Quotes by Elliott Smith

• And I'm not trying to write heavy songs.
• Because God only knows why people like what they like and don't like something else.
• But I was also doing odd jobs around Portland, like spreading gravel and transplanting bamboo trees.
• I actually don't think that I'm gonna sell a lot of records.
• 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.
• I didn't have a hard time making it, I had a hard time letting it go.
• I didn't know how many people knew who Ferdinand was.
• I didn't think I was gonna be playing on the Oscars or anything.
• I don't really like New York better than Portland. It's just a different place.
• 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.
• I watched myself put my paw in the bear trap on that one because there was this clause about leaving members.
• If you play acoustic guitar you're the depressed, sensitive guy.
• I was trying to do the same thing that I always do which is make an interesting record.
• I was coming off of a lot of psyche meds and other things.
• I'm just writing songs about how I feel or about how people I know feel.
• 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.
• I just wanted to move out of Portland to do something.
• I rode on a float in one of the parades in Mississippi. It's an experience.
• 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.
• I wondered if I would talk about drug use. But I guess, why hide it?
• 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.
• There's always that argument to make - that you're in better company historically if people don't understand what you're doing.
• The band's filter, but playing live is a lot of fun.
• It's just that a lot of songs that are popular right now, they don't have any meaning.
• It's a lot easier to tell the truth usually.
• 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.
• It touches on drug use. I got caught up in that for almost two years.
• There are lots of things I like about playing in a band, the things I can't do by myself you know.