Synopsis

Elliott Smith wanders through Los Angeles in a white suit while a police officer trails him, apparently waiting for an opportunity to issue a parking ticket. Instead of running or confronting the officer, Smith quietly feeds coins into expired meters, repeatedly preventing the tickets from being written. The low-key narrative gives the song's sadness an understated comic edge, presenting Smith as a gentle, elusive figure moving through ordinary streets while remaining just beyond authority's reach.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed in Los Angeles' Silver Lake neighborhood. Its route includes the area around the Smog Cutter bar, as well as Virgil Avenue and Hoover Street.

• A separate version incorporates footage from *Good Will Hunting*, the film for which "Miss Misery" was written and recorded. The standalone version focuses entirely on Smith's street-level journey.

• Smith's white suit became closely associated with the song after he wore a similar outfit while performing "Miss Misery" at the 1998 Academy Awards.

• "Miss Misery" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, bringing Smith an unusually large mainstream audience and making the video one of the most recognizable visual documents of his career.

• The recording began as a relatively simple session at Jackpot! Recording Studio in Portland. Smith first laid down the instrumental parts, then returned later to add the vocals.

• The video contrasts the song's intimate, emotionally heavy tone with deadpan physical comedy. The parking-meter gag turns the title's misery into something mundane and almost absurd rather than overtly dramatic.