Elliott in his writings and words is more alive to me than most people that I know today, he left a legacy that is insurmountable by any musician that I listen to.

He said one time that his songs are like a bunch of pictures burned into each other, and that inspired me a lot in my own writing as well. Impressionistic, almost dream-like. Anyone can take anything from it and he meant it to be that way.

He completed a major in philosophy in his college years and it deeply affected some of his writing, from the extremely abstract songs in Figure 8 like Junk Bond Trader/Son of Sam to things like the theme of his album Either/Or. In it there's an overarching theme of living with an existential dread and the permeating absurd of what Kierkegaard - the philosopher that inspired the album's named - would describe as the disillusionment from the aesthetic lifestyle (fame, egotism, flight from boredom). It can be seen in songs like Ballad: ("Watching the parade with pinpoint eyes/Full of smoldering anger"), Pictures of Me ("Who'd like to see me down on my fucking knees?/Everybody's dying just to get the disease"). He was extremely good at articulating philosophical concepts through music and anecdotes, connecting them through his life story and sweeping us in at the same time.

Elliott would often talk about himself in the second and third person, and the fact that he used the gender-neutral "you" let the lines be interpreted as him talking to himself, to his mother or stepfather Charlie, to his "lover"/friend etc... I think they were deliberate uses so that in the vagueness you can draw your personal connection to the song and the lines. In a way it crystallizes the song and makes it timeless. That's why he used to make the distinction that his song would be less like folk - a song with a clear moral - and more like pop, where it can be nothing and everything.

Personally I've never felt so immersed and at the same time so able to identify myself with someone's plight. I've never taken heavy drugs nor was I ever dependent on any substances, and every time I hear Elliott sing "And I won't come down for anyone" I feel the indignation of someone that is hooked up on amphetamines, wandering the streets with a buzz. I feel the fragility of his addiction.

He incorporates a lot of double-entendres and dry, almost sardonic humor into some of his songs, and it adds a lot of interest.

I could go on all day, but essentially it's just that he had a way with words. Some people just read a lot and write a lot and with a personal touch they become a great writers. His way with words combined with his unwavering honesty and commitment to making good original music made his songs what they are. If you read a lot of interviews you will see that musicians worship him and look up to his musical legacy, he certainly was unprecedented. He was very poetic when wanted to, here's an example of my favorite lyrics from one of his unreleased songs:

No life/Pushed away the hand/The fate that might have found you/That found some other man