Elliott Smith - Either Or

Written 10/02/2024

Something about being cynically honest makes people hate you. If you hate your social standing, try it the next time you're at work. When someone asks you how your day was, be honest: say it was horrible. See how quickly their placative grin vanishes - how quickly your image turns sour in their mind.

There's no hiding the pain behind Elliott's lyrics - in fact, he's quite honest with how he feels when it comes to songs like "Alameda" and "Pictures Of Me." However, I think there's a turn of perspective at the mark that happens after "Rose Parade." Suddenly, these songs turn metaphorical and nearly metaphysical - a film director's omniscient hand waving forward tragedy and calling cut at moments that symbolize sincerity.

It's with "Cupids Trick" that the film roll runs out and tugs at the intake of the camera, the picture cutting short with a zip and a static flatline. The actors stare in disbelief, and one by one begin to slowly make their way out of the set.

And we're left with poor Elliott on "2:45 AM" and "Say Yes," where all the theatrics and cinematics rematerialize as reality with a more potent pain than before. That's what Either/Or is: misery and illusion, hiding your feelings and pretending, though it never goes away. Depression is clever: it evades any tricks you may pull and knows precisely when to strike. To me, I think Either/Or is the perfect example of that.

"It's always been wait and see, a happy day and then you pay and feel like shit the morning after." 10/10