#35 - Either/Or

#35
Artist: Elliott Smith
Album: Either/Or
Year of Release: 1997
Label: Kill Rock Stars

The things that most set the music of Elliott Smith apart from others is his haunting voice and his unique guitar work.  These aren't novel thoughts about his work, so I'd like to focus on the thing I don't often focus on: the lyrics.  I'm not sure if anyone has ever referred to his work as "folksy," but in its own way it is.  Take this section from "Between the Bars":

People you've been before that you 
Don't want around anymore
That push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still

Or this part from "Speed Trials":

When the socket's not a shock enough
You little child what makes you think you're tough
When all the people you think you're above
They all know what's the matter

You're such a pinball yeah you know it's true
There's always something you come back running to

To follow the path of no resistance

What these sections (and others) have in common is the telling of a specific story, but in a somewhat dispassionate and matter-of-fact way.  In this way Smith shared the "folklore" of an increasingly displaced generation making use of its own language of irony and disaffection.  This isn't to say he was insincere or anything like that - rather, he found a way to use this style to tell some of the most human stories of his era.  It's a nice trick that makes his music all the better.