Jack Black Sings An Elliott Smith Song 

"Jack Black Talks About Singing An Elliot Smith Song"

Elliott would have loved the mistakes. He made them all the time and it showed the human element . Rest easy , Elliott

Elliott would've loved a tribute with somebody fuckin up a line and starting all over again. Happend to him many times.

The sweet/sad irony is that, well... Jack doesn't know how authentic his cover actually is. I went to one of his last shows. He had just come out of rehab and was totally smashed. He sat in his chair, alone on stage. My friend was bootlegging it. She yelled "I love you Elliott!" and he slurred "I love you too" into the mic (she probably still uses that as a voicemail greeting to this day). Anyway, he only finished two of his songs. Every other song he either forgot the chords or forgot the lyrics. It got progressively worse as the show went on. So he probably had some pills kicking in with the drinks he held. We were a sad sea of broken hearts that set with the Silverlake sun. I remember going to a Christmas party shortly after his infamous departure with a R.I.P. shirt I had made. Jack was there. He gave me the bro-hearted nod for it. You done good buddy...

you got balls to even think about singing say yes in front of a crowd. hats of to you. long live Elliott's music.

Just became a fan of Jack Black after watching this.

This makes me see JB in a different light. I wish he was serious like this a lot more. I prefer this serious, more vulnerable side of him. And if he sang without comedy, he'd blow the roof off.

Jack Black is a fanboy like everyone else here, all these negative comments are terrible, somebody asked him to perform so he did, I bet he was nervous as fuck because he knows he cant do the song justice. You may not like Tenacious Ds music or Jack Blacks acting but you cant say hes a poser, hes the same half decentish guitar player and singer as everyone here aspires to be, hes famous because he has a great personality and genuine quality about him, not because hes an all time great musician, he loves music and idolizes Elliott Smith like everyone else here, he is telling this story because Say Yes has an air about it that is hard to replicate, and hes trying to be honest and modest about not being able to convey the same intensity as Elliott Smith, despite doing his best effort. Give the guy a break, Jack Black is a true talented rock star and a more knowledgeable fan than anyone here.

I only discovered Elliott Smith ten years after his death. What I couldn't get over is how quick those tunes lodged in my head - one listen was enough. Brilliant song after brilliant song. With a lot of artists that die young (John Lennon comes to mind) you get the feeling they were probably creatively spent - I don't think Smith was, I'm sure he could have been even greater. Bloody shame. A master of melody who should have been more famous.

Jack Black knows good music :)

Jack Black loving Elliot Smith makes me so absolutely happy that he can key into one of the saddest musicians who had the ability to evoke abandonment, depression, being misunderstood, addiction, death. I can’t think of someone who encapsulates that aspect of humanity more perfect

Lost my shit when he didn't sing an Elliot Smith song 10/10

is there any footage of him singing at this concert he's talking about?

elliott smith is great

His name's not actually Jack Black? There's no reason to live now

That is probably the most authentic way to cover an Elliott Smith song! Elliott's live performances were FULL of him messing up mid-song. It happened all the time, so I'm sure everyone was ready to cut Jack Black some slack.

Elliott is a true genius....glad that Jack appreciates that....

Jack Black definitely has the power to deliver 'sincere', musically. He's done it dramatically. But what he does comedically is awesome. I'm always buying more of Jack Black.

Situations get f'd up or turned around sooner or later.. even if it is the 9th time.

elliot smith, you were a national treasure, rip

Did someone say.... TRIBUTE?

There's an axis of coincidence here: Jack is an Elliot Smith fan, who was a Ween fan and obviously influenced by them (listen to "Baby Bitch"). He also covered "Birthday Boy". Gene Ween wrote a song inspired by Black's wife called "Stay Forever".

I had no idea this man listened to Elliott Smith

Any chance anyone recorded this performance?

Settle down there Tom Black

I love this video, it humanizes Jack in a way we rarely see, its always awesome when you see a star geeking out about another. R.i.P Elliot yiu left us waaaaay to soon.

I thought I was going to hear him sing the song. This was hilarious tho. In the most respectful way.

Elliott fucked up his songs just like this all of the time. Super fitting

Aw that's so sad he couldn't remember his dad's name. Nothing should make us that afraid.

hahaha glad this happens to famous people too :D :D

I'm an upvoter. The downvoters should be ashamed. Jack Black has been a staple of indie rock for a while now already in my mind. Tenacious D is always heard attached to some of the best names in the music business....of our time. I am also a huge Elliott Smith fan. I had the privilege of seeing him perform life over a decade ago. It is the SUPREME QUALITY of Elliott Smith HIMSELF to mess up and KEEP RIGHT BACK GOING. That's what he did. All the time. It gave me chills to hear the song was necessary to perform 9 times. That is BEAUTIFUL AND POWERFUL. Nice work Mr. Black. I look forward to more uplifting and positive vibes from Tenacious D.

Im gald that the crowd met him with love. If you love Smith, I kinda expect you to understand that its not easy to fall short, and its good to be honest

Ben Folds does a good rendition of Say Yes.

He’s real! He understands himself and human frailty. Bravo for the integrity and grit too!

Funny, just knowing J.B. through his movie personalities, you wouldn't expect JB to love Elliott Smith so much. But like so many stars, he's a completely different person when he's not playing a role. He seems like a really great guy; an honest and humble musician.

Jack Black is an absolute gem of a human being. So humble, talented, and funny.

I guess he covered Elliott pretty well then, seeing as most of the RU-vid shows I've seen elliott sang the wrong words or asked th audience to help him remember them or even just gave up on the song. I thought I'd actually see the cover though when I clicked on this

Big fan of Mr. Smith, even bigger fan of Jack Blacks knowing he is too.

RIP Elliot Today is the 19th anniversary of his passing.. he's in a better place!!

I wish there's a video of jack black's cover... or even an audio clip

There's lots of videos of Elliott screwing up his own song live, so that's actually a very Elliott Smith thing to do.

He was a genius. I love this Jack Black. Thank you.

Thomas Jacob Black

Watching this actually gives me hope that despite my nerves and messing up that maybe I really could make it someday Update: am more familiar with Elliot Smith now and can't believe how much this resonates with him as well tbh

Damn I thought he was actually going to sing the fucking song. Spoiler alert - he just talks about singing the song.

Ive come to feel tenacious D is serious music. It is comedic for sure but the rock element is sincere and I feel rock feeling when I listen to the authentic rock

I love Jack and I love Elliot Smith. I broke my heart YET AGAIN today to Everything reminds me of her.

Boom! I love this! Elliott was the man

BTW........ Jack!!!! this interview was Honorfull!!! and? elliott needed multiple takes too!!!! but? when he got it? that was a magic moment! you ARE a big fan!!! (I know this ; )...

Good job man! Could of ran off the stage crying but you did it! Elliott is so missed by many:(

The title of this song is misleading. It should say 'Jack Black talks about singing an Elliott Smith song.'

I've avoided this video for so long-it kept coming up on my recommended but I didn't want to watch it in case it annoyed me. But it didn't. Great story Thomas.

Jack Black. great musician, funny actor. He really knows his music, I can tell just with that comment about that Elliott was a genius because his outstanding and unique harmonies.

This story, told by a professional musician, makes me feel better about the time I messed up a song in front of 1000 people.

Elliot Smith :( One of the best to ever do it.

The beautiful thing about this story is that his annoying little mental block forced him to become totally vulnerable in front of an audience while performing an Elliott Smith song, and is there any other way to do justice to an Elliott Smith song?

Elliott Smith is a genius! Most underrated artist of all time!

My favorite Elliott Smith song is bottle up and explode. Beautiful music.

One of my favorite dudes loves Elliot Smith? Fucking Jack Black.

Whats really funny and also sorta moving is elliot used to have this problem when singing his own songs live, on more than one occasion he would stop playing because he forgot the lyrics or chords to certain songs and had to be reminded by the audience lol.

Jack pronounces the ee sounds with an ay sound. He's almost becoming like the best Robin Williams.

And now he is playing minecraft with pewds

Elliott would have loved it. He messed up and started over and had great humor. Rest easy Mr. Smith

It's so hard to listen to Elliott anymore I just can't do it but he's so good

good story of lesson in how to become such a humble and brilliant person as he is ! being willing to feel so embarrassed and still be so sharing with everyone 💘 for me he is just Wow (: i love the name Thomas, too...

this is just a tribute.

I could listen to T.J.B. alllll freakin' dayy.

Why did that interviewer change the subject... it was too far of a reach

It's refreshing to hear about a time where Jack Black wasn't a perfect rock god. Easy to forget that super successful people have had to go through so many failures to get there

I know Exactly what hes saying. and JB is the fucking man! legend has it, he's legendary!

What an awesome musician. Damn left too soon. 😔. But I am glad his music still lives on.

Title: "Jack black sings an Elliott Smith song" Me: spends 3 minutes watching a video of Jack Black not singing an Elliott Smith song.

no man will ever be good enough for me because Elliott Smith existed

Couldn't remember the greatest song in world, no. This is just a tribute

Elliot smith was the man .. I’ve only been stopped dead in my tracks twice .. when I first heard pearlJam and then when I heard Elliot smith

Loveable dude.

I know no one else fuck up their song.i fucked up mine tho.but that's ok. Take it from the top. ❤

god i wish i was born earlier so i could to go to an elliott smith concert and *not* forget about it immediately

Damn I where's the cover? I want to listen to it

He ain't singin!! He's talkin about singin

That's amazing. I forgot my ex-girlfriend's name under similar circumstances way back in 2001. I still think this was probably a contributory factor to why she dumped me - at least on some subliminal plain. Well, that and the fact that I was a proper arsehole. Like, a proper dickheady arsehole.

It hurts me to know jack black has pain in his heart

From this to his cameo in Humility, gotta love Jack!

No matter what way you put it, his humility has made him a master of acceptance in the flow of things.. The Man can fail in front of thousands of people, 8 times back to back, and still continue on through to successfully make it on his 9th try. I'm a relatively new fan of him, but his sincerity is very hard to come by. 🤘

If you mess up when you're playing a song, you should just keep going. A lot of people probably wouldn't even notice.

I love you Jack black

don't know who this interviewer is but he is Not connecting with Jack at all that is so weird

Why does this interview make me cry every time I hear it.

This is a re upload from a while ago right?

That sums up Elliott Smith perfectly

what was he supposed to say? not clear how he messed up. simply screwing up a line? I wouldn't think of it as screwing up. npw fergie doing the national anthem.... that's screwing up lol

He fucked it up because it's an extremely emotional song. I would be surprised if anyone could do that song without choking up

E Smith was a genius; "pretty (ugly before)" "Pitseleh" "Condor ave" "Everything Means Nothing To Me" "between the bars" "Angeles"....

Ok, I now don't hate Jack Black anymore.

Elliot Smith is very complex music, I too would shit myself if I ever got myself into singing his songs on a gig.

Hold up. His middle and last name is Jacob Black!

wish I still had cable off camera was one of my favorites ozf all time

Why? I hate Hack Bkack. And I love Elliott less because Bkack likes him.

There is something fundamentally wrong about RU-vidrs who lie in the titles.

really his name is Thomas Jacob Blackson??? I never knew, dang!