“No Name No. 5”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1996 // Produced by Elliott Smith, Rob Schnapf & Tom Rothrock
KEVIN MOYER: This studio track was released on 1997 Kill Rock Stars album “Either / Or” but there is an alternate version that we almost used. I’d have to take a closer listen to see if the instrumentation is any different but Larry remixed it from reduction takes for the first time ever and to me it just sounded so dreamy. The lyrics are slightly different using a couple different words that don’t change the song meaning too much instead. For example he changes “Don’t try to cry about it, no not anymore” on the alternate version to “Don’t get upset about it, it don’t matter anymore” on the released version, which does make the lyric a bit more defeatist– and also the single word ending the line with “obviously” in the released version compared with “It’s pretty plain to see” in that words place on the alternate version instead — and then he had a phrase that I can’t quite make out, maybe “Just Turn On The Light”, leading into the name on the cast reference, whereas the released version uses the really lovely “Got a broken heart and your name on my cast”… other than those three things the lyrics on the alternate version are the same as the released version. This is another good example of him tweaking lyrics and changes that might seem small but actually do effect the way the words are taken by the listener plus helping the song to flow better too. But at the end of the day the alternate version didn’t fit the scene that we had built so we went with the released version in the final edit.
ROB SCHNAPF: I can’t really speak on it specifically but I can say Elliott was always tinkering with the words. Looking for a more precise way to get a feeling across or a better combination that sounded cooler or sang better or whatever. I remember working on a song, one that never came out, that was fantastic and he ended up having a problem with a word. So I asked him what it was and he said he didn’t like how “the” sounded in a particular line, I was like, man that doesn’t count, it isn’t even a word, it’s an article…
“Say Yes (live at Yo Yo Festival)”
LIVE written and performed by Elliott Smith
1997 // Recorded by Pat Maley, Diana Arens, Aaron Cruz, Brooks Martin, and/or Aaron Gorseth
KEVIN MOYER: This is a live version of “Say Yes” performed at the 1997 “Yo Yo A Go Go” concert and the studio version was released on Kill Rock Stars album “Either / Or” album the same year. I remember the first time I heard this live performance and the audience banter at the beginning “play the one about the girl”, I thought this would be a perfect way to set up and introduce Joanna in the film. It was one of the ideas that I offered that stuck and made it in the final edit, and I’m glad because it is such a very sweet part of the film about two very sweet people who were often very sweet to each other. It’s also a good way to subtly talk about how much of an influence Joanna was on Elliott and also the break up that would come along with it… the line “I just wish it was delivered under better circumstances” speaks volumes without getting into the details.
JOHN CHANDLER (Portland music critic and journalist): I remember talking to Elliott about “Say Yes” right after the record came out. He was in a nervously optimistic mood but was worried about closing the record on a positive note. Like he might be inviting trouble somehow. But he seemed determined to embrace positivity (though that isn’t a word I remember him using) at that point in time.
“The Byronic Hug (Reprise)”
2013-2014 // SCORE // written and performed and produced by Kevin Moyer
KEVIN MOYER: OK… this is the same piece of score music that I provided for an earlier scene in the film, just used again in a new scene.
NICKOLAS ROSSI: I used this again to once again bring us into the Portland past. Elliott is on the radio being asked about leaving Portland. It’s a moment for him, the beginning of a new adventure. I wanted to let everyone feel that Portland moment one last time.
KEVIN MOYER: I like that this composition kind of became a Portland sound and callback in the way that it was used. I strummed it on the edge of my bed in the outskirts of SW Portland on a guitar that I bought downtown.
“Coast to Coast (early version)”
written and performed by Elliott Smith
1995-1996 // Produced by Elliott Smith
KEVIN MOYER: This is a very early and unreleased version of Coast To Coast which would later be posthumously released on the album From A Basement On The Hill. This one seemed to be one of the songs with the greatest interest from the fans, when we would have screenings people would come up after to ask about music, and this was always one that they wanted to ask about or hear the whole thing. I don’t blame them! It’s much more sparse but still carries that punch.
LARRY CRANE: Another example of Elliott’s recycling. A lot of the songs on FABOTH are built on older music he’d written. This older version feels like it could have ended up a Heatmiser track.
NICKOLAS ROSSI: I love this stripped down yet totally powerful version of this song and thought that it would be cool to share it with fans who already knew it from his last record. The title itself helped in suggesting that the move from Portland to NYC warranted using this song, but there were also lyrics in here that I found helped tell the story of this cross country adventure. “Feels wrong, not for long, Still something to do… It’s really easy, I’ll just forget it too, coast to coast..”
KEVIN MOYER: Yeah this one starts off with similar lyrics to the released version, the lyrics are the same for about the first verse or so – he does change the “If you can’t help it then just leave it alone” to be “if you can’t help me, leave me alone”, although he goes back to the “it” version later in the song when he comes back and repeats the first verse. But other than that first verse or so, the rest of the words are almost completely different from the two versions. He mentions “Mary” whom appears in many other songs, and instead of “still you’re keepin’ me around”, he sings “go home, go home”…
