Elliott Smith Quotes

Elvis Costello got me through high school. That and The Clash.

1995-05-XX - La Luna - Portland OR

Olympia WA, 07-17-1999

I don't think the point is to make no mistakes. That's... just not the point.

I think that's a Western notion of demonizing inactivity. No one can be productive all the time.

I think the suggestion that all my songs are personal is insulting because that assumes that I have a bunch of issues that I feel the need to unload on strangers. That is not the case. It also assumes that I just talk about myself the whole time which, again, is not true.

I haven't done anything yet that I'm ashamed of. I'm bound to fuck up sooner or later. Everybody does.

Even now, it sort of feels like I'm the disappointment because I can't play any one thing very well. I'm not a very good guitar player. I try to do a lot of things but that's not the same thing as being technically good. But I don't mind; the price to pay for being flawless is inhumanity. I like being the way I am, but I can't play like they can.

I just make up songs that to me feel human. And they're bound to be seen by some people as confessional or depressing, some sort of real one-way assessment that is not how they are to me.... And it's really easy not to worry about all that, except for the persistent questions that come up. Maybe not in this interview, but in a lot of them. "Why are you so sad?" ... There must be some reason why I always get these questions, which to me seem like totally surface things about my music.

There's a lot in my music that I find happy and optimistic, in both the melody and the lyrics.

thank you for this blog <3

I think no one ever lives up to their potential, and that's not a negative thing, though it sounds like that in my songs. I mean, it does bum me out sometimes, but it's impossible to live up to your potential in this world because if you can, potential itself is not worth very much. People are infinitely more capable than what they end up showing.

I truly hope the future will bring me something to feel nostalgic about, because there's really nothing much so far I can remember fondly.