"Elliott Smith's song Waltz #2 and his psycho killer characters" Mon Oct-21-13 12:02 PM by c71
The Painful Life History Hiding in Elliott Smith’s Masterpiece
by William Todd Schultz
Elliott Smith died 10 years ago today. Earlier this month, Bloomsbury published Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith, by William Todd Schultz. The piece below is adapted from the book and printed here with permission.
“Waltz #2 (XO),” the third song on XO (1998), is Elliott Smith’s certain masterpiece. It’s got a roadhouse, Wild West, player-piano feel to it. And the tune, with its staccato ľ beat, takes Smith back to Cedar Hill, the suburbs of Texas with his mother, Bunny, and stepfather, Charlie. There’s love in “Waltz #2 (XO),” but a deeper impulse is anger, aimed squarely at Charlie. Brilliantly laid out in metaphorical cloakings, the song’s a secret life history, summarizing Elliott’s feelings about the Cedar Hill atmosphere and the intricacies of his relationship with mother and stepfather. He was always exceptionally worried about the possible hurtfulness of his lyrics. The thought that they might cause harm pained him.