New leak unveils more songs by the late singer/songwriter Elliot Smith

By Jim Feighan
Collegian Staff
October 11, 2006

“I sit here shooting blanks out at empty nests; ain’t nothing that I wanna kill, maybe time I guess.”

Nowadays, singer-songwriters seem to be a dime a dozen. They sing us songs about unrequited love, jealousy, friends and so forth. They are able to comfort their listeners by using touching yet personal lyrics to relate to anyone suffering from heartbreak or the blues. And in the singer-songwriter line of work, substance abuse seems to be prevalent. Notable musicians who have dealt with such afflictions include James Taylor, Conor Oberst and Nick Drake.

Among these is the late Elliott Smith, who died in 2003. Just to give the reader an idea how desperate and depressed Smith was, he committed suicide by stabbing himself in the chest twice with a kitchen knife while he was completely sober and drug-free.

Smith had been working on his sixth album, From a Basement on The Hill, right before he died. He had planned on making it his first double album. Smith remained reclusive for about three years during its recording, occasionally playing shows along the west coast. After accumulating close to 50 songs, Smith decided which ones would make the final cut to the double album. Yet out of nowhere, when friends knew that he was off drugs and was straightening his life out, he committed suicide.

Friends and family decided to release From a Basement on The Hill in October 2004, approximately one year after he died. Unfortunately, because the majority of the songs hadn’t been mixed or edited, only 15 songs made the final track listing of the once double album.

Since the release of From a Basement on the Hill, there have been two internet leaks of Smith’s “Basement Demos,” one of them occurring only a few weeks ago.

Twelve unreleased songs came forward in the first leak about a year ago, ranging from early Smith recordings that were from the Either/Or sessions, to songs that Smith intended to put on From a Basement on The Hill. Highlights from the first leak include “Sticks and Stones,” “Now You Wanna Show Me How” and “The Worst Part is Almost Over.”

Four weeks ago, Smith fans were blessed with another leak, which contained “True Love,” a rare Smith song that was only played a few times live before he passed. Jon Brion, composer of the soundtracks to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees, arranged strings on “True Love,” a song dealing with Smith’s mental breakdown and involuntary submission into rehabilitation.

Another song that might’ve been on From a Basement on The Hill is “Stickman,” a catchy song full of acoustic guitars playing to pianos that are out of tune, while Smith describes the emotions that surround him: “Lonely makes me blue, envy turns me green, hate might paint me red if I load my magazine.”

Also included in the recent leak are short acoustic demos full of Smith’s impeccable guitar playing, such as “See You in Heaven,” “Let’s Turn the Record Over,” “Talking to Mary” and “From a Poisoned Well.”

As for the future of the rest of Elliott Smith’s unreleased “Basement Demos,” all fans can do is hope that Smith’s family will decide to share these rare gems with the world. Until then, all we can do is wait and remember Smith.

feighanj1@lasalle.edu