Beck – “My Mind is On You”

This is a Beck song that is largely unknown, to animal and animal alike, perhaps even vegetable. I will say that this is a beautiful little number, think Simon & Garfunkel and then drink a large soda pop with ice, and you may perchance to comprehend the song of which I am speaking. Early Beck material was often introspective and powerful; making “Sea Change” look rightfully like a change for the worse. Beck was a single, an individual, not a band or an international Pop icon, at least not yet. There was a naturalness to his melodic acoustic guitar strumming and what I would refer to as sing-speak vocal performances. Sure, the element of novelty is present, but when you’re coping with 4-track tape recordings as was the case with Beck, 15 years ago or so, an element of humor was simply part of the song and not at all distracting, just an added musical spice.

The song then comes from a tape Beck put out, no doubt self-released, entitled “Don’t Get Bent out of Shape.” This is a genuine Folk, or sort of roots-driven feeling on the song, as was commonplace with Beck during his brief stint as the ghost of Woody Guthrie. Keeping it simple and narrowing the focus was a strength for Beck, as there is a lack of immediacy in quite a lot of his recorded material…and truly, going all the way back to “Odelay”, which was when he arguably became purely a Pop fixture with the experimentalism or rawness, if you like, unfortunately mostly on the back-burner. However, here we have a rather keen emotional insight from a weird young chap in his early twenties. And for those of us who have a sexual preference for the early Beck material, there certainly is a wealth of it, as prior to the burden of fame…he was truly at his most musically prolific. Which leads to the argument that many in Beck’s generation made a sort of music that was never really meant for the big-time, and how ironic then that so many, of whom I refuse to mention beyond Mr. Hansen, became just that…big-time.

Dig these lyrics…

I’m living ahead
Of what I know
I never learn
The way I burn
Tasting my time
Spitting it out
I can’t breathe
I can only shout

Beck, Woody Guthrie

Do You Love Writing About Music?
Become A MusicByDay.com Blog Contributer.