Opinions are just what they are, assumptions, speculations, personal feelings based on more or less reasonable thought processes, but they are not all equal. I would not consider the opinion of a foolish person but have the tendency to respect the judgment of an intelligent one.
So when a very respected musician posted this regarding Elliott Smith’s death on a message board some time ago, I was bewildered:
‘More than ever, I don’t think it was his own choice.
just my opinion.’
Message boards make it easy to communicate with people, so I decided to send him a message thinking he would not answer, but he did:
‘it’s really just an opinion based on a gut feeling I have, coupled with anecdotal information I received about the woman Elliott was with at the time of his death being described alarmingly as a ‘knife freak’.
I thought that was pretty chilling. Nothing to base an already-botched police investigation on, though.’
As usual in this story it is about believes, gut feelings, hearsay, and information he received. Still, his answer was important for me because he is a very reasonable person and the last sentence shows he was aware of the awful police work. The ‘knife freak’ was news to me but I have already talked about reports of the terrible temper of this woman. Sean Organ, the Org Records owner who was supposed to release the album of her band ‘Happy Ending’ said this in a press release after Elliott’s death:
‘Anyway before Elliott’s sad death he had become rather close to the project, taking the band out as support and working with them in the studio on the three tracks that were going to be the debut single on ORG. The project was becoming more and more ‘tense’ before Elliott’s death – some people described Jen and Elliott’s relationship as a kind of ‘Sid and Nancy’ situation – it certainly was getting very difficult for us and the rest of the band to work with the two of them.’
The ‘Sid and Nancy’ comparison was sure made before his death, but gives chills considering the circumstances.
So opinions may be based on gut feelings but when they are consistent with other conjectures, it is frightening.
Although this musician did not know Elliott personally (he just fell in love with his work after his death as many did), I also had the occasion to communicate with another person who was friends with Elliott at the end of his life. I had quite long exchanges with him and again it’s all about opinion, nothing can be proven, but I began to wonder why these persons (I’m sure there are others) do not communicate and speak to each other!
So this other person said many things to me, especially regarding ‘From the Basement on the Hill’ that Elliott was recording at the time of his death. Many have lazily interpreted this album as a musical suicide note but this person said Elliott had told him that it was a concept album, that ‘Suicide Machine,’ a track not included on the final product would have been included if he had survived long enough. This guy considers ‘From the Basement on the Hill’ a ‘rewarding struggle to heal.’
The lyrics of ‘Suicide Machine’ are actually clear, and sarcastic:
‘Everything’s all right/Except for how it seems/And everybody wants to turn me into a suicide machine.’
A slap in the face of all the people who want to continue to believe he was depressed and suicidal all the time. What matters the most in the emails I exchanged with this person is the optimistic description he made of Elliott at that time:
‘Elliott was doing so well before he died. It is true that people who opt for suicide are often said to be doing well. The suicides in waiting are happy because they have found the resolve to do what they have wanted to do for a considerable period of time. Even as a counselor, knowing this and knowing that Elliott could be grievously depressed, I do not think he killed himself. I do not rule out that there could have been a fight between the two of them, him and Jennifer. In the end, I do not think it was suicide, but that does not necessarily mean that, without a reasonable question of a doubt, that Jennifer did it. I do think there should be an investigation into the matter, and there is no reason why there has not been.’
Yeah no reason, but this is however the case.
He also said this:
‘Ten days before Elliott died (with Val, who was a major force in helping him in his healing process, no longer by his side), many of my friends, including Jerry, saw Elliott. By all accounts, he was doing well. He had come out of the darkness to twilight, then his life tragically ended. There were no narcotics in his system according to the autopsy report. When the police report is examined in full, as it can be on many internet sites—not only the detail of there having been two stab wounds through his clothing—it is astonishing that a more thorough investigation has not been conducted.’
What can I add? I have already covered all this. Only the truth matters, not opinions, not believes and gut feelings. But it’s still the same story, for now this is the only things we have, the only hooks we can hang our hopes on.