“The Last Hour (early version)”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1995-1996 // Produced by Elliott Smith
KEVIN MOYER: This is an early unreleased version of the song that would later be released on the posthumous album From A Basement On The Hill. There was also a third version with all instrumentation performed on an organ that we considered to use here too, but when put into the edit with all of the emotionally loaded interviews, the organ sound just seemed a bit too funeral like and was too haunting for an already heartbreaking part of the movie. We didn’t want to stomp too hard on hearts.
NICKOLAS ROSSI: In this scene, Elliott tries to get better and tries to reconnect to his friends. Sadly, it’s also a time for closure and for forgiveness, both from friends and family. This is a scene about saying goodbye. “I’ve been thinking of the things that I missed, Situations that I passed up for this, One-way love I took for ours I’m through trying now, it’s a big relief…”
“Everything Means Nothing to Me”
LIVE AND STUDIO written and performed by Elliott Smith
1999 // Produced by Elliott Smith, Rob Schnapf & Tom Rothrock
KEVIN MOYER: This is a live performance with Jon Brion that we mixed into the studio version of the song which was released on Elliott’s fifth studio album Figure 8. I remember that Elliott said it was one if his favorite songs at the time because it was idiosyncratic, which I would agree with and I remember him also saying that it might seem dreary to others but that the song is a very positive sentiment to him.
MARC SMOLOWITZ (Heaven Adores You Producer):: This is the song in our film that touches me the most. In the scene, Elliott performs the song with Jon Brion at a very emotional time in his life when things were really starting to unravel for him. It’s hard not to hold back tears during this scene, which is precisely what the song brings up for me now every time I hear it. The title of the song and the lyrics are some of the most universal themes I’ve ever encountered in music. It’s quintessential Elliott. He had this uncanny ability to narrate the human condition in ways that were brimming with genius and humility. It’s hard not to have your heart touched deeply during the crescendo of this song. It’s almost zen like. Heavenly.
MARK FLANAGAN: I think I mentioned that I would leave him many nights to play the Largo piano and guitar and he told me that he wrote a bunch of stuff during this time including “Happiness” and “Everything Means Nothing to Me”. Like a lot of songwriters, one gets the impression that these songs either come whole or the genesis is there but it isn’t a song till they hit that certain word, chord etc.
ROB SCHNAPF: Great memories of this song. To me, at the time, it foreshadowed the possibilities that were to come. As it turned out, it never ended coming, as things played out, but at the time it felt like an exciting future… Every step of the way, it started as an interesting piano ditty. Then we did the vocals with treatment between the verse and chorus. Reverb thru the Leslie in the verse. Looped dry vocals in the chorus. Then the drums with the room compression and the delay on them. And the moment the mellotron went on my arms went up in victory. Then we extended the song with echoplex feedback and looping the piano. Until it felt right.
NICKOLAS ROSSI: I’ve always loved this song–the drums at the end always get me. This feels like Elliott’s last song in the film…
