'Speed Trial' itself puts off a vibe that Smith is tired of living in this world. While much of the album is a reflection, there's a lot of pain in it as well. ' Alameda' is another track that specifically revolves around his own memories as he walks down a street from his childhood, as well as in opening track ' Speed Trial,' where he specifically recalls ' the cathedral with the glass stained black' that was across his house growing up.

An example of this is ' Rose Parade,' a song with a strong alternative vibe that sounds deceptively positive but is a grueling, hateful track against fake personalities, which he himself claims he is guilty of having in the track.

Smith wrote and recorded Either/Or in his home town of Portland, Oregon, and much of the album refers to things he remembers or observes of his city. Elliott Smith captured his view of the world in the tragic Either/Or, his third album that really showed his sad view of the world. Gone but not forgotten, Smith defined the idea of making moody, sad indie tones. The trope of the sad indie artist has long been a main attraction to the genre, but there's often little appreciation that goes to the real trailblazer of that subgenre: Elliott Smith.

Elliott smith either or track