a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free. B-side of 'Pretty (ugly before)'. I prefer this version to the one that ended up on 'From a basement on the hill'
contactkeithstack, same here. To me, that is "the moment", you know? How one man could be capable of so many gorgeous, potentially life-altering melodies, I'll never know. This one is right up there with my favorites.
The lyric change up really switched the vibe as well. I like this one more cause it kinda seems like it has a more personal touch to it. It’s like he polished it up and made it a “hit”. Did a fantastic job of it, but I love the bedroom pop feel this has.
Agree I like this version better, with exception to the line on the version from the album that says "shine on me baby because it's raining in my heart" which I thought was a beautiful line from an even more beautiful soul.
This version is so awesome. The wurlitzer run through a distortion pedal gives it an amazing grittiness against his sweet voice. Oh Elliott......you were such a masterful being.
this version is my favorite for sure. I love the lo-fi sound, it fit's his music so well. As time goes on, the more I get bummed out on the production on XO & Figure 8.
Both sides are great. Elliott could have kept his Lo-Fi sound but chose not to, it wasn't because he was forced to. If you want Lo-Fi Elliott, there's plenty, and it shouldn't bum you out that XO and Figure 8 aren't Lo-Fi. Elliott, like all artist, don't like sticking in a rut. The Lo-Fi sound was done more for the reason of him not having access to have high production. I don't think if he released From a Basement on a Hill that it would sound anywhere NEAR as close as the current release. Remember that most of those are demos and tracks that were produced after he died. Sure they're still his tracks, but not arranged exactly how he would have wanted. Sorry I just don't get people who complain or get bothered by the fact that XO and Figure 8 are higher production value. Like, no shit, he was signed to DreamWorks and had the money to do so, why would he still want to record in people's basements (like Either/Or, which is my number one favorite record of all time since I first heard it, but I still appreciate him not just rehashing Either/Or 2 more times. That would get old and make it not anywhere near as special), it just wouldn't make sense to do so. Not trying to be rude, I just don't get why so many people say this.
@@stevenrivera3977 I've been waiting for David Mcconnell to leak the alternate versions of the songs...some of which were considered completed by both him and ES, before being completely remixed by Rob Schnapf, someone Elliott explicitly didn't want touching the record...that he supposedly still has in his possession. Apparently he was too shocked by the way things unfolded to ever do anything with them--I also imagined he must've been threatened with legal action, the fact that all these years later, nothing has trickled out. I've heard rumors, but nothing more to my knowledge. This track is the closest we can get to imagining how "Basement" 'should' have sounded...that, and the fact that even Rob Schnapf's clean-up production couldn't change the sound of Elliott detuning his guitar, the way he did on "Coast to Coast" and "Shooting Star", etc
Figure 8 is by far my favorite ES album with Waltz 2 prob fave song. Love when an artist gets more bells and whistles and time to evolve. Beatles, Floyd, Radiohead, Pumpkins, Silverchair all changed, at it brought new shades.
jfuqua27, thanks so much for posting this! You've done us a great service. It's another fascinating insight into Elliott's writing process. the whole thing sounds fantastic. I particularly lost it at 1:32. That guitar line that comes creeping in...it's these moments that make me miss Elliott Smith like I'd miss a brother.
I know this is an old comment, but that same guitar lick has always grabbed me. It's been well over a decade since I first heard this song and it's stayed with me ever since.
I've always obsessed over that closing riff (probably even better delivered on the other version, although the tone here is superior), starting at 2:27, because it somehow melodically represents the theme of the song: it's simultaneously triumphant, defiant, but underneath broken and melancholy
the genius, he even made a recording of "A Distorted Reality is now a necessity to be free" in which the whole song is literally DISTORTED TO HELL AND BACK (beautifully, might I add). The symbolism of this song is brought even more to reality when we here this version. Thanks Elliott Smith. I fucking love you man
I would say I miss Elliot but it's like he's not even gone anywhere his memory lives on because of how good he was ill never get to meet my hero but he will forever remain one of the best of all time and it's a pleasure even to just sing any song he wrote
I believe Mr. Smith wrote his songs in a similar fashion to many. he would develop the music and the melody before he put any solid lyrics down. Kurt Cobain did the same thing. the lyrics evolved as the song developed through time. Paul Simon and Bob Dylan have changed lyrics to old hits. Elliott Smith himself has many early renditions of songs with totally different lyrics to their final versions, Miss Misery being one.
Omfg my friend showed me this song n the other version like 7 years ago n i remembered the line "you drive people like you drive a car till you don't know where you are" always but only listened to the album version.... I seriously have googled that line a billion times and i finally solved this fuckin mystery 😂 I thought i imagined the whole thing....
Amazing, amazing song. I like the lyrics in the FABOTH version better, the line: "You don't impress me" changed to "You disappoint me", that version's lyrics are just more refined. However I still gotta say I prefer this one overall due to the more minimal production. Just fantastic.
I like this version better for some reason, although I love both. It just sounds more vulnerable and empty. I love the tone of the opening riff and the sadness in “I must make it through this afternoon” compared the cynical and juxtapositional quality of “OD on Easter afternoon”. I don’t know. He just breaks my heart. The broken quality of his voice is touching.
This is awesome, sophisticated indie neo-Stravinsky modernite music before I coined the term as a Southern Oregon University music professor, there's actually an overseeing Professor and we're instructing the student symphonies in the conservatory on these neo-Stravinsky modernite music projects; It's the future of music, or one of the emerging and important trends in music, to be more specific, accurate, and limited.
i think the lyrics on this one are easier to understand, or i just cant understand the other ones as well on the other version. and man if only hed lived a few more years, i think he was just getting better
The lyrics were much improved on the album version, along with the added music for the "shine on me baby" section, while the production/tone/sound of the original is better imo. That certain segment of the ES fanbase that hated when he was very direct about his drug struggles in his lyrics obsessed over the change in the opening lyric, but I actually prefer the later one as well.
@@mywhychromosome im pretty partial to the album version since i've listened to it about a million times. I tend to think of it as his last official message to the world. it seems like the lyrics sum up his entire discography in a way. especially the line "all you ladies and your gentlemen, between is all you've ever seen or been". Pointing out all the subtle and "normal" ways that people are dependent was a main artery running through all his writing.
I absolutely agree... I love the Basement album... Which would be perfect with this version on it!!! I'm gonna have to make my own CD with this version
I believe he released this version for his girlfriend, I think Joanna Bolme, because she liked it better. I think it's written in an old article or something
Love this version, but it doesn't have my favourite line in it (God knows why my country don't give a fuck.) I just feel that line carried the song in a lot of ways. The sound of this is incredible though.
Oh my. I dislike that line. It ruined Elliott's career-long streak of refraining from overtly political writing. I either read or heard that Elliott tried a number of other (non-political) lines before settling on that one because it was the best one he had written.
This version is just glimpse of what an amazing record it would have been if it was released from Elliott himself. This seems to be more realized to me.
Its missing the "Shine on me" coda, and the lyrics (imo) are superior on the later cut, but production-wise, you are right on the money. That's because this is the last recording released before all the "Basement" era recordings were put in the hands of Rob Schnapf, who produced "XO" and "Figure 8", and a person who Elliott had specifically named as not wanting involved with the record, as he felt he was something of an 'agent for the record label' who had overcleaned and sanded off the rough edges of his music. Ironic, isn't it, that the first person the people who inherited control went to was him (as opposed to someone who had been working with Smith for a huge chunk of time on the same set of songs)?? Sigh.
wow this keyboard heavy version certainly is VERY COOL. The totally different words are really impressive, I wonder which words he chose to sing live? What a great artist. Thanks for this upload. peace.
While I believe there may be a VERY small # of performances of this version (not even 100% on that), he definitely never got around to performing any takes of the later version...It was one of the last things he put together, while he was piling up songs for the intended double-album "Basement" was meant to be. Supposedly he finished recording it alongside the never-finished "Abused" and "See You in Heaaven"
@@Yungman6 I actually did not know he got around to playing the later lyrics live, so thanks for clarifying…as a whole, I was referring to the final version as a whole, meaning the music, the extra riffs he added and so on, although he so rarely toured with other musicians and just played on acoustic that I suppose to point that out is, in a sense, irrelevant. When he played the show you’re referring to, did it have the “shine on me, baby/cos it’s raining/in my heart” section??
Is there a third version of this song? I remember hearing a version with similar lyrics to this one but I think the keys were a bit different sounding. I might be mistaken though...
In a lot of Elliott's songs he rewrote songs between recordings, (Pretty Mary K, True Love) and this. It's possible that he made another version in the months before his death when he was performing it live. You might also be thinking of the lyrics image associated with the song. It shows Elliott's scribble, with whole verses crossed out. Such a great song,
I've never been able to find this single, so I've never been able to answer this question...for any audio nerds out there: Does anyone know if the version of "Pretty (Ugly Before)" on the a-side of this sounds any different from the album?? I have to assume the mix would at least be SOMEWHAT different, considering the entire "Basement" record was notably (and controversially) re-mixed by Rob Schnapf, whereas this was the last release during Elliott's lifetime where he was working quite differently. Any info would be much appreciated
@@RECON02 Thanks! I've always wondered about that since, as far as I know, to date McConnell hasn't leaked in any way the apparently complete (and supposedly very different sounding) versions of songs like "Shooting Star", "Coast to Coast" aka Circuit Rider, etc. I read an interview with Josie Cotton, his gf at the time and owner of the studio, that touched on Elliott, and she talked about him not only having a pile of completed tracks, but also hours of instrumentals, talking etc...ahhh man, if only lol. Those Radiohead hackers were assholes, but when the band decided to 'officially' just release all the stuff, it was one of the most exciting moments I've had as a fan. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, thanks for the info!
I like this version but I really love the melody to "Shine on me baby cause it's raining"
contactkeithstack, same here. To me, that is "the moment", you know? How one man could be capable of so many gorgeous, potentially life-altering melodies, I'll never know. This one is right up there with my favorites.
The lyric change up really switched the vibe as well. I like this one more cause it kinda seems like it has a more personal touch to it. It’s like he polished it up and made it a “hit”. Did a fantastic job of it, but I love the bedroom pop feel this has.
this is my new favorite song. this fuckin shit is brilliant. no other fucking word even comes close.
Agree I like this version better, with exception to the line on the version from the album that says "shine on me baby because it's raining in my heart" which I thought was a beautiful line from an even more beautiful soul.
This version is so awesome. The wurlitzer run through a distortion pedal gives it an amazing grittiness against his sweet voice. Oh Elliott......you were such a masterful being.
Is that what it is, a wurlitzer through a distortion pedal? Always been curious about that. Also the paint brush percussion is perfect
I had this 7' and it was stolen along with all of my vinyl. Glad someone posted this!
This is the first song I ever heard from Elliot, I've been a junkie for his juice ever since then!
shine on me baby cause it's rainin in my heart
This just beautiful. Holy shit. Such a great musician lost.
this version is my favorite for sure. I love the lo-fi sound, it fit's his music so well. As time goes on, the more I get bummed out on the production on XO & Figure 8.
Both sides are great. Elliott could have kept his Lo-Fi sound but chose not to, it wasn't because he was forced to. If you want Lo-Fi Elliott, there's plenty, and it shouldn't bum you out that XO and Figure 8 aren't Lo-Fi. Elliott, like all artist, don't like sticking in a rut. The Lo-Fi sound was done more for the reason of him not having access to have high production. I don't think if he released From a Basement on a Hill that it would sound anywhere NEAR as close as the current release. Remember that most of those are demos and tracks that were produced after he died. Sure they're still his tracks, but not arranged exactly how he would have wanted.
Sorry I just don't get people who complain or get bothered by the fact that XO and Figure 8 are higher production value. Like, no shit, he was signed to DreamWorks and had the money to do so, why would he still want to record in people's basements (like Either/Or, which is my number one favorite record of all time since I first heard it, but I still appreciate him not just rehashing Either/Or 2 more times. That would get old and make it not anywhere near as special), it just wouldn't make sense to do so. Not trying to be rude, I just don't get why so many people say this.
@@stevenrivera3977 I've been waiting for David Mcconnell to leak the alternate versions of the songs...some of which were considered completed by both him and ES, before being completely remixed by Rob Schnapf, someone Elliott explicitly didn't want touching the record...that he supposedly still has in his possession. Apparently he was too shocked by the way things unfolded to ever do anything with them--I also imagined he must've been threatened with legal action, the fact that all these years later, nothing has trickled out. I've heard rumors, but nothing more to my knowledge. This track is the closest we can get to imagining how "Basement" 'should' have sounded...that, and the fact that even Rob Schnapf's clean-up production couldn't change the sound of Elliott detuning his guitar, the way he did on "Coast to Coast" and "Shooting Star", etc
Totally agree with you.
Figure 8 is by far my favorite ES album with Waltz 2 prob fave song. Love when an artist gets more bells and whistles and time to evolve. Beatles, Floyd, Radiohead, Pumpkins, Silverchair all changed, at it brought new shades.
@@mywhychromosomerob actually recorded this lol
this whole fucking song makes my body tingle
Thank u for this. There used to be such a good Andrew Reynolds re-edit to this song and I watched it 500000 times mostly for this song
yeah thats where i heard it too, probably one of the first ES songs i heard, still like this version the most
I spent so much time trynna find this song because of that edit...I'm glad I found it
@@Greaseball120dude it took me so long to find it was a huge moment in my life once I finally made it here
@@ricochetsixtytensame and same :)
Imagine having 2 unique and perfect versions of the same song
nah this ones better
jfuqua27, thanks so much for posting this! You've done us a great service. It's another fascinating insight into Elliott's writing process. the whole thing sounds fantastic. I particularly lost it at 1:32. That guitar line that comes creeping in...it's these moments that make me miss Elliott Smith like I'd miss a brother.
I know this is an old comment, but that same guitar lick has always grabbed me. It's been well over a decade since I first heard this song and it's stayed with me ever since.
I've always obsessed over that closing riff (probably even better delivered on the other version, although the tone here is superior), starting at 2:27, because it somehow melodically represents the theme of the song: it's simultaneously triumphant, defiant, but underneath broken and melancholy
@@mywhychromosome perfectly stated. 🎯 nice.
@@AndySalinger33 Thanks a lot my man
@@mywhychromosome that line at 2:27 on sounds like a harsh mosquito. You’re my kind. 🕊
the genius, he even made a recording of "A Distorted Reality is now a necessity to be free" in which the whole song is literally DISTORTED TO HELL AND BACK (beautifully, might I add). The symbolism of this song is brought even more to reality when we here this version. Thanks Elliott Smith. I fucking love you man
I would say I miss Elliot but it's like he's not even gone anywhere his memory lives on because of how good he was ill never get to meet my hero but he will forever remain one of the best of all time and it's a pleasure even to just sing any song he wrote
I believe Mr. Smith wrote his songs in a similar fashion to many. he would develop the music and the melody before he put any solid lyrics down. Kurt Cobain did the same thing. the lyrics evolved as the song developed through time. Paul Simon and Bob Dylan have changed lyrics to old hits. Elliott Smith himself has many early renditions of songs with totally different lyrics to their final versions, Miss Misery being one.
I must make it though this afternoon
The guitar tone at the end holy fuck
I've always loved this version!!❤️
Omfg my friend showed me this song n the other version like 7 years ago n i remembered the line "you drive people like you drive a car till you don't know where you are" always but only listened to the album version.... I seriously have googled that line a billion times and i finally solved this fuckin mystery 😂 I thought i imagined the whole thing....
That line always made so much sense to me and stuck with me for years as well.
Amazing, amazing song. I like the lyrics in the FABOTH version better, the line: "You don't impress me" changed to "You disappoint me", that version's lyrics are just more refined. However I still gotta say I prefer this one overall due to the more minimal production. Just fantastic.
I like this version better for some reason, although I love both. It just sounds more vulnerable and empty. I love the tone of the opening riff and the sadness in “I must make it through this afternoon” compared the cynical and juxtapositional quality of “OD on Easter afternoon”. I don’t know. He just breaks my heart. The broken quality of his voice is touching.
This is awesome, sophisticated indie neo-Stravinsky modernite music before I coined the term as a Southern Oregon University music professor, there's actually an overseeing Professor and we're instructing the student symphonies in the conservatory on these neo-Stravinsky modernite music projects; It's the future of music, or one of the emerging and important trends in music, to be more specific, accurate, and limited.
No big brother's going to bring me down now.
Great version. Thank you so much
Thank you for this interesting new perspective. He's the gift that keeps giving
This was the first perspective. What happened afterwards is posthumous or the new perspective. This is Elliott's mix.
i think the lyrics on this one are easier to understand, or i just cant understand the other ones as well on the other version. and man if only hed lived a few more years, i think he was just getting better
I love this - thank you
XO
This record can easily be found on EBay for a surprisingly low price... I bought four copies when it was first released over ten years ago!
Thank you for this! This version is soooo much better than the one that made it onto FABOTH, the lyrics are so much better
i prefer "the devil's script sells you the heart of a blackbird" so damn over the top it's brilliant
The lyrics were much improved on the album version, along with the added music for the "shine on me baby" section, while the production/tone/sound of the original is better imo. That certain segment of the ES fanbase that hated when he was very direct about his drug struggles in his lyrics obsessed over the change in the opening lyric, but I actually prefer the later one as well.
@@mywhychromosome im pretty partial to the album version since i've listened to it about a million times. I tend to think of it as his last official message to the world. it seems like the lyrics sum up his entire discography in a way. especially the line "all you ladies and your gentlemen, between is all you've ever seen or been". Pointing out all the subtle and "normal" ways that people are dependent was a main artery running through all his writing.
this song...
omg how did i not even know this even existed??
*his VOICE!!!!*
I absolutely agree... I love the Basement album... Which would be perfect with this version on it!!! I'm gonna have to make my own CD with this version
The king
I love this version!
so amazed by the way elliott changes his lyrics, shown in the many alternate versions of his songs
Finally a way to share this song with my friends without getting my record player set up :)
"I'm floating in a black balloon must make it through this afternoon" Yes. A black balloon. Our doom and tomb.
I miss him like hell
I would never compare Elliott Smith to Cleveland.
What the hell are you talking about?
Cleveland.
It's been a year and I revisited this comment... I get it now
Great analogy :D
I believe he released this version for his girlfriend, I think Joanna Bolme, because she liked it better. I think it's written in an old article or something
He was alive when this came out. As far as I'm concerned this is the version.
oh I haven't heard this in so long. I also always preferred this recording. I liked the Rhodes or Wurlitzer or whatever he's playing
I dont know which version I like better. I think the lyrics are more intense in the version on from a basement on a hill though..
not all of them there's a lot more straight forward in it which I really dig in elliot in any ways
hope im not bothering you thee 3 years later, xo
Love this version, but it doesn't have my favourite line in it (God knows why my country don't give a fuck.) I just feel that line carried the song in a lot of ways. The sound of this is incredible though.
Oh my. I dislike that line. It ruined Elliott's career-long streak of refraining from overtly political writing. I either read or heard that Elliott tried a number of other (non-political) lines before settling on that one because it was the best one he had written.
@@benmeltzer 9/11 happened. He had to opine whether it was valid or not or whether you liked it or not. I agree with your sentiment though.
Best version
This version is just glimpse of what an amazing record it would have been if it was released from Elliott himself. This seems to be more realized to me.
Its missing the "Shine on me" coda, and the lyrics (imo) are superior on the later cut, but production-wise, you are right on the money. That's because this is the last recording released before all the "Basement" era recordings were put in the hands of Rob Schnapf, who produced "XO" and "Figure 8", and a person who Elliott had specifically named as not wanting involved with the record, as he felt he was something of an 'agent for the record label' who had overcleaned and sanded off the rough edges of his music. Ironic, isn't it, that the first person the people who inherited control went to was him (as opposed to someone who had been working with Smith for a huge chunk of time on the same set of songs)?? Sigh.
Elliott's mix is so much better. At least he manifested.
wow this keyboard heavy version certainly is VERY COOL. The totally different words are really impressive, I wonder which words he chose to sing live? What a great artist. Thanks for this upload. peace.
While I believe there may be a VERY small # of performances of this version (not even 100% on that), he definitely never got around to performing any takes of the later version...It was one of the last things he put together, while he was piling up songs for the intended double-album "Basement" was meant to be. Supposedly he finished recording it alongside the never-finished "Abused" and "See You in Heaaven"
He played these lyrics in 2000. In 2003, he played the ones on the version from Basement On A Hill.
@@mywhychromosome I’ve only ever seen the later version live and he played it at Henry Fonda in 2003 (if that’s what u even meant)
@@Yungman6 I actually did not know he got around to playing the later lyrics live, so thanks for clarifying…as a whole, I was referring to the final version as a whole, meaning the music, the extra riffs he added and so on, although he so rarely toured with other musicians and just played on acoustic that I suppose to point that out is, in a sense, irrelevant. When he played the show you’re referring to, did it have the “shine on me, baby/cos it’s raining/in my heart” section??
I much prefer this version
Is there a third version of this song? I remember hearing a version with similar lyrics to this one but I think the keys were a bit different sounding. I might be mistaken though...
Idk but I'd be so game for hearing this. Commenting to follow just in case.
In a lot of Elliott's songs he rewrote songs between recordings, (Pretty Mary K, True Love) and this. It's possible that he made another version in the months before his death when he was performing it live.
You might also be thinking of the lyrics image associated with the song. It shows Elliott's scribble, with whole verses crossed out.
Such a great song,
The better version. Would fit well on Either/Or
Genius! Should’ve went w this one!
awesome
Hallucinogenic
yea i love this version better than the album one too.
Part of me thinks that the Outro in Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” was heavily influenced by the Outro of this version
Nah, just guitar tone.
Hi Just Some Guy!
Elliott Smith man.....
I've never been able to find this single, so I've never been able to answer this question...for any audio nerds out there: Does anyone know if the version of "Pretty (Ugly Before)" on the a-side of this sounds any different from the album?? I have to assume the mix would at least be SOMEWHAT different, considering the entire "Basement" record was notably (and controversially) re-mixed by Rob Schnapf, whereas this was the last release during Elliott's lifetime where he was working quite differently. Any info would be much appreciated
Hey! a little late on the response (sry) but Pretty (Ugly Before) sounds pretty much identical from the one in the album :)
@@RECON02 Thanks! I've always wondered about that since, as far as I know, to date McConnell hasn't leaked in any way the apparently complete (and supposedly very different sounding) versions of songs like "Shooting Star", "Coast to Coast" aka Circuit Rider, etc. I read an interview with Josie Cotton, his gf at the time and owner of the studio, that touched on Elliott, and she talked about him not only having a pile of completed tracks, but also hours of instrumentals, talking etc...ahhh man, if only lol. Those Radiohead hackers were assholes, but when the band decided to 'officially' just release all the stuff, it was one of the most exciting moments I've had as a fan. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, thanks for the info!
@@mywhychromosome no worries :)
Elliott is better than anyone else/ Dylan/Beatles got nothing on this.
3 dislikes do not exist
it's a vinyl? O:
Idk, I think i might like the other version better. The start sounds like an ice cream truck on this one i think
I can’t stand the ‘shine on me baby’ bullshit from the crap album version… the fuck does that even mean… this is perfect music right here…