Elliott Smith's best-selling album, Either/Or, is both a sad boys standard issue and a casual music fan's gateway into a songwriter we lost too soon. Today, even the most hardcore followers have something new to listen to thanks to the release of a brand new track that is part of a 20th anniversary reissue that features remastered tracks, three new studio recordings and a five live multi-track recordings from the Yo Yo A Go Go Festival in Olympia, Washington in 1997.
A press release says “I Figured You Out” was recorded as a demo for Mary Lou Lord, who later recorded a version (produced, performed, recorded, and mixed by Elliott Smith) for her Martian Saints EP. Smith's old bandmate Neil Gust plays drums, and the track was recorded by Smith at Heatmiser House in 1995.
The release hits stores on March 10. Call your local record store to see if they'll carry it. Listen to the song, and read the lyrics, below.
I’ve seen you watching her every time she crosses the floor,
So won’t you just go and talk to the one you really adore.
I’m getting pretty used to being the one that you always ignore When somebody wants you—I’ve seen it before.
You’re every kind of caller—there ain’t nothing that you won’t claim— You’re ambition and promise, you’re addiction to fame.
And everyone has a dollar sign after their name—
And when somebody wants you, you treat ‘em just the same.
So go on and pick up—
You don’t care what poison you choose
And what person you lose—it should have been me, yeah— Shouldn’t it be?
Crushing quiet blows in through your window
To someone who wants you that you’ll never know.
But I’ll pick up around you and clear everything out, Leave you where I found you—I figured you out.
Leave you where I found you—I figured you out.
This article appears in Dec 29, 2016 – Jan 5, 2017.