Elliott Smith Quotes

• Playing it safe is the most popular way to fail.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Advice

• It’s a lot easier to tell the truth usually.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Truth

• I can’t think of anything off the top of my head that seems more important than something designed to raise money to keep something going that keeps IV drug users from dying.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Life, Money

  Tags in Importance

• I wondered if I would talk about drug use. But I guess, why hide it?

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Drug, Use

• I like home recordings and studio recordings just as much as each other – I don’t think one is better – but for this record I wanted to see what I could do in a real studio with real producers.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Studio, Recordings, Real, Producers

• I mean people just have a way of – y’know they’ll review your record in two sentences and put you in this little stupid box that you don’t want to be in.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in People, Review, Yourself

• I watched myself put my paw in the bear trap on that one because there was this clause about leaving members.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Myself

• If you play acoustic guitar you’re the depressed, sensitive guy.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Yourself, Play, Acoustic, Guitar

• I’m just writing songs about how I feel or about how people I know feel.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Writing, Songs

• It was kind of ridiculous to carry it up to a certain point and then drop the ball or the bomb, like quitting the band right after we had signed to Virgin.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in ridiculous, Certain, Point

• It’s just that a lot of songs that are popular right now, they don’t have any meaning.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Popular, Songs, Meaningless

• I just wanted to move out of Portland to do something.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Leave, Portland

• Well, I try not to think about the general public since I have no idea what the general public is and I don’t think anybody does.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Think, General, Public

• I don’t really like New York better than Portland. It’s just a different place.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Like, Self, Place

• I don’t think that Dreamworks would have signed me expecting to really mess around with whatever it is I do.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Expecting

• I actually don’t think that I’m gonna sell a lot of records.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Records

• I was trying to do the same thing that I always do which is make an interesting record.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Interesting, Record

• I didn’t have a hard time making it, I had a hard time letting it go.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Hard, Making

• My girlfriend at the time convinced me to send these songs to Cavity Search. When they wanted to put out my record I was totally shocked.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Girlfriend, Convinced, Myself, Songs

• I didn’t think I was gonna be playing on the Oscars or anything.

  Elliott Smith

  Topics in Uncategorized

  Tags in Self, Think, Performance, Oscars

Elliott Smith (30)

Birth:	6th August, 1969
Death:	21st October, 2003
Nationality:	American
Profession:	Lyricist, Musician, Singer

About

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. After playing in the rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began his solo career in 1994, with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars. Smith rose to mainstream prominence when his song "Miss Misery"—included in the soundtrack for the film Good Will Hunting—was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category in 1998. At the time of his death, he was working on his sixth studio album, From a Basement on the Hill, which was posthumously completed and released in 2004.

Related Authors

• Siobhan Fahey
• Tommy Shaw
• Craig Owens
• Peter Buck
• Matt Stone
• Michael Diamond
• Adrian Belew
• Stanley Jordan
• David Thomas Mason
• David Guetta

Advertisement

Today's Anniversary - 28th March

Births

• 1890 - Paul Whiteman
• 1820 - William Howard Russell
• 1942 - Neil Kinnock
• 1936 - Mario Vargas Llosa
• 1986 - Lady Gaga

Deaths

• 1969 - Dwight D. Eisenhower
• 1983 - Walter Reisch
• 1953 - Valentine de Saint Point
• 1944 - Stephen Leacock
• 1886 - Richard Chenevix Trench