Elliott Smith on Freaks | Blank on Blank 

This might be the best interview with Eilliott Smith I've heard. He often seemed very annoyed by interviews. Here he's actually engaged.

"A lot of people are kind of depressed. I’m happy some of the time and some of the time I’m not." - Elliott Smith. Our latest.

Finally someone interviews him in a way that suits him. Gently, quietly and giving him space not like you would any other pop star

My favorite part is his interaction with the waitress. One of the greatest indicators of the quality of a good heart is how they interact with/treat wait-staff. Seems like an incredible person to know.

Elliott was a genius in all aspects. You can tell he was such a sensitvie man. A real, sincere artist able to create really deep and melodic catchy songs. Also so smart... Everything he said, every reasoning and his way of thinking was so interesting. A really interesting guy who couldn't fit on this cruel, cold place. So sad... Hope he's doing well wherever he is, if he is somewhere now.

I just like to hear him talk about anything.

The part at the end, when the 'credits' are rolling.. and Elliott is talking about maybe leaving America sometime.. holy shit... it hit me so hard to be reminded that he never made it out :(

"Somewhere where people aren't so mad" 😓

his voice is so beautiful. obviously his singing voice is perfect but wow his talking voice is so calming and nice

I was just listening to Elliott a few days ago. A nice sunny day out in the country. I was listening to a CD I had made when Elliot died. I was so taken by how amazing he sounds. There’s nobody like him. Just an amazing spirit. I was so crushed when I got the news of his death. I felt terrible for him and terrible about the idea of never hearing a new song from Elliott. He really was and remains one of a kind.

Either/Or has to be one of my favourite records

he did write pretty happy sounding melodies to lyrics on sad subjects. His songs were drama and drama means happiness and sadness in one. The dichotomy. Duality. He was a great artist. Extremely talented. Each album he made was amazing in it's own right. It's worth owning his discography. Listening to every song he made. They're all so different from each other melodically.

His voice is so calming

This interviewer really understood how to approach Elliott and not make him annoyed, thank you.

"somewhere where people aren't so mad" valid more now than ever.

very polite to the assistant/waitress or whatever, I've seen many interviews where the interviewee doesn't acknowledge the person who brings them a drink. I just feel like he was a really nice and sensitive person, and I believe that how a person treats service people is a great indicator of their quality of character.

Hope you are in that happier place We love and miss you.Elliott

"Blank on Blank" should post a rare interview of Jeff Buckley if humanly possible.

Honestly, listening to Elliott Smith interviews always calms me down. He had such a calming and kind aura about him… what happened to him makes me sad. Glad he lives on through his art

I share a lot of the same feelings as Elliot Smith, and I am now the same age as he was when he died, 34. Permanent melancholy is manageable for some, but every day will be a struggle. I admit, I sometimes ask if the struggle is worth it, and I am not sure I will ever know.

Waltz #2 is my dark horse candidate for top 3 songs ever.

i adore his music

Roman Candle is extremely underrated

Ive never heard Elliott talk before. I thought he was this tortured soul that was just horribly sad all of the time and them ultimately killed himself. Turns out he was the exact opposite and so terribly normal.

There is no anger where you are now, my friend, thanks for the inspiration...

Elliott Smith is the person to me who I would hug and never let go, I’d cry into their chest and feel genuine comfort, he feels like home.

"Somewhere where people aren't so mad. I don't know if there is a place like that. ... I don't know." ~

I need one of Jeff Buckley!

Is it possible to love someone who died before you were born

this is great, thanks for posting. i'm excited anytime there's something on youtube relating to Elliott Smith that i haven't already watched 100 times. looking forward to seth avett's tribute record and show here in Nashville on March 17th. likely the closest i'll ever get to a live ES experience.

"oh, definitely... yeah" -Elliott Smith

He actually had a very pleasant and nice voice. Doesn't sound like his singing voice, but it keeps its softness. I wish he was still around..

somewhere where people aren't so mad, would be nice. but i dont know if there is anywhere like that, who knows.

Gosh, i'm amazed with how it captured Elliott's essence. Thanks for this.

I watch this video every once in a while. I find it conforting, his voice and how at ease he sounds.

"people seem so chaotic internally, but being filtered through some form--like making a record--sort of filters it down into something that can be understood. It's hard to represent chaos or an absence of something. It's much easier to represent the presence of something or _a_ situation. People can _be_ chaos but it's hard to fit it into some creative piece that you made. It's hard."

these drawings are brilliant! he is brilliant.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

The way this guy talks is the epitome of a very smart functioning alcoholic. He is drunk and very, very used to dealing with it.

This made me tear up. I miss you man.

I agree with a lot of the sentiments posted here. The format of these interviews is very comforting and intimate. They've been very soothing for me as I process the election results here in the U.S.

"Somewhere where people aren't so mad, but who knows if there is any place like that" And then he went to heaven.. thank you for everything Elliott..

2:53 I've never heard anything like this, I'm actually mind-blown

Honestly this is one of my favorite videos of all time.

The end was very hard...

I've watched this video so many times and it still manages to make me happy. Oh elliott. Also, that little snippet of music at the end.. what's that?? Sounds vaguely like between the bars at a certian point but not really?

This is the best interview of elliot I've ever heard i really appreciate the fact that the interviewer didn't interrupt him and let him finish what he had to say rather than cut him off mid sentence to ask another question

Elliott’s music is honestly something of comfort to me. Rather than being objectively sorrowful or sweet, it’s just a form of comfort whether I’m personally happy or sad. I hope that made sense. I’m glad I discovered him. I wish more than anything that I could meet him. Rest In Peace, Elliot 💙

In this interview, Smith does a remarkably good job of articulating something few people ever manage: he gets at the purpose at the crux of creative endeavour. His description of the “chaos” of a person’s inner life, the constant existential battle of being a human being-the daily tug-of-war of reason fore and impulse aft, the rational ego struggling to tame the animal id-and how the act of artistic creation (songwriting, for example) can render that chaos intelligible. Attempts to describe the infinitely unique maelstrom of consciousness quickly run into the severe limits of prosaic language. Subjectivity is, in this sense, subject to its own Heisenberg principle: you can let yourself feel it and therein necessarily lose the objective standpoint needed to deconstruct its concept and rebuild it in legible sentences, or you can switch on your analytical hat and in so doing exempt yourself from experiencing the very form of subjective experience you seek to analyse. The more you know about an electron’s position, the less you can know about its speed; the more you seek to analyse your emotions, the less you see them. Generally speaking, the more strife one encounters, the more chaotic one’s inner life may be, and the more important it may be for them to have a creative channel through which to communicate their experience and make themselves understood: “People seem so chaotic internally, but being filtered through some form like making a record sort-of filters it down so that it can be understood”. And he’s absolutely right. He’s absolutely right when he says “it’s hard to represent chaos or the absence of something”, and that “it’s much easier to represent the presence of something, or a situation”. The creative process is a middle way between, on the one hand, the analysis (breaking down) and re-synthesis (putting back together) of perception in language, and, on the other hand, direct experience. It is a middle way which straddles description and experience-a mimetic practice that is neither a description of a thing nor the thing itself but rather something in between, something which is it’s subject but at the same time has its own life, something that is legible but at the same time bends to no external rubrics. I’ve read a fair bit on this stuff, and few people are able to articulate this dimension of creative practice as lucidly as Smith did in this interview. You can feel his lyrical talent in the way he reaches for his words in constructing his descriptions-punctuations of “like” and “sort-of” are not halter-marks; they create space, and give subtle signals to his interlocutor as to the approximate degree of conviction in each of his statements, constructing and flexible interpretive space not dissimilar to that he is describing when he talks about songwriting. Even in an interview, even in his prosaic speech, Smith speaks in kind and thoughtful lyrics. Also, Kierkegaard is EVERYWHERE in Smith’s work. Somebody must have written on this? Elliott Smith, God rest him, was a brilliant artist. His lyricism, and above all his kindness, remind me of Keats, who was also a notoriously kind friend, and who’s poetry fortified our appreciation for the strength of the bond between love and beauty. My one hope is that our civilisation can grow towards elevating souls like his, souls that, presently, are increasingly bullied and scorned and exploited in the dominant culture of ruthless individualism among the powerful. If you know someone like Elliott Smith in your life (and I’d wager there are more of them among us than we tend to think), please be kind to them, reach out to them, support them, and love them. They’ll return the favour 10 times over.

The world needs more empathy and sympathy. Ignorance is over empowering right now :(

thanks to the reference to elliott in rick and morty, his music gets md through the day. i honestly dont know where id be without him.

“Somewhere where people aren’t mad.. but I don’t know if there is anywhere like that”

This interview took place the same day I was born, holy shit

Every time I learn more about Elliott Smith I feel a little more heartbroken. I hope he had some idea of how meaningful his music was and would continue to be for people such as me

god damnit elliott, can you stop being sweet for two seconds? as if we didn't miss you enough... but, in all seriousness, elliott seems like he was an incredible man and deserved so much more than what he got in life.

one way i like to describe elliotts music is sad but in a hopeful way. that’s just me though

Listening to him makes me happy, yet sooo sad. Wish he was still around.

Really interesting. Now if only there was a Nick Drake interview kicking around...

Wow he was so intelligent . I miss him so much😟😟😟😟😟

My ex boyfriend was on sub-pop records i wont say who.. and he knew Elliott. I wouldve loved to have a conversation with him or even just to be in his presence.. i dont obsess over "the famous"i think its a curse more than anything. Being famous is a prison. I was lucky enough to meet the few whom i wanted to as a teenager. but i would have loved to actually know him.know Elliott. He seemed so humble and talented and witty and relatable. I dig his dry sarcasm. And the use of upbeat sounds with devastating and sad lyrics... one single song can set the different mood you need at any given time.

the animation is hilarious, good job :) (apart from the lost artifact you guys recovered) :)

I opened RU-vid to search up “The Fall live” because I’ve been loving hex enduction hour (I love pavement and lcd soundsystem and gorillaz so how I avoided listening to them for so long I have no clue). Anyways this video catches my eye so I click and the first thing Elliott smith says is how much he loves Elvis Costello which I think is a pretty hilarious coinkidink because I had just read a quote of Mark E. Smith talking about how hex enduction hour was made as a reaction to and out of hatred for, “bland bastards like Elvis Costello and Spandau Ballet ... [and] all that shit."

a great and beautiful human, he left behind a great impact on some souls...

Thank you for putting this together. I've been an old school fan and had never heard this interview.

It tears me apart listening to some of his songs, the words seem so real and honest, and the fact that he never made it out of USA is so sad I feel so sorry for him...

love you elliott, just too good for this world xo I suppose

"Somewhere where people aren't so mad"

13 years. This is beautiful, thank you.

was gonna thumb it up, but the '666 likes' seemed right, awkwardly fit... will be back to thumb it up next time ...

Oh sweet Elliott… how we miss his mesmerizing and healing presence.

Pain expressed in beauty.

The drawing helps me understand what he's saying so much better

_I don't know if there's anywhere like that._ Rest easy, pal. ):

Wow, I like this a lot. never heard it bfore. love his honesty

Do one on Nick Drake if possible. Also, Pete Ham.

Subscribed. Watched the Tom Waits one and now this. Holy crap so good!

The more time that passes , I think he was murdered -by his psycho girlfriend - I mean who can stand themselves twice in the heart and take it out - All the while she said she was in the shower How convenient her placement was after she found his body really? All showered and everything she should be in prison.

Dude he had lots of scars and stuff but you guys did him wrong with drawing him like that lol.

Who knew Double D would grow up to be a musician? But seriously, this was an awesome video and I'm glad to be introduced to Elliot Smith. The guy's a genius, and these pbs vids are spreading all kinds of fascinating artists and scientists to all kinds of people who'd otherwise probably never hear of them. If there isn't one for Mr. Rogers, there should be soon!

That voice of his is so soothing

Elliott was in a league of his own, he was pure as snow and bright as the sun. Rest in peace, you beautiful cosmic being.

Goddamn it.. I wish that he'd have been like "...somewhere people aren't so mad... Maybe like Canada. You know? Where people are cool instead of mad?" Then he'd be waiting to pick up dope on the same corner as me one day and I'd be like , "Hey, aren't you Elvis Costello?" And he'd be like, "Na.. no. That's not me." And I'd say, "Oh." Years later I'd discover he was one of the best friends I never had. None of my supposed friends would even believe me when I told them about it. Especially that shiftless car thief, Costello.

i found a song on spotify that samples this exact video. Its called mirage by endnoise.

Where did the cover of between the bars come from at the end? It doesn't sound like elliott playing.

whats that song at 1:28? Fits really well with the interview!

This is easily the best Elliott Smith interview that I've ever heard.

What a beautiful man! So sad that Elliott Smith died. R.I.P Elliott, you're a legend!

What a good interviewer. Great questions, open ended and not tiring stuff musicians get asked all the time

Don't let me get carried away...

Who was playing the ' Between the Bars' instrumental toward the very end?

I think his girlfriend killed him. Just saying who stabs themselves twice in the chest for sucide

my brother and were joking about a blank on blank about Eliot Smith a while ago and here it is

Underrated and this interview needs to be seen by more people. We miss you ES

He would've been great in a live action Hey Arnold movie as Sid.

Could you make him look any worse

What a beautiful, lovely human.

man such treat for me, I'm big admirer of Smith's music. Cheers!

How do I miss someone I have never met?

I remember listening to him when I was younger,life seemed so open back then and I was excited by every new book or song I heard.Since I lost that its been hard to enjoy anything again.

I think most of us are happy he got over that. :/