Elliott Smith: Son of Sam (2000 Music Video) User Reviews

Intriguing and artistic

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 9/10 · 10 November 2023]

That's a tough one to define since Elliott Smith himself didn't had much of a clue of what the song was about except that he mixes themes of creation and destruction. The video presents him chasing a red balloon through many places, a perfect homage to the classic Oscar winning short film "Le Balloon Rouge" (1956) by Albert Lamorisse. At times, there are still black-and-white photographs of Smith's face or his act with other musicians, but the main idea comes from the moving images of him following the balloon through the crowd. Like life we're all chasing some balloon, to which the key answer or option cannot be easily answered: if catching it, it's about bursting it or just hang somewhere; or the challenge comes in just following it around until we lose the sight of it all? The reflection is on us, and the song goes to mysterious, intriguing ways yet we love for its rhythms, melodies and lyrics too. One of Smith's best. 9/10.