“Miss Misery”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1997 // Produced by Elliott Smith & Larry Crane
Mixed by Rob Schnapf & Tom Rothrock.
KEVIN MOYER: Well you know we had to include this song, you can’t tell the story of Elliott’s career without it. But we didn’t actually use any audio from the Oscar performance, this version of the Good Will Hunting classic was recorded at Jackpot! Recording in Portland Oregon and mixed by Rob and Tom. Larry talks about Elliott bringing Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant into the studio late at night, when he wasn’t there, to play Gus the song for consideration in the movie.
LARRY CRANE: This song probably changed both our lives more than we could have ever expected. I was honored to get co-production credit with Elliott. Ironically, I never made one cent from my involvement on this recording. But it certainly helped my career.
KEVIN MOYER: We also include some good footage of Elliott performing “Miss Misery” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien eighteen days before he would do so at the 70th Academy Awards accompanied by the house orchestra. We did the opposite of what people probable expected by showing the Conan O’Brien performance instead of the Academy Awards. But we do show both in the film, we just hear this one and sit with it longer.
NICKOLAS ROSSI: It felt important to include Elliott’s first performance on television with this song, which is clearly one of the most well-known and popular of his songs. The live performance here on the Conan O’Brien show is incredibly haunting and raw. The way his voice cracks slightly during the line ‘a man in the park, read the lines in my hand, told me I’m strong, hardly ever wrong…”
KEVIN MOYER: And making the video for this song would unite you, Ross, for another video too. Here he is coming off an Academy Award nomination and he could probably work with anyone, but he goes back to his friend, the guy who shot his very first video so many years earlier. I think that shows a lot about Elliott and his loyalty, not to mention the respect that he had for you too. You say in the film that he showed up with a lot of confidence and in his white suit ready to work “I got this”. Remind me the story about the cop in the video following him around?
ROSS HARRIS: Instantly Elliott and I became fixated on a motorcycle cop that was on set to control traffic during the shoot. He just looked so amazingly cop like. Almost a caricature. I mentioned that it would be funny if we could get the cop to follow Elliott everywhere he went for the video. Elliott was instantly enamored of this idea. I asked the cop and he was totally game. I initially asked him to follow Elliott down the sidewalk on his motorcycle but he said he could only do it on foot. We were a little bummed by that but it was better than nothing and I think it was the right choice. Totally made the video and I couldn’t imagine it any other way. Another instance where we just let present circumstances inform the narrative. Just like the fall (in the video for “Coming Up Roses”). That was how we worked. We believed in each other and knew that the oddities of very day life would present themselves at the appropriate time and make the video rock. I still like to work this way. I learned it from Elliott.
“Waltz #2 (XO)”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1998 // Produced by Elliott Smith, Rob Schnapf & Tom Rothrock
NICKOLAS ROSSI: I came across the live video footage of this song and just loved how it opened: in the dark of the stage, with Paulie P. starting that oh-so-familiar waltz drum beginning. This was an important song to start the tour scene because it was so recognizable to anyone who knows Elliott. It’s also the song that he abandons when we cut back to the Dutch TV interview because he’s “so sick of playing it”. Most importantly, this song introduces us to the haunting lyrics, “I’m never gonna know you now, but I’m gonna love you anyhow…”, which we would read later on the plaque at Lincoln High School listing his year of death.
KEVIN MOYER: That high school memorial plaque was put up by a student who went to our old high school fairly recently, oh i dunno I think it was maybe five to eight years ago or so. But it was put up by a student, for a former student. I think it’s cool that every school day of every new year another group of kids walks past it, with the chance to just maybe learn who he is and just maybe hear his music and just maybe feel like someone understands, someone who walked the same halls and paths that they do. But for this song we use two live versions in the film, the stuff from the live footage that we see that we took from a VHS tape, and then we blend it into the performance of the song that he does and aborts in the Dutch TV footage, which also opens the film. Personally, I love the use of the Dutch TV footage because it’s really up close and personal and you really get to hear Elliott speak for himself too, especially in the very first seconds of the film where the screen was purposely kept dark so that we could just hear his voice first and foremost, and also again here performing the song. Another thing I really like about this song is that it contains the lyric “XO Mom”, which he would often change during live performances to “I Love You Mom”. For a songwriter who so often wouldn’t write about himself without shielding or who would tell stories and use strong metaphor, it’s a lovely moment of him being very direct and transparent.
“L.A.”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1999 // Produced by Elliott Smith, Rob Schnapf & Tom Rothrock
KEVIN MOYER: This song is from Elliott’s Figure 8 album and is another one that fans who know his catalog probably knew was coming, I mean how perfect is it to use a song called “LA” to illustrate Elliott’s move to Los Angeles? It feels triumphant and energetic when the song kicks in with visuals of the car rolling into town with the palm trees and sun flying past the car windows of downtown LA.
NICKOLAS ROSSI: Upbeat, a change in mood and direction. This song helps illustrate the move to Los Angeles. It’s rock, it’s powerful, it’s a strong piece to bring us into the next chapter of Elliott’s life.
