Elliott Smith's "Say Yes"

A few hundred words about my favorite song

There’s only one song I’ve never gotten tired of, and that’s Elliott Smith’s “Say Yes.” A perfect mix of lyrics, melody, and timbre, Smith’s gorgeous track makes me feel like I’m outside of space and time, an effect that usually only jazz music has on me. I think some time around my junior year of college, I started testing out the theory that it was my favorite song in conversations, and to my delight my good friend Andrew was impressed and shared his love for Smith’s music. Since then, I’ve both publicly and privately decided it is most definitely my favorite song.

If you’ve ever seen Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s cowritten masterpiece, Good Will Hunting, then you’ve heard “Say Yes.” It plays as Damon and Minnie Driver’s characters are falling in love, eating burgers and accidentally sharing a pickle during their first kiss. And even though there’s a couple other Smith songs in the film, I didn’t put two and two together until I had a conversation with my older brother. I told him I liked the music in the film and he said I must like Elliott Smith, and thus I began to listen to the soundtrack and found one of my artists, and in turn, my favorite song.

But what makes “Say Yes” rank at the top of my list? Like everything else, it’s a multitude of things. I thought I might go through the song part by part, as I did in my post about Phoebe Bridgers’ “Kyoto,” and piece everything together. But I don’t think that works for this song. As I said earlier, “Say Yes” reminds me of jazz. What I mean by that is while there are of course specific parts to the song, it comes and goes to me like it’s just one piece of music. It always feels new, improvised, and imperfectly perfect. Maybe it’s because it ends as it begins with the lyrics, “I’m in love with the world/ Through the eyes of a girl/ Who’s still around the morning after.” I love these lyrics. They’re easily understandable, yet the personification opens a world of mystery and memories, both about the life I imagine Smith lived and my own.

It’s no secret I’m a romantic, and this is probably Smith’s most romantic song. So of course that may be another reason I love it, and yet another could be because it plays during a romantic part of a romantic film. Yet it’s written after a breakup, and seemingly a realization that he didn’t know what he had. Based on my knowledge of Smith, and his lyrics “I’m damaged bad at best,” it appears he may not have been capable of loving and accepting love in the way he wanted, but perhaps this song is the closest he ever came. He professes that love is when the person stays around the morning after, and when he does too.

I could discuss the lyrics and give my interpretations of them until I’m blue in the face, because lyrics are my favorite part of the writing process, but what makes this song timeless to me is the melody and the recording. It sounds so happy, but an authentic happiness, like the kind that just makes you smile when you’re not expecting too. It seems to express the happiness of a realization that maybe everything will be alright after all. Then the bridge brings a bit of darkness, making me feel his uncertainty and insecurity, before leading us back to happiness. Perhaps I can’t separate the song fully from Good Will Hunting, which certainly expresses similar emotions, yet I think this connection enhances my love and appreciation for the song.

“Say Yes” makes me want to smile and sometimes cry, but ultimately always invites me to fall in love with it over and over. I’m not going to discuss in details the recording itself because it can only be understood when listened to, but the decisions he makes throughout are beautiful and almost ghostly. When his voice suddenly goes from mono to stereo, with a not so subtle doubling, I always tumble into his world and don’t want to leave. His guitar work is sparse yet thought-provoking, common throughout his catalog, and while his harmonies encroach on his main vocal at times, they’re still lovely.

There’s a magic in “Say Yes,” that always has me coming back for more. Whether I’m happy or sad, or feeling nothing at all, it’s always welcome like a good friend. I love Elliott Smith and I hope to meet him in another life if the chance ever arises.