https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elWEQzv5sXY
Yeah, so I know I’m a little bit late to the Elliott Smith party here, but I finally discovered Bled White last week and simply have not been able to stop listening since. Off Smith’s 1998 major-label debut XO, Bled White isn’t exactly one of the songs Smith is known for (I don’t think, at least) but damned if it isn’t amazing.
On top of being just a wonderful tune with spot-on vocal harmonies, it trades in some profoundly disturbing lyrical dissonance, kind of like what drew me to ska back in high school. I mean, I challenge you find a more pleasant, upbeat tune about how the inescapable, looming blandness of everyday life is so smothering that it will inevitably drive you to serious drug abuse because run-of-the-mill alcoholism just doesn’t pack a strong enough punch to take the edge off. Yeesh. I’ve got to go look at some pictures of kittens. [Spotify, Amazon, iTunes]
