CAIRO – 23 October 2017: Egypt Today honors and pays tribute to the memory of Oscar-nominated folk singer Elliott Smith marking the 14th anniversary of his death on October 21.
Many folk singer-songwriters are known for their melancholy music, but none are like Smith’s. Critics called him “Mr. Misery” and the unhappiest man in the land, especially after the release of the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting, for Smith was nominated an Oscar in 1998. Consequently, when Smith committed suicide it did not shock many people.
Elliott Smith at Oscars – Courtesy from YouTube
He released many albums, considered by many as a kind of warning for his suicide, including an eponymous solo album 1995, which features a grainy image of bodies falling from a high building. 1996's “Either/Or,” was named after a book by Kierkegaard, in which the philosopher posited that the aesthete would eventually find himself in a state of despair.
Like most of Smith's close friends, his girlfriend Jennifer Chiba was used to him making melodramatic threats about ending his life. Consequently, on October 21, 2003, Smith stabbed himself twice in his chest.
His depression, which contributed to his drug and alcohol abuse, was believed to have stemmed from the abuse he faced because of his stepfather. He once told a journalist from the US magazine Spin that if he had not had music to lean on, he might have "gone after" his stepfather, according to the Guardian.
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