Elliott Smith - Roman Candle

[Kleasone]

I never could figure out how he got this sound on this song

[trashtreasurer19]

I can imagine this being fucking difficult to perform live.

[rockonhard77]

Nirvana's cool. But Elliott has better musicianship and songwriting than Kurt but there are like if you had 2 brothers, if both are good for different reasons you got to love them. I agree that Elliott needs more respect and notice.

[MusicbyMitar]

2:20 <3

[IndustrialCinema]

Beautiful song and delivery. Oh what I would do to have an opportunity to see Elliott Smith live!

[legolamb]

"deserves as much respect as nirvana."... don't even mention in the same breath

[d0ntthink2hard]

i can't believe i never saw this video before!!! thank you thank you thank you for posting this!!!!! xoxoxo!!!!!

[GSarovich]

I was a 5 year old boy totally clueless of the fact that my favorite musician of all time was playing one of my favorite songs of all time. I love you Elliott your missed...thanks

[candysays69]

Even Elliott's false starts/fuck-ups are endearing LOL.

Awesome performance of a haunting song. RIP Elliott - you are missed.

[d0ntthink2hard]

@candysays69 i seriously got goosebumps after reading your comment...no idea why

[matthekidsmithfan]

hahha i need to drink ,,, more beer elliott was a rare delicate creature that everybody let go of

[JAYKAYAY91]

i wish you could see his face and his emotions. there are hardly any live videos of this songs

[arexthetrex]

definetly an acoustic rock star, deserves as much respect as nirvana.

[dunks10304]

@arexthetrex way more respect then nirvana

[tim035]

@dunks10304

Indeed. 100x more

[ulfern90]

great harmony

[jomosamify]

@thewarfiles That song kill sucks to me. I don't see how someone listening to that crap would be listening to elliott.

[caffisc]

He was such a sweet heart.

[ArtOfMe021]

This is my favorite song of his. So sad and emotionally raw!

[terocon101]

One of the best.

[Gammarklar]

the flute melody? lol, yea and i love the trombone work in kiwi maddog 20/20.

[thefortress12]

@Gammarklar there is no trombone....are you dense?

[Gammarklar]

@thefortress12 sarcasm, how does it work? look it up in a dictionary. its obvious theres no trombone in kiwi maddog, just like its obvious that there isnt a flute in roman candle... to anyone that has ears which work.

[Gammarklar]

@thefortress12 sarcasm, how does it work? look it up in a dictionary. its obvious theres no trombone in kiwi maddog, just like its obvious that there isnt a flute in roman candle... to anyone that has ears which work.

[thefortress12]

@Gammarklar yup...alright...yup

[jazzhopin]

Lmao i miss you so much Elliott, you were such a wonderful person and musician, almost criminally under-rated. <3 xo

[Somethingpower]

"I need to drink more beer"

[MissMisery123]

love.....

[whitestripebuzz]

i love this song so much. and just learnt it off mark1800 a few comments below. thanks mark! =)

[plexusnexus]

love you you elliott

xo

[cooks95]

I live in NYC on the same block as the Knitting Factory and walk past it every day to go to work. I think about Elliott walking around there- kind of an empty feeling

[lilSnubby]

darkest hour? dude, he had some pretty dark hours...

[Flipperdoodles]

My friend shot me in the face with a roman candle and all I could think about was this man

[davlon0]

@Flipperdoodles Thank you. I just love hearing people talk about Elliott Smith so much.  I would be thinking the exact same thing.

[cordfluidnevoie]

@Flipperdoodles woah sorry about your face if the chicks still make out if ya still it's okay.. i bet so you got a great musical taste ;)

[ZRN959]

@Flipperdoodles ...ow?

[rcraig08]

i would have to agree: would have given anything to be there but i was 6, and it surely is his best song. I think the strumming and chord progressions in the song sum up what i believe to elliotts best attributes. and of course the way he sings around it all. the simple stuff is always the best.

I wish i could figure it out to.. but that shit is hard. some site gave me their version. it goes... C#m,a#m, a... c#m, e ,f . it's probably not exact but it will get you feeling good.

[mark1800]

tune your guitar to D-A-D-G-B-D first of all, and then play the following shapes as you would in standard: b minor 7th for the first chord, c sharp 7 for the second, then get a G power-chord by barring the E and A sterings at fret 5, and the last chord in the verse progression is an A7. chorus is the same chords but with a D and E minor thrown in there.

good luck figuring out the picking pattern - you have to strum with your...

[mark1800]

...index/middle fingers on the higher straings and do an alternating picking pattern on the bass strings! but hopefully the chords/tuning will give you a starting point.

i'm thinking about making a tutorial video for this song at some point, so subscribe!

good luck

[sashaaaaaaaha]

i would give anything to have been there.

but i was 2 :P

[shindelins]

i've never seen anyone play this song like elliott. the one of the most beautiful songs ever.

[Stillillgal]

this is so amazing

[livin4him327]

Best Elliot Smith Song and Album

rip elliot

[isolationeitheror]

best album i agree.

the no names

are amazing

[boofneenee]

maybe his darkest album?? not his best imo

[yehyeh50]

all time favourite elliott song.

miss him

xo

[Mrbungleface]

heard this song a million times... but this mourning i was listening to it in my car.... and the lyrics just hit me like a ton of bricks..... such a powerful song.....

such a shame he isnt with us anymore..... best song writer of my generation.... NO DOUBT

[tatelabianca]

so true. the very best of my gerneration as well.

[mark1800]

ps. does anyone know the tuning for this?

[ShokyShrox]

I think its a drop D.

[mark1800]

It's gotta have some kinda downtuning on the higher strings to get that jangling thing going though.... hrrrm. I must figure it out

[Flipperdoodles]

i think its standard with a capo on the 7th

[boofneenee]

way off...scroll up for tab

[mark1800]

thanks so much for posting this, i love this song.

[ahjeez8]

this video alone should make this guy more famous than he is now, let alone...

[davelisowski]

I'd have to say this is one of the most depressing songs I've ever heard. I love though.

[alleyia]

I was at this show ... although this vid doesn't nearly capture that experience, I am so grateful for the posting :)

[Stillillgal]

how the hell he did it?

00:53

pa pa pam

[pand4]

magic

[onlyeyesabove]

i think it was maybe someone like beating on a table or something like who was sitting by the camera? idk

[Stillillgal]

no... you can hear the strings...

elliott was so amazing...:[

[onlyeyesabove]

no like while he was playing, someone in the audience sitting near the guy recording like just tapping along to that part of the song cause it has a strange time signiture

[mark1800]

he's using his thumb to slap the strings against the fretboard whilst flicking the higher strings

[catjoyyoung]

He was just unbelievable. It always sounds to me like there are two of him - two voices singing together.

[Stillillgal]

and at the same time one piece

[catjoyyoung]

YES! It was incredible. You can hear it here on this live recording which proves it.

[ModestMousekateer]

hahaha, typical Elliott. It is a really hard song to play anyways. Great song too.

Thanks for posting it.

[jbe4th]

Thanks so much for posting this. One of my favorite ES songs.... I love that weird flute melody that comes in just after the first two lines or so on the record. Love that pause for gulp of beer. Thanks again!

[ModestMousekateer]

I don't think I've ever noticed that flute melody...I'll check out the album version again. Thanks for mentioning it, I guess.

[ModestMousekateer]

Well I just listened to it again...doesn't sound like a flute to me =S

Sounds more electric...

[ATripp86]

damp sustained electric guit imo

[ModestMousekateer]

imo as well, though not in so much detail haha.

But yeah, it is an eargasmic sound.

[chodkoel]

Actually, it isn't a flute - it's just an electric guitar with the fuzz and the treble turned way down so that it has a warm and subdued/mysterious sound.

Cheers!

[killspencer]

you guys sure, i thought he played two real quiet piano keys during those parts, could be confusing it with something else though

[tzohfeld]

Fucks up and jumps RIGHT back in....

amazing

[davelisowski]

I love this song! Thanks so much for the upload.

He was so masterful.

[rysk8er33]

amazing video, thank you for posting

[c4rdsh4rk]

not many would be in this quality, but great vid. thanks

[tyleragnew]

absolutely stunning

[IAmPeol]

scares the sh out of me

[pressureofdays]

Thanks, pretty rare him perfoming this one live..?

[StevenPualSmith14]

one of his best songs that no one knows about he did nto play it alot. its abotu his realtionship with his stepdad

[jooxis]

Wow.

:(

[schaefersmann]

haunting, still a classic

[roudysmurf]

nice

[cwruomar]

thanks for the post.. awesome!

[mymayapapaya]

Cute! I love you Elliott.