I couldn’t decide whose picture to include on this post – on one hand I find Madeleine Peyroux more, ahem, photogenic, but Elliott Smith is one of my favourite ever singer / songwriters. So in the end I did a google image search for “Between The Bars” and found this picture by Oliver Arms that I thought would be perfect. The Western Project gallery is in California, not all that handy for me, but their website has a lot on it. Pay them a visit.

So here are two versions of Elliott’s song, which you might recognise from the soundtrack of Good Will Hunting if you’re not too familiar with his music. I love the slightly breathless quality of his voice, I reckon he could have given any song – even The Birdie Song! – an emotional edge.

The second version is from a CD that my sister-in-law had on in the background while we were visiting one evening. My other half loved it and it was only after she’d played it half a dozen times that I realised why it sounded so familiar. The two versions aren’t all that different really, but some mental barrier prevented me associating Elliott Smith with “chick jazz”.

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