ES stuff on the net compared to what there should be. He was special.
Songs? Or documentaries and such?
@@stylesdangerfield Well the songs are there, so I think he means documentaries and stuff
@@seanmatthewking Sounds right.
What makes Elliott great is the fact that not only was he a top-tier composer, but also a profoundly gifted poet. His lyrics ALWAYS have double or triple meanings. Being able to rhyme verses that also contain hidden messages is absolutely astonishing to me.
EDIT: I forgot to mention he may be the greatest acoustic guitar player of all time. His combination of flamenco, travis picking, and Chet Atkins style melodic picking, solidifies his music as the most difficult acoustic pieces in existence.
We live for Christ we died for love, handed our crowns to the lord above. Sung praises to our king now live forever glorified and saved from burning...
Agreed. When it comes to singing/songwriting no one holds a candle to his acoustic compositions when it comes to complexity. The closest Iâd say is Jim Croce and even thatâs miles apart. The greatness of his lyrics IMO arenât too complex but just the perfect amount. He created fantastic analogies but what made them special was how down to earth with a very humanistic perspective and conversationalist approach. Though he used slant/imperfect rhymes I believe for the most past used exact/perfect rhymes. Which youâd think would limit oneself but not Elliott.
I don't think it's remotely productive to see "hidden meanings" in all his, or anyone's, work. There are things that are open to interpretation, and things that reflect his life or ideas he had, but "hidden meanings" speaks to pattern seeking behaviour that I think was part of his undoing.
Beautiful Elliott...I saw him twice in Paris. He was not so talkative on stage which I regret, probably the language barrier. I miss him very much.
He talks through his song
This video is absolutely wonderful. I did something I rarely do when I watched this. I waited until the entire thing was over to comment. Usually I get too impatient and jump the gun but I somehow managed to make it.
This is the best piece of Elliott fan coverage Iâve ever seen. This has been the only fan piece Iâve ever actually sat through completely interested in. You managed to dodge repetition as well as create such an amazing original video. I loved the live clips, you managed to hit nearly every single one of my favorite haha! I thought the T-shirt bit and the volume experiment with his albums were both great in their own ways but they were certainly quite original and I absolutely loved em man. Itâs certainly been a week of grieving for me and this is absolutely a wonderful tribute to his memory. Iâm nearly at a loss for words because of how incredible this video is. The fact that itâs just interesting and original is a huge part of it. Usually I just see people do a video biography. I have NEVER seen a video quite like this and really, I love it. Iâve subscribed and Iâm quite excited for more content from you. I also laughed a shit load at all the funny live clips and especially the beer incident lol. You should make a compilation of funny live clips. There are a few out there already but Iâm sure you could find ones outside of the typical rotation of silly live Elliott goofing off.
Regardless, I just wanted to say how amazing I thought this video was. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to put this together man. I love it â€
Iâm standing at the edge of an open rabbit hole having only discovered this guy in the last few minutes.
Welcome to ES rabbithole!
Never really heard any of his music untill he came up on my CZcams recommendations list this morning. The song was Waltz #2 and I couldn't stop listening to and had to learn how to play it! Thanks for posting this really interesting video.
Dude! Good song to learn. I donât know where he got the chords pattered from. I just did a cover of that song too!
First song I ever heard of his was waltz #2 as well. It was one of the few times in my life that I heard a song and had to immediately find out who the artist was
same!
I love waltz #2, but, man.. Waltz #1 is even more devastatingly beautiful.
There was never ever an artist quite like Elliott and the person he was can never be replicated. As much as the music I really felt connected to Elliott from the day I found out about him in school following the news of his death the prior day. I went to the city library after school that day and checked out all his albums and ripped them onto iTunes and became fascinated with not just the music which was intoxicating and cathartic but also with Elliott as the human and artist he was.
As a 20 year old, life long Elliott smith fan, heâs quite literally helped shape me to the person I am today. One of the most POWERFUL artists Weâve ever known
Awesome documentary! He may be the most underrated song writer. His ability to put lyrics to melody was truly unique. I would not be the musician or human I am with out Elliott Smith's music.
Love all his albums but the album that had the biggest influence on me was XO. The production and emotion of that album is amazing. Favourite song is harder to pick. Love Between the Bars, Stupidity Tries, Tomorrow Tomorrow, LA, Roman Candle, Say Yes, Christian Brother, Pitseleh .............. and so so many others. What an amazing artist.
Thanks for this video. Think today is going to be an Elliott Smith day, as I've not listened to him for a while. đđŒđđŒ
9 minutes in and this is my favourite Elliott video Iâve seen in a while, youâre pointing out parts of him people are unaware of or just like to ignore so they can indulge in one aspect of him. Great job! That friendzoned on live tv made me genuinely laugh out loud.
Wow. This is an incredible video...he's been my music hero/idol since about 2000 in my freshmen year of high school. There was a lot of material here that I had not heard/seen before. Thank you for doing this. Cheers
Glad you highlighted his skill as a guitarist and pianist. Especially in guitar terms you never see him up there but he was clearly one of the best.
Thank you for this, truly. You did a wonderful job of paying tribute to Elliott!
Absolutely loved it. The intro. the mood, the transitions. The attention to detail and getting the visuals to match up w the sound really ticked all of the boxes for me :) ,
I love how you started this off with "Amity" that songs composition has such a hard- but also haunting instrumental to it.
Good job! I like the focus on live footage. I haven't seen a lot of it outside the festival performances and the Jon Brion show. Its excellent.
Thank you so much for making this. This is how Iâve felt about him for years and years. Side note, I love your channel name. Thatâs my #1 all time favorite song. Not just of Elliott, but anyone ever.
I've been a heroin addict since 16, gotten clean twice but sadly I'm in the throes of another relapse, it's the hardest thing I've ever dealt with, but I cant imagine how hard it must be to stay clean from alcohol when it's so readily available and shown constantly in advertising and even if you just try to go on a drive to clear your head you're going to see a billboard or some kind of advertisement for some kind of alcohol, I love Elliott but i hate his story, because it didnt need to end that way, but I'm sure it would have ended even sooner if I was in his situation, so I cant and wont judge him.
Stay strong bro âźïžâ€ïž
Hope youâre doing well, brethren. Barely survived myself. Keep fighting the good fight and stay strong and remember there are folks out there who care about you, even if you donât know âem yet.
So is essence other than ending my other comment on a depressing tangent I want to thank you so much for showing the dynamic aspects of a person and not just the resulting art they create like so many did and do on this platform and others when regarding elliott. Someone is helping others to finally see more that just the art. Thank you.
This was terrific. Thanks for pulling it together.
this is so beautiful, thank you for making and sharing it
Great job brother! Love this and didn't know much about him until your video. Great editing and flow! đ đ€ đ€ đ€
Thank you for putting this together. Loved it as much as the 2014 documentary đ€
You're very meticulous. You put a lot of work into this. Great job.
..and "Junk Bond Trader" is my favorite Elliott song off my least favorite Elliott album.
How can Figure 8 possibly be your least favorite album? That's madness....
@@markwett I'd consider Figure 8 one of my favorite albums in general.
As far as Elliott goes, I just prefer his early lo-fi and the darker sound of 'Basement'.
Thanks man, I needed to smile tonight, seeing elliott smith in any new video always makes my day. I appreciate what you did here and Elliott Smith would be proud.
I appreciate the work you put into this
this is beautifully and lovingly done. Thank you so much.
Itâs finally up!
Thank you! Appreciate your awesome work! Enjoed footage alot just as many people here :) Elliott is such a great person...
Beautiful thank you having hard time Elliott's music usually gets me through the hard times
I agree with most all you have put out in this doc. As a musician, I couldn't agree more. Very pianistic guitar player. His ability and sensibility (in songform) is timeless. Thank you for your devotion to spreading the "Elliott" that is genius!
Great job!
This was great. Days ago I casually started looking for interview footage and not just music, and look what pops up!
Yo ho algorithm. Yo ho.
Thanks for the great video!!
This is a great video. Thanks mate.
This was awesome. Thankyou x
Thank you for this, man. â€
Just watched the beginning, hoping to finish the rest tomorrow-great stuff.
At 11:33 though- for some reason I remember him doing that last part of Happiness acapella at another show...but I might be completely wrong, lol.
Best singer-songwriter of all time
OK this looks fab , will come back to it . I struggle to read so I will swing by another time ;D Thanks
Dude! thank you so much for your effort!
32:20 Allen Ginsberg: A supermarket in California. He wrote that poem about a time he went to get milk at a supermarket in California and it's a badass piece of literary impressionism that proves you can make any topic feel cool and profound if you know how to stylize your language effectively enough.
Thank you. I enjoyed it very much. You are a good artist man.
OMG only 1min in and I already love this...killer intro there...impressive.
Great work.
I feel the same way about Elliott as you. Really cool little doc.
Great job dude
What's the game to.. f*ck f*ck. Love him.
Great job đđ
At 8:35, with Judge Judy and Xena Warrior Princess and Elliott - is that the stage for SNL?? I didn't know he ever appeared on SNL, wow, if that is where this photo is from. I noticed in any of the few pictures I've seen of Elliott with "Hollywood" crowd, he always looks very uncomfortable and like he'd rather be anywhere else. Xena looks like she wants to drag Elliott back to her cave.
P.S. You did an absolutely amazing job paying tribute to this sublime, musical genius.
Itâs was. Season 23. I literally just saw it for the first time the other day. Havenât watched it yet but got my cousins Peacock info to do so.
They cut the song out on reruns because he didn't do the one the the producer wanted him to.
cool video mate
i rate 8 outta 8
Missing you today and always Elliott đ
great doco man
Elliott Smith was a genius, it's such a shame his life got taken from him like that :(
Never heard of him, until now
Heâs worth hearing
Another overused term that could never be overused with Elliot, he was a genius.
He's the only other guitar player I know of besides Lindsay Buckingham that plays that picked style and can sing over it....fucking amazing man
he was such a great musician, never heard of him until i found a private surf video from the netherlands using his Angeles song as soundtrack. I was totally flashed, by the song. my absolute favourite is SAY YES.so sad that he died.
He wrote âSay Yesâ in 5 minutes. He was a ridiculously genius songwriter.
Midori is a Melon Liqueur...and the other T-Shirt says " A Dog Gone Good Chew I figure"... A Heartfelt Montage Cheers AAA
Elliott is "A1"
Thank you for sharing is life with me
Just now hearing his music, what a loss. He reminds me of eddie van halen, just acoustic. They both were musical genius with guitars and other instruments...but his version of rockmonahov is errily magical. Feel fortunate we have at least what he has performed memorialized...but makes you not even wonder how much he could have produced.
so good
Heâs sounds a bit like Connor Oberst in some of these songs. Obviously Connor has some inspiration from Elliot.
Both born in Omaha, Neb.
way to go
Thanks many many still love Elliott the most and are still saved over and over by him
Hell yeah man
That was a really beautiful intro. Geez Louise watching him play the guitar is incredible! Like pumped up nick drake. Not that Nick Drake wasnât incredible. He was. Also, definitely not to insinuate that Elliott Smith did not bring something totally new to the table with his style of playing. He absolutely did. If there is one person that I wish that I could play like, it would be him, for certain.
@Will Morgan are you serious??
@Will Morgan well, I am definitely not an expert in theory but with his picking style in combination with his strumming style, I feel like itâs pretty self-explanatory. I would have to look it up to find out if thereâs an actual term for what he did, but off of the top my head, five minutes after waking up, it is literally how heâd finger pick and strum simultaneously. But he played hard so it wasnât exactly like nick drake. John Fayhe didnât even have the strumming going on so I canât even really associate anything except for the finger picking between the two of those artists. Never saw anyone do exactly what Elliott did, before or since. Like I said, very similar to a pumped up Nick Drake but with riffs. Iâm sure you can find articles written about his guitar playing style. I know Iâve read them. Cheers.
Dunno what the other person said but Elliottâs picking style was extremely unique. Without sitting down and writing it out seems like itâs an alt of Travis picking but used his pointer to hit the second note as opposed to most people using their thumb. Most people usually, at some point, will pluck 2 notes within the rhythm. I hope thatâs the case cause if not than I learned Angeles wrong a good 15 years ago. Which wouldnât rlly be a big deal⊠if I didnât use that finger picking style ever since and was the only one Iâve mastered. lol. Itâs either that or (if holding an open G chord) he thumbs the low E string, plucks the DGB strings, hits the D with pointer, thumbs low E, then rides BGDE up like a wave twice and slows down to start over. Which now that Iâm thinking of it, whatever it is itâs a very weird stop and go in Angeles. Either way his strum to picking style is my favorite and Iâm glad it rubbed off on me even if Iâm not doing it quite right. As no one within the genre my music is plays like that.
'there is music and there is Elliot'...
Thank you.
The shirt says "A Dog-Gone Good Chew" which is by the Bloodhound chewing tobacco company.
"Then he had the steve martin shirt..."-My favorite part.
Loved the documentary. One quick fix though. The police never closed the case on Elliotts death. Investigation is still technically open pending some new revelation. The lead investigator will respond if you politely inquire about the case and state why.
One more thing. This is regarding his death which is a touchy subject in the community but everyone has their opinion and beliefs and weâre free to state em. It truly saddens me the fans and community of Elliottâs have seemingly relegated him to an extension of his music rather than the music being an extension of him. Just looking up Elliott Smith on CZcams or google and youâll typically be trampled with chastisement for not knowing about the âsaddest man aliveâ or the âtragic lifeâ LIFE? not tragic death but tragic life of Elliott Smith or youâll see any other number of disappointing caricatures people have created for Elliott.
Itâs really upsetting and I can totally understand why the family might not want to release any other music under those circumstances. Nobody wants their family member who they loved who they personally knew to be remembered eternally as a deity born from some painful lyrics. Elliott had happy hopeful songs too but what he wrote about isnât the problem. Itâs the fact people (Iâll say it again) think of him as an extension of his music rather than his music being an extension of him. Those words we love so much are only a 3 minute glance into a lifetime of thoughts. Iâm not defined as a person by the thought of deserving to be alone. I might not even think that all the time. I might have only though that once! If i write down that feeling that doesnât make it eternally so. It just means I always remember that at one time I might have felt that way.
This construed way of thinking of Elliott as a person has led to the non conflict regarding his death. Alyson has plenty of evidence and even has a webpage dedicated to Justice for him. You could say sheâs making it up but for what reason? The family hasnât stopped her because sheâs possibly in contact with them. Otherwise if they were against the idea of what sheâs doing I imagine they would do SOMETHING. Instead itâs Chiba who threatens to sue left and right whomever she wants. When a bunch of Elliottâs equipment went missing the next day after his death it was Chiba who stole it. The sweet woman who worked and owned the adjacent studio to Elliottâs was afraid to physically stop her and the men she was with but let her know she saw everything and KNEW. Pretty brave considering what we know Chiba is capable of.
Elliott was murdered. The fan base has been tricked and manipulated or are just incompetent like the police that day. Once the media got ahold of the story and Chiba went on a essential press tour talking of how suicidal Elliott was the sun had set. There was no investigation to be had after that. Thereâs plenty more evidence (it might not be considered so in the court of law but we can make theorize based on the info available) but Alysonâs channel is worth checking out to see it rather than me regurgitating it. Just remember this. Elliott was still alive until he was at the hospital. Elliott was still alive as he laid there bleeding out in and out of consciousness desperately clinging to life and desperately needing the help of someone, anyone. While Jennifer Chiba who supposedly loved him stood there plotting how she would get away with what she had just done. Even if you donât believe she did it. She still sat there for hours before finally making a call for an ambulance. Claiming her phone was dead even THOUGH they had a home phone Elliottâs mom had called not 2 days earlier.
Oh and the neighbors who heard Chiba yelling constantly. And on the morning of heard her scream âwell then DIEâ followed by eerie silence. Could be made up but why? Itâs not like this is a famous case with millions at stake. Itâs someone who wants Elliott to be remembered just like you and me only she also wants retribution.
Thank you
fantasticcc shrine to the best
With the experiment where you played all of Elliott's albums in sequence over the space of a minute or so, it's a pity the plug-in used was one which sped up the playing but didn't alter pitch. I know for sure that Audacity (free) has one.
It would also make for an interesting experiment if all of these compressed sounds were fed into some type of word similarity seeking and interpreting type software (like Mosaic AI is for images, but instead for sounds and language) in order to see what phrases might have been subconsciously created over the period in which these records were composed, played and recorded.
Searching for these types of subliminal, unintentional communications might be the beginning of a new 'subconscious back-masking' craze.
Nice documentary. What is the interview at 34:55?
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The beer. What !
Holy shit wow. St Ides Heaven is my favorite Elliott song, and when I came across this video I was just so shocked because I feel like I don't see a lot of newer ES content nowadays. He was a genius. Thanks so much for making this.
Thanks so much. St Ides is definitely one of my favourites. But then I have like 100 favourites haha, you know how it is I'm sure. He was a genius for sure
should have filmed portland Nyork an LA environments
for ur doc vidz
âMost of the footage was shot live, on old cell phones.â Damn you really did your homework for this doc! Zero of that footage was shot on a cell phone. Iâll proceed with the doc now.
A-1 was a code for coke back in the day. When you paged someone you left a code. A-1âŠ. Lots of limo drivers used to sling A-1âŠ.
Elliot Smith - David Foster Wallace. one musical the other literary
if you havent already, JBT, you should check oug Mac Millers music. the same way you say youve never had a particular artists music touch your soul like how elliot smiths had for you, i can say the same about mac miller. Id recommend listening to his record Circles for a very chill, jazzy vibe, or Faces for a gritty, dark, strung out kinda vibe.
Which did an Elliott Smith cover. I thought it was good .
I feel the same way. No one can do what Elliot can do or make me feel.
Could do...can implies he's still alive
Smith... think about it. The I heart metal shirt.
Midori is a melon liqueur. Usually drank as a "shot" known as a "melon ball". It's used in other alcoholic beverages as well. ***ding..."the more you know..."*** đđ
Never put yourself down. If he was a diamond, this is at least gold. And i'll send you proof rn that i am literally in the .1%...
*COUGH*
Of people that listen to Elliott as much as i do on spotify............
Friendzoned on national television lmao, nice
12:40 đ
Great doc. Those annoying people in the audience though...
Rick and Morty
Independence Day !
The Nick Drake of the 90s
A messenger gone to soon
â€đą
16:11 she might not be yelling get a backbone, i hear an accent. Also in torment saint i think the author says it might have been smiths girlfriend or ex girlfriend wearing a wig who shouted get a backbone, if thats whats being shouted, to piss elliott off or get under his skin. I feel like her last name was deerin or something like that.
It was a dude and he did.