Music is worth doing just because. It doesn’t have to be justified by some political point of view, and it’s kind of insulting to the music to make it a tool for something else.
Elliott SmithCertain songs just feel a way that's hard to put into words and it's not happy and it's also not really sad but I couldn't say what it is
Elliott SmithI got tired of doing battle with people thinking I was a little weird because I wasn't in a band making happy, stilted music. The only people who really seem weird to me are people who think they're normal. People who think it's possible to be normal just by doing the same things that most people do. Is there a most people? I don't know. Television makes it seem like there is, but I think that might just be television.
Elliott SmithDoing battle with themselves that way, every day, all the time and sometimes it sucks, but other times it results in people making sort of a dream comprehensible to someone else.
Elliott SmithSomewhere where people aren't so mad would be nice, but I don't know if there is anywhere like that.
Elliott SmithSo if somebody writes a song that appears to have some meaning then everybody thinks that it's a really heavy song.
Elliott SmithBut I was also doing odd jobs around Portland, like spreading gravel and transplanting bamboo trees.
Elliott SmithTheres a bunch of Elvis Costello records that made all the difference between feeling like a total freak and feeling like ... only a freak. A freak among other freaks
Elliott SmithI'm happy some of the time, and some of the time I'm not. But like when I see a movie, for example, that I really like, that moves me or whatever, it's usually happy and sad at the same time.
Elliott SmithIf I seem to be reckless with myself,It's the fault of no one.All things have a placeUnder the moon as well as the sun.
Elliott SmithWell, I try not to think about the general public since I have no idea what the general public is and I don't think anybody does.
Elliott SmithMy girlfriend at the time convinced me to send these songs to Cavity Search. When they wanted to put out my record I was totally shocked.
Elliott SmithI can't think of anything off the top of my head that seems more important than something designed to raise money to keep something going that keeps IV drug users from dying.
Elliott SmithI liked the idea of a self-contained, endless pursuit of perfection. But I have a problem with perfection. I don't think perfection is very artful. But there's something I liked about the image of a skater going in this endless twisted circle that doesn't have any real endpoint. So the object is not to stop or arrive anywhere; it's just to make this thing as beautiful as they can.
Elliott SmithI want to keep making records as long as I can and that's the beginning and end of my concern about selling records.
Elliott SmithYou can take a picture of New York and one person looking at it will think it looks really depressing, frightening; and someone else will look at it and think of all the fun things you can do in New York. I think songs are kinda like that.
Elliott SmithPeople are so... 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.
Elliott SmithEverybody gets a tag. If you listen to a Velvet Underground record, you don't think, 'Godfathers of Punk.' You just think, 'This sounds great.' The tags are there in order to help try to sell something by giving it a name that's going to stick in somebody's memory. But it doesn't describe it. So 'depressing' isn't a word I would use to describe my music. But there is some sadness in it -- there has to be, so that the happiness in it will matter.
Elliott SmithStatic in my head, the reflected sound of everything, tried to go to where it led, but it didn't lead to anything.
Elliott SmithThere are lots of things I like about playing in a band, the things I cant do by myself you know.
Elliott SmithI went walking around the city some more, people watching with a cold, blank stare. And I saw your face in everyone, I swear.
Elliott SmithI don't really think of time off as writing blocks. I think that's a western notion of demonizing inactivity. When your imagination decides it needs to take a nap. maybe that's what it needs to do.
Elliott SmithI truly hope the future will bring me something to feel nostalgic about, because there's really nothing much so far I can remember fondly.
Elliott SmithThere's always that argument to make - that you're in better company historically if people don't understand what you're doing.
Elliott SmithWhile his history of depression is compatible with suicide... and the location and direction of the stab wounds are consistent with self-infliction, several aspects of the circumstances (as they are known at this time) are atypical of suicide and raise the possibility of homicide.
Elliott SmithI see you're leaving me and taking up with the enemy, the cold comfort of the in-between, a little less than a human being.
Elliott SmithI don’t think it’s important who I am. I really like playing music, but I don’t really want to be anything in particular.
Elliott Smith