The Dow Is Up!

Elliott Smith killed himself on October 21, 2003. It seems like it was longer ago than that. Right now I'm listening to his posthumously-released album From a Basement on the Hill. It's a really great album, but all I can think of now when I listen to his music is how tragic it is that Elliott Smith is no longer with us.

You might recognize some of Smith's music from the movie Good Will Hunting. His songs permeated the movie. In fact, it was that movie that first turning me onto Smith. He writes very simple but beautiful songs. They're really not the type of music I like to listen to. They're soft and often include a piano. They can also be very depressing with a hint of anger underneath them.

One of the songs on this album, Pretty (Ugly Before), typifies all I said above. It's a tragically beatiful song that I can't stop listening to. Here's a sample of the lyrics:

Sometimes is all I feel up to now
But it's not worth it to you
Cos you gotta get out somehow
It's the destruction that you require to feel
Like somebody wants you, someone that's more for real

I've been a fan of most of his albums, but I find it hard to listen to him now, knowing that he killed himself. I feel like every song is a window into his troubled soul. I feel sad that nobody could do anything to help him. I feel sorry that I won't be hearing any new music from him. I just have a lot more emotion than I do when I listen to a Poison album. (There, I ust think that I can't believe I wasted so many of my junior high years listening to this crap.)