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Elliott Smith wrote “Say Yes” (presumably) at the end of his relationship with musician Joanna Bolme. “’Say Yes’ was written about someone particular,” Smith said in one interview, “and I almost never do that. I was really in love with someone”. As the song’s lyrics illustrate, Smith wanted her back.
“Say Yes” is one of Elliott Smith’s simplest pieces: in an interview with Spin magazine, Smith claimed to have written the song “in five minutes… during an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess with the sound off”. More notably, the song is hopeful, or, as Smith put it, “insanely optimistic”. Counter to the pain that seeps through the first eleven tracks of Either/Or, “Say Yes” indicates the possibility of joy to be had, a poetic conclusion to an emotionally turbulent record.
“Say Yes” was featured alongside Smith’s “Between the Bars” and “Miss Misery” on the soundtrack of 1997 blockbuster Good Will Hunting. The film’s success and Smith’s Oscar nomination for “Miss Misery” would help to bring the singer-songwriter into the spotlight.
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