Elliott Smith has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in the past week. Now, as a way of achieving a karmic balance once again, his one-time friend Ben Folds has issued this version of “Say Yes,” which originally appeared on Smith’s quiet classic Either/Or back in 1997.
This was recorded at the AV Club studios during Folds’s recent trip to Chicago, and is part of their “Undercover” series. As you’d expect from the singer, this is a piano-led interpretation of the track, but Folds sticks to the beautiful simplicity of the original and makes this a reasonably affecting version that will only cause Smith fans to miss him even more.
Check out this version of "Say Yes" by Smith to compare and contrast:
I can't get the Ben Folds version to play (on the AV Club site, either), but no matter: The original is a treat.
Agreed. While it's nice to see/hear the Elliott one again, I did kind of come for the Folds cover...
David