The Mystique of Elliott Smith’s Demise

Elliott Smith is one of the most intrinsically devastating and crucial indie-folk musicians to date, known for his lyrics of absolute despair. The only thing more twisted and heartbreaking than his music is the mystery and tragedy of his death. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of his departure. Smith sullenly took his own life on October 21, 2003 at the age of 34. His demise was the result of an incredibly complicated and thought provoking journey, one that involves a controversial theory that his death was actually a homicide instead of suicide. Either way, Smith left a massive impact on artists and listeners throughout the duration of his life and even more so after death. 

Smith learned how to play the piano at a young age, which cultivated his love for music and composition. Smith started a punk band with classmates called Heatmiser. Progressively, Smith began to hone in on his sound and slowly began making solo music. He found that after making loud and aggressive music with his bandmates of Heatmiser, that he felt more at home within a softer, more distinct voice to accompany his gut-wrenching lyrics. Smith’s lifelong struggles with  depression are very apparent in his lyrics and commentary. He grew up in a broken home in Texas with his mother and step-father and suffered from alleged abuse. This is the assumed root of many of his chronic mental health issues. The switch also made his audience grow, especially after the release of the film Good Will Hunting (1997), which featured a bouquet of Smith’s melancholy tracks. His song “Miss Misery”, which accompanied the closing credits of the film, was nominated for “Best Original Song” in 1998. Smith was even given the opportunity to perform the song at the awards show. This fervent attention threw him into the spotlight, a  position Smith often expressed discomfort with, as he was worried about the way he would be depicted by the media now that he had reached commercial success. He articulates the alienation of fame in his song “Pictures of Me”, taken from his most notable album, Either/Or (1997).there, he states “So sick and tired of all these pictures of me//oh, everybody’s dying just to get the disease.” He attempts to express the insanity that comes with a growing fandom and more importantly, he warns against the dangers of fame.

In 1999, Smith moved to Los Angeles which changed things immensely for him: the budding indie music scene exacerbated his substance abuse. So did a new relationship. Smith met his girlfriend Jennifer Chiba, the singer of the band Happy Ending, who quickly became instrumental in his demise. They bonded over Russian literature and quickly became infatuated with each other, leading them to a relationship marked by turbulence. Their excessive partying and reliance on substances morphed their relationship into something very toxic. Overtime, with Chiba by his side, Smith turned to alcoholism, heroin and crack cocaine abuse. He soon became infamous for forgetting lyrics on stage and being hostile with his colleagues. It was common for Smith to make suicidal threats to Chiba, as well as say his final goodbyes to loved ones because he supposedly always planned on dying. This is why it is so easy for so many to believe that he took his own life. However, the circumstances surrounding his death were much more peculiar, and tinged with poetic tragedy. 

Smith is said to have died of two knife wounds to the chest, one of which punctured his heart. Courtney Love even stated that it was the best suicide she had ever heard of, toeing irony considering the scandalous death of her late husband, Kurt Cobain, lead vocalist and guitarist of grunge/metal juggernaut, Nirvana. What is more symbolic than the most unhappy songwriter dying of a literal broken heart? This all occurred while Smith and Chiba were in the midst of an aggressive fight in their home in Silverlake, California when she went to the bathroom to cool down. Smith was then found dead. His death was ruled a suicide and blamed on drug use. Peculiarly, it was found that Elliott was clean at the time of his death and that previously he had recently transferred himself into a neurotransmitter restoration center. He had also been working on completing his studio album, From A Basement On The Hill (2004). Chiba also immediately removed the knife from her late lover’s wound, making it hard to tell who exactly was the auteur of the stabbing. The stab wound was also rumored to be self-inflicted, though there were no “hesitation wounds” which are common in these cases. Additionally—and suspiciously— Smith seemed to have defensive wounds on his arms. He left a suicide note on a sticky note that wrote “I’m so sorry. Love, Elliott. God forgive me.” Chiba and Smith’s relationship was rumored to be emotionally and physically abusive. However, nobody would have guessed it would lead to murder. 

Phoebe Bridgers, who has always credited Smith as one of her biggest inspirations, approaches his life in a very meta-esque way in her song “Punisher”, which was written in his honor. It delves into the idea that a fanbase perpetually punishes the artist they adore and discusses the phenomenon where an artist both needs and despises their fans. She conveys her adoration for Smith while acknowledging the burden of having a fanbase, with the line “And here everyone knows you’re the way to my heart// hear so many stories of you at the bar//most times alone, and some looking your worst// but never not sweet to the trust funds and punishers.” This perfectly encapsulates the massive impact of Smith’s life and untimely death while denouncing the harmful effects the glare of stardom is. This is why music obsessors and theorists debate and pour over the unfortunate events even thirty years later. While many things remain uncertain, Elliot Smith’s influence is the most certain of all. Artists all across the music industry  attribute their layered vocals to years of Elliott Smith’s work. Sufjun Stevens, Billie Eilish, Frank Ocean, Clairo, Prateek Kuhad, Big Thief, and many more have spoken out on how Smith has touched their lives and the trajectory of their art. I could discuss and question the cause of Smith’s death for pages, but it truly doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he was taken too soon and too young. The world and music misses him and I would have loved to see what he would still be creating today.