“Unfinished Song”
written by Elliott Smith, performed by Shon Sullivan
KEVIN MOYER: We tried to hook up with Shon Sullivan for the film but couldn’t make the schedules work as he was touring with his band Goldenboy – which is also the name that Elliott gave to Shon due to his proficiency and skill at music and playing various instruments. Shon and his friend Bryan Bos were nice enough to run around with a video camera and shoot some stuff for us to hopefully use in the film anyway, and then sent the footage up to us for consideration. Some serendipitous things happened on the way, and one of my favorite things that they shot was Shon going to the old Largo building which is currently under construction and finding the old piano. It was covered in dust and he took his finger and wrote ‘We Love U Elliott’ in the dust on the piano top. Then he sat down and began to play Elliott songs, and the construction guys kept working all around him, cutting into some kind of metal beam above him which resulted in sparks flying down into frame as Shon played on. It was lovely. Unfortunately, we didn’t use as much of the footage as we hoped to because it didn’t match up with the way most of the other stuff was shot, but we did make special point to use this scene they gave us of Shon playing this song. This song is placed here immediately after Rob Schnapf talks about the songs that would be “forever unfinished” after Elliott’s death and this was meant to drive home that sad revelation.
This wordless instrumental is a riff and progression that Elliott was playing around with during rehearsals for the upcoming tour that never happened, and Elliott would start it and the others would just kind of join in and play along. There is a structure to it, an insinuated melody line and the little turn around part that felt like it might be a chorus or bridge section, as if it was something that Elliott was working on or the early seeds that would turn into something later. Like many of his songs, this is in the Waltz like 3/4 timing. It didn’t have a title yet. And like Rob says, it remains forever unfinished.
“Happiness”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1999 // Produced by Elliott Smith, Rob Schnapf & Tom Rothrock
MARK FLANAGAN: This is another one that Elliott would play afterhours at Largo.
ROB SCHNAPF: Happiness was recorded in a B sides session we did for the album XO. “Happiness”, “Independence Day”, and a cool instrumental that escapes me. It was very clear that “Happiness” and “Independence Day” were not B Sides. While XO had already been completed and turned in, the song “Independence Day” was inserted into the sequence and “Happiness” was put on the shelf and considered the first song done for the next record. So the problem of B sides remained…
KEVIN MOYER: Elliott once said that there has to be a certain amount of darkness in his songs for the happiness to matter. And to me this song feels like that sentiment put to music, because this song kind of has both, like his life had both, like all of our lives have, and he is talking about the dark but then asking for it to be put away in exchange for happiness instead. And the chorus “What I used to be will pass away and then you’ll see. That all I want now is happiness for you and me”… I think thats a great closing sentiment and I think it’s also a sentiment that Elliott perhaps would have wanted to say to us too, if he had the chance to somehow communicate it to us. I don’t think he would want us to be bummed out, and he definitely wouldn’t want to be remembered as sad either. So this is a great sentiment to end the film with, using footage from the benefit concerts that his sister put on in the four places that Elliott called home for much of his career – Portland, NY, LA, and Texas. Each show was friends and musicians performing Elliott and Heatmiser songs, and each city gave the proceeds to charities in the area – the proceeds from the Portland show went to Outside In, the proceeds from the Los Angeles show went to Free Arts for Abused Children, the proceeds from the Austin show went to the SIMS Foundation, and the New York shows proceeds went to New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth. They are all great charities, please support them if you can.
ASHLEY WELCH (Elliotts sister): For many years I wanted to do an event, to celebrate Elliott and honor him, that would raise money for charity. I knew that he might cringe at the thought of a night devoted to him, but I figured he would agree that the ends justified the means. He never said no to a benefit if he could possibly swing it—he was the single most generous person I’ve ever known, and he had a huge soft spot for anybody who needed help. When David Garza asked me if I had ever considered trying to put on such an event, I knew the time was right. David’s an amazing musician, and knows so many talented people. By the time we’d sketched out our plan, it involved four cities, four great charities, and over a hundred musicians, friends, and peers. It was David’s idea to end each show with Happiness. That song ends on such a sweet, positive note. It embodies the big brother that I knew—he was kind and sweet and gentle. He truly wanted the world to be better—for those he knew most intimately, and for those he’d never meet.
The ending of that song also lends itself to crowd participation. David thought it would be a great note to finish on, and he was right. I didn’t realize how special it would be until it happened on the first night in Portland—the love in the room as hundreds of voices, including many of his closest friends and family, sang those words—I still can’t describe it. And I can’t help but think that, wherever he is now, he felt it, too.
