Today’s Random Weekend selection is a track from Elliott Smith’s posthumous 2007 release, New Moon, a collection of unreleased tracks. These aren’t songs he was working on when he died in 2003, but rather outtakes from the sessions of two of his earlier records.
As with most of Smith’s music, particularly from that era, this song is a) acoustic and b) about drugs.
Elliott Smith’s New Moon was released posthumously in 2007 and contains outtakes and discarded tracks from the recording sessions of his second and third albums.
Given that those records, Elliott Smith and Either/Or are two of his finest, this is a solid collection, all the more effective for being released after his suicide.
The Random iTunes Fairy first served up Brad Paisley’s ‘Accidental Racist’ for today and I was delighted, as few songs provide so much fodder for discussion and ridicule.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Brad Paisley. But by now, even he must realize how laughably bad a song he released in that case.
Alas, I have featured the song on the blog already, so I had to skip to the next random track.
Earlier today I was waiting to pick up one of my daughters from soccer practice, while her sister sat next to me in the car.
Elliott Smith’s ‘The Biggest Lie’ came up on my stereo (I have my music library playing on random, making every trip I take basically Random Weekends on steroids).
That’s always been one of my favorite Smith tunes, but it hit me harder than usual this time.
Here’s a rare uptempo song from Elliott Smith — it’s downright hard rock by his standards. This isn’t a favorite of mine because I do prefer the pretty stuff (95% of his catalog) but it isn’t bad.
I came across an interview with Smith in which he explains the lyrics and reveals that even this seemingly upbeat track was colored by the depression that ultimately led to his suicide.
Meet Me In Montauk 