This is not my life, it's just a fond farewell to a friend...

Maybe this reveals that I'm a sad bastard, but this month is the two year anniversary of Elliott Smith's death. I was too young to remember Kurt Cobtain's suicide very well (though I remember a little), and the last musician's death I can recall that affected me was Layne Stanley of Alice In Chains. So when I heard the news two years ago, it was right around my mom's birthday. (I remember it being within a few days of the 19th) Oddly enough, within a few days of the one year anniversary of Elliott Smith's death, was the death of one of my closest family friends. Hence October is an odd month for me now. In any event, no one around me understood why I reacted to this musician's death. I heard a lot of, "Well, he was just a musician, it's not like you knew him", or, "His music was depressing anyway, so was it really a shock?" I had answers to every response I got, even if they weren't justified. Whether or not I saw it coming, or whether Elliott Smith's music was depressing or not, mattered little to me. It's still the ending of a young life, one that had so much more to offer the world, and so much more talent to share.

I won't make any assumptions into what was going on with Elliott Smith at the time of his death, or even speculate on whether it was a suicide or not; that's simply none of my business. His family has made a lot of effort to keep his personal life private, which to me is how it should be. However, it's still eerie for me to now hear songs like, "Between The Bars", "Independence Day" or, "Fond Farewell" and not think about what was to come. "The potential you'll be/that you'll never see/images stuck in your head..." A lot of people tried to pick apart From A Basement On The Hill, the record released after his death. I know that journalists are supposed to write about these major events and such, but aren't these articles full of speculation? They had little to go on, except a fairly small discography that seemed to ask more questions than answer any. Then there's releasing a record after someone's death without knowing exactly how the artist wanted it; but that's another story entirely.

Yes, I am one sad bastard, if you can call it that. All I can do is keep Elliott Smith and his family in my thoughts, hoping that wherever (or whatever) he is, he's content.


Now Playing: Elliott Smith, "Fond Farewell"