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Elliott Smith Makes Everything SadderElliott Smith Makes Everything Sadder

Don't ask me why I was motivated to put on pop videos while listening to Elliott Smith, but be glad that I did. It yields some interesting effects. I simply chose a song that had a close match to the videos length, and wah-la, pop-culture redefined Elliott Smith style.

Directions: Click play on the flash mp3 player, then play the YouTube video on mute.

Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind" + Elliott Smith's "Twilight"

Elliott Smith turns this disposable sex-pop beach fantasy into an ode to a lost girlfriend. The way the video fades in and out of color, is like the memory he's trying to hold on to. The video goes from a third person perspective of the happy couple, lounging in the sand to how he likes to remember her, in a sundress, dancing in the sun just for him. The saddest part is when he stops singing, letting the sullen instrumentation take over as the camera pans to flying over the ocean to find Paris driving in the sun, alone and happy.

Elliott's lyrics that fit oddly well into the video:

She's a sight to see, she's good to me
I'm already somebody's baby
She's a pretty thing and she knows everything
But I'm already somebody's baby
You don't deserve to be lonely
But those drugs you got won't make you feel better
Pretty soon you'll find it's the only little part of your life you're keeping together

Britney Spears' "Everytime" + Elliott Smith's "Needle In The Hay"

Elliott Smith's tune some best remember from the suicide scene in The Royal Tenenbaums, fits well into Spears' tale of paparazzi, relationship problems and not being able to take it any longer. There are some very interesting juxtapositions here as Elliott breaks into the first verse as Britney enters the overbearing paparazzi in addition to the lyrical silence broken as Britney slides into the bathub, drowning.

Elliott's lyrics that fit oddly well into the video:

i can't beat myself and i don't want to talk
i'm taking the cure so i can be quiet wherever i want
so leave me alone, you ought to be proud that i'm getting good marks
needle in the hay

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