hi, im jonny

like a lot of people, i really love music. i often find myself saying, “i fucking love this band”. but i shouldnt, because it takes away the importance of those bands and singers i truly love. the ones who have impacted or changed my life, the ones who i identify unbelievably strongly with, the ones who helped me discover who i am, the ones who really make me feel. i own every beatles record. but i have to be painfully honest with myself, i dont love them. i dont own a single elliott smith recording. in all honesty, i only know a handful of his songs. and i can say with total certainty that i love him. i cant wait to uncover more and more of his work, and fall in love with his albums, one by one. 

i would like to share my story of how i first heard elliott smith. everyone had neglected to tell me that my ex who i still loved had recently got a new boyfriend. i spent the day hanging out with the both of them and in the evening, i found out the truth for myself, when i heard them making out right beside me. i forced myself not to look, i just put my hood up. it absolutely crushed me. that night i cried and cried and the next day, instead of going to school, i slept in till midday and went to the beach in the afternoon. the friend i hung out with at the beach is now my best friend, but at the time i had a seriously painful crush on her, and was shy and uncomfortable around her. we sat and talked till it got dark and cold. she shared her ipod with me on the bus trip home. it was dark and cold outside, but warm on the bus, and i was beginning to feel less insecure and more comfortable. i was happy. she playfully nudged me, and i pushed back. she nudged me again, and through my one headphone the opening guitar to “angeles” drifted into my brain. it was immediately arresting. i felt like i could see it in the air around us. his voice, shy but passionate, sang out lyrics, some i couldnt define, and others which stood out from the song and their seeming relevance stabbed me in the heart.

i noticed that it was distantly familiar to me. id heard it in a film id seen. so i asked who it was. “elliott smith,” she said. and i knew that out of the hundreds, maybe thousands of bus rides i will take in my life, this is one i will never forget.

thank you so much elliott smith for making my sad day into a beautiful one, a sad thought into a beautiful one, our sad minds and hearts into beautiful ones, and your sad life into a beautiful one.

(Submitted by ilikeyourstoriesatnight.)

(Source: elliottsmith)