The first time I listened to an Elliott Smith song I had a very powerful experience that I won't ever forget. From the first notes of the song "Angeles," I knew that this was the music I had been waiting my whole life to hear. I followed his career closely, watching him rise from indie rock's best kept secret to Academy Award Nominee for his song "Miss Misery," that appeared in the film "Good Will Hunting." It was amazing to see this introverted singer/songwriter who went out of his way to shun the spotlight, have the spotlight thrust upon him so quickly. I always felt like he just didn't want any part of his own success.
I remember recieving a text message early one morning in October of 2003 that read, "Dude, Elliott Smith stabbed himself in the heart...twice :( " After the initial shock of the news, I remember not being too surprised that it all ended this way. Like Kurt Cobain ten years earlier, I just always felt like there wasn't ever going to be a happy ending to his story. In the years since his passing I have come to peace with his death and I feel like he will live forever in the music he made and the people he has touched with his songs.
I first read about the "Figure 8 Wall" where fans had created a memorial for Elliott Smith about a year ago when I was living and working in Hollywood. I could never find time to make it up there and I vowed to take the pilgramage to the wall where Elliott Smith had taken the famous photo for his album "Figure 8," and see it for myself. It was a pretty powerful experience to be there, at a place that his fans have made a memorial to their fallen hero. To read the things that other fans wrote to him made me feel like I was a part of something and I was lucky to have come across his music and have it be the soundtrack to the last eight years of my life.
A future butterfly....
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