Love Letters To The Dead: Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith (August, 1969- October, 2003)

Dear Elliott,

Often I do not feel like myself and then more often I wonder how you effortlessly put that feeling into the strum of a guitar

Where is the needle in the hay? I might never know. But the second I put your songs on, every sense of unsteadiness feels crystal clear or whatever

19 years later I want to see how you’d feel about us kids listening to your music now, I know you’d probably appreciate it. However, I want to see if you know that there’s still comfort in anguish

the word ‘romanticise’ gets thrown around a lot in everyday vocabulary and I’m not sure how to feel about it, but I feel like if you were still here you’d write a song about it and then it’ll all just make sense I guess.

Elliott Smith, I hope you are resting easy high above or settled in the middle ground, wherever your remaining energy went, I hope it doesn’t have to hurt the way that it did before.

Still, I wonder what you’d think about memes. What if I told you there was a gay YA Romance book about you and the two characters falling in love because of their shared taste in your music? I get that you’re not around anymore, but I’m assuming there’s some sort of dictionary there in the presumed afterlife so maybe just search up what a meme and Instagram is? anyway, I asked a lovely individual I follow on the internet what they’d say to you in this love letter and this is what they have to say:

“I would thank Elliott Smith for the music he has made and how it impacted my life. I would love to talk to him about his writing and recording process and ask him what his favourite books and songs are.”

Eliott Smith, you and your music continue to live in many of our hearts and our ears.

Rest in Paradise,

Steven Paul Smith, AKA Eliott Smith

1969-2003