A video has surfaced of Elliott Smith making a bizarre appearance on a ’90s morning show called Breakfast timeWell, if you’re a fan of the Smiths, pre-digital time capsules, or just live individual video content, this is a gold mine.
Smith stopped on the FX morning show on July 28, 1995 to promote his second album. The video was first uploaded to YouTube in 2019, but recently went viral after clips were shared on Reddit this week. The show aired from 1994 to 1996, was an “unofficial magazine show” that featured a variety of interviews and segments, and even had a co-host – all of which made it appealing to a mainstream American television audience, but a really odd choice for the Smith underground icon.
Sitting down with host Tom Bergeron (Future America’s Funniest Home Videos fame) and Bob (Doll) for an interview and performance of his song “Clementine,” the 25-year-old singer-songwriter seemed to realize the absurdity of the circumstances upon his introduction.
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“Let’s welcome a real morning person to the show,” Bergeron quipped before turning to Smith offscreen to say, “It’s going to be okay, Elliott.” When he first cut to Smith, he coyly confessed to the camera before hiding behind a drink. Afterwards, he and Bergeron entered into one of the most bizarre interviews in the history of music.
Focusing on the “anger” behind it, Bergeron asked Smith to describe his music. “It’s really quiet,” Smith replied. “Some are really angry, some aren’t.” While drilling, Bergeron joked about Smith’s anger control. Smith tried to explain himself by saying, “I mean, [my music is] Not particularly angry”, but he was cut off by Bergeron, who directed the subject at me Elliott Smith scrapbook art.
“You notice on the cover that people are jumping off buildings…that’s not necessarily a good tactic to deal with your problems. What’s the symbolism of that?” asked Bergeron, unaware of the pathological irony of the question. “I don’t know, it looked good,” Smith calmly replied, while Bob the doll nodded.
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After enduring all of this, Smith performed an inspirational rendition of “Clementine” before the commercial went off. Upon returning, viewers can see the wonderfully bizarre scene of Smith reading a newspaper in the background rest of the episode. “You’ve been craving a cigarette for a long time, right?” asked Bergeron. “Yes,” Smith replied, before looking at the newspaper.
Watch Smith’s full appearance on Breakfast time less.
In the past month, six albums that Smith recorded in high school have surfaced online.
