Added: 4 years ago
From: limpty
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  • What key is this song?

  • this makes me sad. elliott was such an amazing musician, and its sad to watch him fall apart.

  • i like him with long hair, i was born earlier so i could have seen him play!! such a beautiful soul xo

  • can we agree he looks like eddie vedder with the long hair?

  • what year was this filmed?

  • Elliott Smith is like a modern day Bob Dylan... except way fucking better! 

  • Is it just me or does everyone just want to walk up to him and start fiddlin' with his hair? I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallly wanna braid it. :3

  • WHICH PLACE OF SEATTLE WAS?????

  • thnks.

  • This is supremely useful for people trying to learn to play the music.

  • Id give anything to see him preform, good or bad.

  • Dang. So this is the only song you got of this show? despite how everyone is saying it was a train wreck, I'd love to see the whole show.

  • si! el deberia estar sentado en un trono!

  • hahah i looked a lot like him when i had long hair lol

  • I LOVE YOU ELLIOTT, FOREVER IN MY HEART

  • He couldn't hear his vocals in the monitor.

  • Limpty! I was at that show too. It was pretty sad but beautiful at the same time. He was having problems with a hand injury at the time, which was partly why he kept aborting songs (he also seemed a bit inebriated). The crowd loved it, though. I remember the one guy who heckled him ("get a band!") was roundly shouted down. Elliot was one of the greatest songwriters of our time. I'm sorry the bouncer took your camera. I'd love to see the rest of the show again!

  • I thought this was a fine cover. I'd have give anything to see him play once good or bad.

  • What year was this?

  • I abort songs every five seconds, I just don't have as much pressure. Playing perfectly on stage every night is IMPOSSIBLE... unless you're a robot.

  • I was at this show - at the Showbox. It WAS a train wreck, but not because the crowd was yelling for old stuff - he was obviously wasted and just wasn't able to complete most of his songs. That's why people were yelling - they were getting frustrated. I would have thought the ES crowd would be more understanding, but most there were probably newer fans. It was sad to watch cause it was the third or fourth show of his that I had been to, so I knew how good he COULD be...this was a disaster.

  • This is so cool. I can't find another live version of this. I really like watching his hands move as he sifts through all of those monster chord changes with what looks like the greatest of ease. You were really lucky to see him live. I didn't get turned on to him until it was too late. Yet, it seems like there's a lot of videos of him on ytube, so that's pretty cool.

  • When was this shot?

  • Wow, beautiful.

    One of my favourite conduits for the muse, along with Cat Stevens, Jeff Buckley, and Serj Tankian.

  • @IngridElkner

    I think it's cool that Tankian is such an influence on you. Seems out of place with the rest you mentioned (though I have bigger issues with Buckley), but it's very charming. :)

  • :(

  • maaaaan its so raw i fukken love it

  • what year was this shot??

  • Do you know of any more footage from this gig? I know your camera was taken but do you know of any more? I like the trainwreck shit. It makes me feel better about when I screw up a song.

  • FUUUUCK SEATTLE. What a heroin, eastern philosophy shithole.

  • i read about these performances on youtube, where he totally embarasses himself and is a complete wreck. however, he did make a comeback with his last albums and as one critic said, they were ''shocked'' to find out he was even still writing music, including the 20 or so songs never released or even on New Moon

  • @charlesobama I collected nearly every live show from those lost years of 2000-2001, & yes in some shows he aborts almost half the songs. He was a real mess back then, but he did eventually seek out help & cleaned himself up. Note:Fuck "They"- he has at least 50-60 songs he either cut, or gave out to close friends as personal gifts.-"they" are the lyrical basis for "King's Crossing," "Angeles" $ many others. I do have the most remarkable llive show from march 2003 where he didnt miss 1 note

  • he grew his hair out during his wilderness years. He died soon after cutting it off

  • love you elliott.

  • Elliott Smith looked so good with long hair

  • when was this?

  • I had never seen him with hair this long! Where have I been? one of the most beautiful artists with the best music ever.

  • @STAYcreased the tittle sugests seattle :D

  • when was this???

  • Is this the Triple Door? I guess maybe not but is looks like it a bit at the start. Would have loved to have been there.

  • it kills me how frustrated he looks when he aborts the song :(

  • @phorque2 I know its heartbreaking :(

  • i like stcnobody comment and bradennn1s comment true true true!!!!!!!

  • i bet if the bouncer that took your camera saw this video hed want to go back so you could record the whole show.

  • "found true love, made it die, I pushed her away, she said please stay..."

    siiiggghhh

  • i always loved his live performances

  • Damn, he looks different with that hair, when he was walking out I was like "Oh great, another cover... Wait a second...". RIP.

  • Elliott looked great with long hair, but it really doesn't fit him well.

  • I love this song, but he screwed it up big time here, 1:50. He seems nervous or something. He's disappointed with the vocals in the monitors too, 2:00.

  • Comment removed

  • Limpity - what was the date of the show? I never saw Elliott's hair so long in any other clips I have seen! And thanks for posting - it keeps his memory alive for so many of us...

  • I have a problem with that shitty chair... He should be sitting on a throne.

  • @bradennn1

    he loves those chairs.. though..

  • @bradennn1

    I don't think Elliott would be comfortable on a throne, don't you see how uncomfortable he is with big audiences? If the apparatus around him hadn't been so damn greedy and demanding maybe we could still enjoy him on a small stage...

  • @bradennn1

    I don't think Elliott would be comfortable on a throne, don't you see how uncomfortable he was with big audiences? If the apparatus around him hadn't been so damn greedy and demanding maybe we could still enjoy him on a small stage...

  • @bradennn1 Okay, I did give you a "thumbs up" b/c of the fact thAT it's elliott, this song is beyond words 2 describe, &. metaphorically, He earned that throne as such a beautiful soul. BUT...if Elliott were ever asked to weight in on the matter, my strong intuition is that he'd choose either a plain stool or a chair in the back of a bar. He was never a king, a diva, or anything else but a plain flawed man. my guess is that if U said it to him, he'd just respond with his his usual "thanks..."

  • @bradennn1 HERE HERE!!!

  • @bradennn1 You wrote the same thing for a couple other Elliott Smith videos...

  • was amazing? is amazing.

  • Oh man..... Much love to Elliott...

  • he almost looks like a young neil young

  • Elliot Smith the Medicine Man, Thanks so much and Fly High man.

  • wonderfull... one of the best in every sense...

  • i love this song

  • can someone tell me what show this was?

  • i believe it was at spaceland in la

  • wow. thank you.

  • he was like " yo monitors up plekease "

  • man i love elliott!!!

  • if im not mistaken, this seems to be right before he died correct? if so, you guys can all tell it really was his time to go. he looks so miserable. and he found his place to get lost <3 :)

  • @babydollxhxc No, this was a couple years before. He was frustrated because he couldn't hear himself sing, but it was weird because he decided to wait until after the song was pretty much through to get frustrated and tell them to turn it up. He went to rehab, got clean, and most assumed he was finally better right before he died... He was working on an album, so he didn't have MUCH time to really play many lives directly before his death. They say, though, that his last concert was a great one.

  • At the end he's telling the mixing board operator to turn up the monitors because he can't hear his own voice. That's a very common complaint. It's not unusual for vocalists to get upset at the end of a song when they couldn't hear themselves singing.

  • Very interesting, you said, what I wanted to say, but was'nt going to. If that makes sense. Its very frustrating for the musician. Ive seen enough live shows to know this is true.

  • i have the same problem constantly. so i always end up singing way too loud and no one can hear the guitar.

  • the end is so hard to watch, he just looks so upset with himself :'(

  • I wonder how often he capoed that high up the neck? His stuff often has a very chimy sound that I guess could be from using capos in that way, but this is the first video where I've seen it.

  • he does it in a lot of songs actually and some songs live when they arnt on the album, or higher then on the album.

  • I love this version, whether or not it got fucked-up, I still think it's very raw and great. Thanks for the upload.

    R.I.P. E.S. <3

  • the end is so depressing

  • its so heartbreaking to see anyone in such bad shape.

    the end makes me want to cry.

  • Comment removed

  • yeah, he just wanted to hear himself through the p.a. in front of him..very hard to sing live when you can't hear yourself...prolly why he cut it short

  • This is the first video I saw where he had his hair long like this. I had no idea he grew it out that long.

  • any more from this gig?

  • the most powerful drug is of the mind and sometimes you can delve too deep into the mind to ever be a free soul. sometimes you need to delve deeper to be a free soul. the line i fine like the line is fine from mediocre to genius. long live those who do not settle for mediocrity

  • stop smoking... jk

  • I read and after speaking with Rob Schnapf \, one of his close producers, that his drug of choice was actually alcohol. That of course, is not to say he didn't indulge in other drugs or means of escape as his greatest escape ended up in his death. Just out of curiosity, was this conert in 2001 or 2002 by any chance? Anyone know?

  • alcohol is no joke. It sucks coming down after a binge

  • 2001.

  • @Strauhn his drug of choice was alcohol when rob knew him. around the same time he started getting into heroin and crack (mid to late 2000), he cut off ties with rob and pretty much everyone else he knew from the "old days."

  • omg...I'm sorry, I didn't know that. But how does that explain his autopsy? Again, I don't know if this true, but I read in an article about him that he was completely clean of any drug whatsoever in his body.

  • Yeah he managed to beat everything (including even alcohol and red meat) before he died. the last year of his life was very inspiring and by all accounts, productive and happy. he spent a lot of time trying to reconnect with people he had lost touch with in the "dark years", unfortunately something went horribly wrong in the end.

  • What's even more interesting is that investigators at some point have now questioned how he died. They've figured out how the stab wound was place in his chest doesn't match up with one would stab themselves based on the angle and placement of the wound.....I thought that was interesting.

  • brilliant. genius. talented man. but he wasn't even a hardcore user of opiates. he liked to romanticize the junkie life and emphasize the darker aspects of it. but a chronic heroin user? nah. but definitely not a straight edge.

  • Reports from those close to him said that around 2001 he was using $1500 worth of crack and dope a day.

    But you're probably right, he wasn't a chronic heroin user.

    Nope. Not at all.

  • Where are you getting this information?

    Do you have any idea how much $1500 worth of crack is?

  • David McConell, the engineer and producer for Basement on the Hill was quoted in a Spin interview saying that. Now I do know how much that is, and I'm not saying it's 100% accurate, but he knew Elliott better than you and I did, so I'm m ore inclined to take his word over your assumption.

  • I stand corrected, he absolutely did say that.

    On a side note: Very good article.

  • Yeah man.

    But like you said before, $1500 worth of crack and dope is A LOT, so how true that is? I don't know. I guess he tried to purposely OD a couple of time and stuff. Elliott was a tortured human being, but an amazing artist at the same time. Those 2 things tend to go hand in hand.

    I agree, though, great article.

  • maybe it was just really good/expsensive crack...?

  • You make a good point.

    Maybe he was just getting ripped off?

  • it is very easy to spend that much money a day when you can afford it and have a really developed habit.

  • do you? for a drug addict it can be done and easily especially if you can afford that shit like he could.

  • Alright, first and foremost, that's an extreme amount any way you look at it.

    Now have -personally- ever known someone who has had an addiction where they've spent that much on a daily basis. I'm going to guess the answer to that is no without you answering. That would mean you heard it in a story *just like the one we are discussing here*. Good day sir.

  • wouldn't really matter if i told you yes now would it?

    it is not so extreme if you have absurd amounts of money...the main premise of addiction is the inability to stop, the only way most people are forced to stop is cause theysa broke but this dude could keep going and i say good for him becuase heroin is good for the soul.

  • Alright, well now you're telling me how extreme a drug is depends on how much money you have, and saying some other random stuff that doesn't really have anything to do with the conversation.

    I tell you what, you go ahead and do $1500 of heroin a day for a month and come back and tell us how good your soul is doing.

    Should have known better than to get into a conversation on you-tube. My fault.

  • IDK about saying heroin is good for the soul. I mean maybe if done once a year, but not in excess. Heroin's a beast of a drug!!!

  • heroin is a hell of a drug

  • Heroin is never good.

  • Too good.

  • Dude this isnt Dr, Drews rehab shit, take your boring drug shit to the fag reality videos

  • To anyone that thinks this is a screw up from drugs:

    Elliott usually kept his vocals A LOT higher than his guitar for his shows, that's just how he liked it. Listen to the mix of this song, you can barely hear the vocals, the guitar is absolutely overpowering him.

    He seemed pretty angry at the sound guy at the end too. Like "What the fuck? Do your job right."

    Just my opinion tho.

  • ive never seen his hair this long

  • you people argue over the dumbest shit man...he had his problems, ya know? everybody does...he couldn't take it anymore..so he ended it..he was a beautiful soul..and brilliant musician..don't let him die in vain...R.I.P

  • @stcnobody Thank you. Some asshole was going on about his girlfriend he loved calling her every name in the book. I guess that guy didn't understand love.

  • @stcnobody Jen Chiba killed him. He didn't commit suicice.

  • to anyone who criticizes elliott

    Look at any famous person throughout time, especially in music. Nearly everyone experienced times using drugs. Plenty of people still do today. Musicians and artists are not boring ass people like yourselves. Why do you think Elliott was able to write so many amazing songs that have affected so many people around the world. Even though, for a decent part of his adult life, he was on drugs he developed into an amazing musician.

  • he is a crazy guitarist. watch memory lane and tell me thats not impressive. to sing and play that at the same time.

  • What's the date of this video?

  • Big Cherry, at least Elliott used punctuation. Obviously, you are of a lesser class than him.

    Drug addiction is classless. Meaning that it can affect people of any class.

  • you are right elliott smith was clean who ever this response is to they need to read under the radar.... it was elliott smiths last mag interview.... and elliott smith started a foundation for abused children with his spare money.

  • Woah what happened bigcherry99? couldn't conjure one of your witty responses to what I had to say? Couldn't think of another way to denounce Elliott Smith because of what I had said? You disappoint me. I was hoping you would actually prove to be a formidable opponent. But I guess you're just out to piss off people, not provide a decent argument. But thats fine. Seems to me you're living a low class junkie life posting bullshit comments on youtube. Haha you're worthless

  • lame dude.... no need for this bullshit.

  • He's dead. Give him a little respect!

  • He looks so frustrated at the end. :(

  • i feel sorry for people that have to go on websites and leave derogatory comments about people they don't even know. pathetic, and very ignorant. i guess maybe big cherry has a magic crystal ball and can see all of us elliott fans huh?

    LAME big cherry...LAME! elliott smith was a VERY talented man. very loved and very missed.

  • Sir, do you have any idea how the internet works?

  • Long hair and a Gibson instead of shaggy hair and a Yamaha!?! Fantastic. Christ I miss him.

    Thanks for posting.

  • : ( stupid people

  • Big cherry is a dumb cunt...

  • hey bigcherry99, just stop it. you don't know what you're talking about. Calling fans of elliott smith murderers is pretty low. even for a youtube troll. Glorifying heroine is so far off from what this guy and his fans are about, the drug themes in the lyrics are just a vehicle to talk about wider things like lonliness and dependance. So yeah, be nice :)

    beautiful song

    xo elliott

  • c'mon guys, Elliott Smith was the man!

    Name a GOOD famous musician who didn't f around with booze or drugs, Bill Hicks will tell you. His guitar playing was a little better than a few chords assholes-try playin that shit sober and post it for me, while singing it no less.

    A few of you seem to not be able to seperate his music from his lifestyle-if you can't do it-your not talking about music-your imposing your own self rightious morality.

    - don't like it?Change the f-ing channel! god is love : )

  • DRUGS ARE THE SHIT.

  • 'he wasn't himself', 'was at the worst of his heroin addiction,wasn't taking care of himself'!? what the fuck are you idiots talking about? how do you think you know anything about him, or what state he was in? we all know he had periods of addiction,but to pretend you know when/what he was going through here is retarded.he fucked up songs all the time,because he had hundreds of songs to keep memorized perfectly-not easy.shut up and appreciate the amazing work he created and left for us to enjoy

  • Exactly. I'm 16 and I've written about 70 songs. I can remember like 5 all the way through and I'll fuck em up anyway while playing em. I would never doubt that Elliott wrote less than 1,000 songs.

  • To be perfectly honest 2001-2002 was the worst of his addiction, Elliott said that himself. And sadly, this is right in the middle of that.

    It was near the height of his addiction, but that doesn't prevent me from appreciating an amazing musician's music.

  • "that doesn't prevent me from appreciating an amazing musician's music"

    if u had any morals it would

    .

  • Can you explain to me what moral I would need in order to not appreciate a musicians music who has a drug addiction.

  • transmissionwould - integrity

  • Oh yeah don't worry about explaining it.

    Let's see how my lack of integrity should make me not appreciate Elliott Smith during this time.

  • You are stupid. Look at Elliott, an amazing musician, but had a drug problem. Does that mean everyone must ignore him and tell him his music sucks? Because thats what you're saying. How did I feed his heroin addiction, get blood on my hands, become an enabler by starting to listen to him 4 years after he died. I would've really liked him to get better, same with any person with a drug addiction Could I have stopped him from committing suicide? No

  • I can't tell if this is a joke or not. You think every fan of his knew he had an addiction? I highly doubt it. And even if every single fan of his knew, how would they be able to go to Elliott's house and send him to drug treatment. You're so full of shit.

    Why didn't you help Elliott...you basically murdered him, because you didn't help him. You're spenidng your time on the internet watching videos and screwing around when you COULD HAVE BEEN SAVING HIS LIFE!!!! RIGHT?

  • Can I just tell you that he became a "junkie" in 2001.And no, that's not why people like him, it's became of his talent, and songwriting. Did you just say we had to judge him because he had a problem?

    How was he a worthless junkie, the guy wrote songs that helped people through tough times. And again, explain how I glorify it, I listen to Elliott regularily, how does enjoying his MUSIC glorfy DRUGS.?

  • Seems like you know a thing or two about junkies - must be one yourself huh?

    Because you're damn sure not talented like Elliott was...

    Chalking his problems up to drug abuse is a lame excuse - the man battled depression type issues from childhood when his parents divorced and he got beat would get beat up as a kid in Texas, until he moved here, to Portland.

    Simply put, he wound up with access to these drugs via fame - but he didn't want to be famous. it's a sad story, with a sad ending.

  • one thing youve failed to grasp is that he was off drugs and had been for some time when he died

  • urm, elliott smith didnt for sure

    ill bet he didnt spam youtube with troll comments on artists he didnt like too.

  • ok bigcherry99 you've been posting quite a lot on this video and I think its time your get your facts straight. True, we cannot deny that drug addiction is a terrible thing, but none the less it doesn't take away from Elliott's music. You say he had no talent but in reality the man was a lyrical genius as well as an excellent guitarist. Listening to his music isn't patronizing drug abuse. Its simple enjoying an art.

  • antipizzaman - elliot's music is tainted by his association with drugs.

    u can't separate the music from the man. if his life was low class, then his music was low class.

    it was people like u who spent money on elliott's shows and CD's that gave him the money to buy drugs.

    stop sponsoring junkies!!!

    .

  • you probably listen to forcefed mainstream music, so I say to you Stop sponsoring Brainwash Bullshit, you go and buy the new Nickelback cd when Target puts it up for sale

  • Elliott had also been receiving help from those close to him up until the day he died. When they did an autopsy on his body, there was virtually zero traces of illegal drugs in his body. In fact, at the very end of his life, Elliott quit all his drugs and medication and essentially went cold turkey. But this brought on strong emotions that the drugs had been taking away and made him more susceptible to self destruction. That being said, he was far from a worthless junkie.

  • antipizza - u admit elliott had a trace of drugs in his system, but then u say he went cold turkey.

    which one is it liar?

    .

  • First of all if you had read what I actually wrote, I said they found zero traces of illegal drugs in his body. Second of all you're just talking in circles. Saying Elliott's music is tainted with drug abuse but not backing anything up. How can you say he lived a low class life if he touched millions of lives? How is he a junkie if he quit drugs? You're right though, you can't separate the music from the man. This beautiful music was in fact coupled with a beautiful human being.

  • Furthermore you say that Elliott's music was tainted by the association of drugs. As far as I'm concerned the only one here that can a hear a beautiful song like this and associate it with drugs is you. So please respect the music and don't pass such harsh judgement on a man you didn't even know.

  • the only trace of drugs that were found were prescription level of his prescribed drugs.

  • thats a fuck load of bullshit!

    just because he used drugs doesn't mean he wasn't talented

    your accusations are re fucking diculous

  • And exactly what did john lennon do differently than just playing a few chords and singing a little bit. And couldn't you say most Lennon fans are just stoner-head hippies who want peace?

    Can i ask what music you listen to?

  • hahah

    "so he could play a few chords + sing a little bit. big deal! he's not exactly john lennon is he?"

    you could say that about anybody, including john lennon. or bob dylan, hank williams, johnny cash ect. some music just connects with certian people and not others for some reason. but thats the beauty of it.

    so leonardo da vinci put some paint on a canvas + he could invent a little bit. big deal! he's not exactly galileo galilei is he. ;) see my point.

  • im a 15 year old fan and im not a fucking waster you ignorant cunt. Elliot didnt fuckin just play chords. He did more then lennon actually all instruments on earlier album were all recorded by him. His lyrics are amazing and his guitar playing fits perfect it was just chords he created chords, he created a form of music that cant be performed again. I have depression and his music has helped me through rough times so think about other peoples thoughts before you post your stupidity online.

  • While Elliott is awesome, I don't think his playstyle is untouchable like you say.

    And after seeing your page, i can see why you're depressed.

  • if you dont like the man why are you sitting here looking up videos of him and talking shit. go do something else you worthless bastard! how many albums have you sold?

  • if you read the book elliott smith and the big nothing it talks a bit about his drug abuse

  • is this when he became severely addicted to crack and heroin?