#100 - Elliott Smith Saved D.N.A.

I'm gonna be frank. I've been considering ending this blog. Almost everyday I log into blogger and begin to type an entry only to stop and close the page before I am done. My life has been a constant series of ups and downs lately and I just couldn't manage to place blogging into the rollercoaster. I even start to write emails constantly but never finish any of them. I had planned to use my 99th post to let you all know that I was going to walk away.

Was.

Then on Saturday I started to read all the blog posts about Elliott Smith. It's amazing to see how Elliott managed to touch so many people from so many completely different backgrounds. Many people talked about how one simple Elliott Smith moment changed their perspectives on things. And then it hit me - I had made an enormous mistake. In my process of listening to all the Elliott Smith I could get my hands on a few years ago I had somehow managed to miss out on "Figure 8". I knew most of the songs from the live performances I had heard but heard none of the album versions. I instantly ran out and got a copy and listned to it last night straight thru for the first time.

This was my Elliott Smith moment.

Much of the record felt as if Elliott had written it from my point of view. My exact thoughts and emotions and sentiments. This probably means that I'm more than a little messed up, but that's the way that life goes...and Elliott understood. Life is hard but you have to keep trudging on. That's why the moment that was marked on Saturday still makes no sense to me. Did that much change in Elliott's life between the writing of "Figure 8" and his final demise? I can't imagine that much had changed...but I know I've been wrong before.

I had originally planned on a lavish 2-disc mix for my 100th post, and that will later see the light of day, but this is more important. So, instead I wish to bring to you one of my personal favorite Elliott Smith live recordings from the brilliant 2000 tour. I hope it leaves you with the same feelings that it leaves me.

Elliott Smith - Live 11.10.00 Roseland Theatre - Portland, Or. via Archive.org

01 - Needle In The Hay
02 - Son Of Sam
03 - Clementine
04 - LA
05 - Cupid's Trick
06 - Division Day
07 - Waltz #2 (XO)
08 - Bled White
09 - Stupidity Tries
10 - In The Lost and Found (Honky Bach)
11 - Junk Bond Trader
12 - Happiness
13 - Ballad of Big Nothing
14 - Independence Day
15 - Can't Make A Sound
16 - Everything Means Nothing To Me
17 - Color Bars
18 - Say Yes
19 - A Fond Farewell
20 - Speed Trials
21 - Yer Blues

Also, I want to take this moment to tell everyone, especially my personal friends, that I love all of you. This song, the song that my blog is named after, is for you:
Glen Phillips - Don't Need Anything (Demo Version)