In an interview, Elliott said that “I realize that there’s no real point to me doing what I’m doing, but if that was at the forefront of my mind, I would get nothing done. And that would be really boring.” Here's the statement in context (this should make his statement easier to understand):
Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism, said that if you make yourself ignorant to the futility of attempting the impossible, anything is possible. That’s the message embedded in “Stupidity Tries,” Figure 8’s spiritual anchor. “I realize that there’s no real point to me doing what I’m doing,” says Smith. “But if that was at the forefront of my mind, I would get nothing done. And that would be really boring.”
Honestly, it's not surprising that Elliott make a song based on Kierkegaard's ideas; after all, that's where Either/Or came from.
In an interview, Elliott said that “I realize that there’s no real point to me doing what I’m doing, but if that was at the forefront of my mind, I would get nothing done. And that would be really boring.” Here's the statement in context (this should make his statement easier to understand):
Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism, said that if you make yourself ignorant to the futility of attempting the impossible, anything is possible. That’s the message embedded in “Stupidity Tries,” Figure 8’s spiritual anchor. “I realize that there’s no real point to me doing what I’m doing,” says Smith. “But if that was at the forefront of my mind, I would get nothing done. And that would be really boring.”
Honestly, it's not surprising that Elliott make a song based on Kierkegaard's ideas; after all, that's where Either/Or came from.
A link to the full interview: http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2001/01/02/elliott-smith-emotional-rescue/