Just a few short days ago, over 8 years after his untimely death, a previously unreleased recording of an original song written and performed by Elliott Smith has leaked, and I have a copy of it to share with all of you. The song is called Misery Let Me Down. It's a short song, but with Elliott, it was always about "less is more," and the man never produced anything short of true artwork. The recording was made while Elliott was paying a visit to a WMUC-FM, the student radio station at the College Park campus of the University of Maryland. Coincidentally, I've actually been there personally. Click the play button below to hear the full track via this YouTube video.
If you'd like an mp3 of the song for personal use, please leave a comment along with an e-mail address and I will personally send you an mp3 of the version that I have, which includes about 15 seconds of Elliott speaking in the beginning, and just a very brief mumble at the end about warming up his voice. Hearing him speak and then immediately going into the song, since I've been listening to his music for several years now, but rarely listen to recordings of him speaking, since his death, is really chilling at times.
Elliott Smith, the Nebraska born singer-songwriter (originally born Steven Paul Smith) who shaped so much of the sound that we now call the indie/alternative genre, lived a short life, dying at just 34 back in October of 2003. He lived the majority of his adult life in Portland, Oregon but most of his childhood he was raised in Texas.
He was a musician in every sense of the word. He wrote his own songs, his own music and accompaniment, and his vocals are so chillingly beautiful you can't help but get goosebumps while listening to his particularly heart-felt and often melancholy tracks. Along with his weapon of choice, the acoustic guitar, he also played bass, drums, piano, harmonica, and clarinet.
Elliott hit the peak of his career when he signed a two album record deal with Dreamworks Records. Among those entrancing songs setting the stage for a a cold and naked recanting of human suffering and the apparent curing power of love, was the single entitled Miss Misery. Elliott Smith was nominated for an Academy Award under the category of Best Original Song in 1998; a truly humbling and incredible honor and form of recognition, just to be a nominee.
If you know Elliott's music, you know him. He always sang about crippling depression and addiction, codependency, and other issues that truly did haunt him in his personal life. Just five years later, at the age of 34, Smith was found dead as the result of two stab wounds to the chest. Rumors suggesting that these wounds were not actually self-inflicted still quietly circulate the folk singer-songwriter scene to this day, but one thing is undeniable: his talent was extraordinary, his vocals will forever be hauntingly beautiful, and the art he shared with the world will never be forgotten.
If you're in Los Angeles, you have to go by Solutions Audio, where the Elliott Smith memorial is painted outside. This is where the album cover for Figure 8 was shot. Fans and members of the FMLY arts and music collective commissioned the restoration of the mural to honor Elliott's memory.
