The album was produced by Smith, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. Laundry Rules Recording and the Heatmiser House – all in Portland, Oregon – as well as The Shop in Arcata, California. In 2020, the album was ranked at 216 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.Įither/Or was recorded at several locations: Joanna Bolme's house Smith's own house Undercover, Inc. 'Miss Misery' was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1998 Academy Awards, and was performed at the televised ceremony in an abridged version by Smith, backed by the house orchestra, briefly propelling him into the international spotlight.

Book-ended by its two singles, 'Speed Trials' and 'Ballad of Big Nothing', Either/Or did not chart in the US, but was acclaimed by critics.ĭirector Gus Van Sant was highly impressed with the album, incorporating three of its songs ' Between the Bars', 'Angeles' and ' Say Yes' along with a new song, ' Miss Misery', into the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. Either/Or was released on February 25, 1997, on the Kill Rock Stars record label, following Heatmiser's dissolution. Either/Or was recorded in several locations, mostly in Portland, Oregon – while Smith was still a member of Heatmiser – and was produced by Smith, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. I’ve thought about that song a lot, “Who did I write this song to?” I didn’t write it to anyone in particular and maybe I wrote it to myself in a way.Either/Or is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. To have it in your life and to not analyze it too much and to be able to - through that - see a window into your future. In my experience thus far and certainly in that song kind of finding it hard to commit - not at all in a way of being faithful to a person, not at all like that - but just in a greater sense to take something for granted.

For one, I do wear blue a lot, I’ve always felt most comfortable wearing blue and there was a point where I only wore blue for a while, but in the context of the song it’s kind of like you have these experiences with people, particularly romantic experiences or something and they’re meaningful to you and you love that person and you have no complaints and you have every bit of belief in them but there are certain aspects to you that can’t advance for the sake of what that person needs, I guess.

Elliott smith either or lyrics genius