Son of Sam by Elliott Smith

David Berkowitz, infamously known as Son of Sam, was a serial killer in New York City during the 1970s. Berkowitz was told that his mother died during childbirth and was adopted at a young age. He felt an intense sense of guilt for his mother’s death and isolated himself from his family. When his adoptive mother died of breast cancer in 1967 Berkowitz joined the army. While there he had his first sexual experience with a prostitute and contracted a venereal disease. After returning home he found out that his birth mother was alive. Fantastic paranoia in the form of demons took over him. On Christmas Eve, 1965, the demons threw Berkowitz into the streets with a hunting knife to find a victim to kill. He confessed to stabbing two women, one woman’s case could not be confirmed, the other survived. Berkowitz moved to a new home. In his new neighborhood howling dogs prevented him from sleeping at night. As his senses collapsed Berkowitz became convinced that the dogs’ howls were messages from demons instructing him to kill women. Son of Sam was born.

Elliott Smith was found dead in his apartment on October 21, 2003. The cause of death was two stab wounds to the chest, presumed to be intentional. He left a note on a Post-it:

“I’m so sorry --love, Elliott. God forgive me.”

Like Berkowitz, Smith had a damaging childhood. It is speculated that he was sexually abused by his father, which he illustrates in a few of his songs such as "Some Song"

Smith wrote and performed "Son of Sam" either as a confessional for his own sake, or in an attempt to explain to the outside how unsettled he felt on the inside. The fact that Berkowitz killed people with knives and that Elliott Smith killed himself with a knife implies an even greater connection, which suggests that Smith's music was a hauntingly accurate form of expression. In Smith's case, music served as a means of admitting truths indirectly, with only the distraction of melody as a protective disguise.