Brandon Coale Notes

It was 20 years ago today that the very talented musician Elliott Smith unfortunately passed away. I wasn’t familiar with his music then, but became a fan of his music about 9 years later around 2012, so better late than never. Thank you to my coworker Dave at the time for introducing me to the music streaming website Radio Paradise, to our manager Rick for letting us listen to the website during work, and to Bill Goldsmith at Radio Paradise for playing Elliott’s music.

I enjoyed watching the documentary Heaven Adores You about Elliott, and purchased the soundtrack to the documentary. The documentary was very well done, along with all the music and interviews it has extensive footage of the cities that Elliott lived in. I don’t know if the film team shot all the city footage or used some city footage filmed by other people, but it was well put together, including video of the beautiful Portland forests.

My favorite Elliott Smith song is True Love, featured on the Heaven Adores You soundtrack. The album notes say that the song was performed by Elliott in January 2001 at Jon Brion’s studio with Tom Biller & Jon Brion, and mixed by Larry Crane at Jackpot! Recording Studio. It is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard, and is on my favorite songs of all time list. Here is the YouTube of this 5 minute 24 second masterpiece. The piano that comes in around 3:50 is such a nice touch.