It's a little too much to ask of faith. It's a little too late to wait for fate. So tell the angels what you seen, scarecrow shadow on the Nazarene.
Guero is the sixth official albumnote by Alternative Indie Singer-Songwriter Beck, released in 2005 through Interscope Records. Less a New Sound Album than an ambitious blend of things he had done before, it mixes the anything goes Hip-Hop experimentation of Odelay with the Brazilian/tropical influences of Mutations, with a little of the low-key balladry of Sea Change. Guero is Beck's highest-charting album in the US, opening at #2 on the Billboard chart.
Tracklist
- "E-Pro" - 3:25
- "Qué Onda Guero" - 3:29
- "Girl" - 3:29
- "Missing" - 4:43
- "Black Tambourine" - 2:46
- "Earthquake Weather" - 4:26
- "Hell Yes - 3:17
- "Broken Drum" - 4:29
- "Scarecrow" - 4:29
- "Go It Alone" - 4:08
- "Farewell Ride" - 4:18
- "Rental Car" - 3:05
- "Emergency Exit" - 4:02
Something always tropes the place of missing pieces:
- Break-Up Song: "Missing", seemingly of the "Please don't go/I want you back/I wish we were still in love" variety.
- Car Song: "Rental Car", "Takin' me far as a rental car can go."
- Cool Car: Parodied in the "Girl" music video. The first time the scene does a fold-in, two toy cars have their front and back halves, respectively, removed to fuse into a single car that's half-blue and half-yellow. Beck proceeds to drive a full-sized version of that car for the rest of the video, until he parks illegally and it gets towed right before the end.
- Design Student's Orgasm: The cover is a surreal piece by Canadian artist Marcel Dzama.
- Gratuitous Spanish: "Qué Onda Guero", well-justified by it being about a heavily Latino area of Los Angeles.
- In the Style of: "Emergency Exit" takes lyrical and musical cues from Tom Waits. The first verse even mentions a "Roosevelt dime", something that also figured in "Clap Hands" from Rain Dogs.
- One-Woman Song: "Girl"
- One-Word Title: "Girl", "Missing", "Scarecrow".
- Perpetual Poverty: Implied in "Black Tambourine"My baby run to me
She lives in broken down buildings
Can't pay the rent again
These spider webs are my home now. - Questioning Title?: "Qué Onda Guero" translates roughly to "What's up, white boy?"
- Sampling: Quite a bit.
- "E-Pro" samples Beastie Boys' "So What'cha Want" from Check Your Head.
- "Earthquake Weather" samples the Temptations' "What It Is," and Slave's "Coming Soon" and "Just Freak."
- Scary Scarecrows: Subverted in "Scarecrow," wherein "Scarecrow's only scaring himself."
- Shout-Out: The music video to "Girl" is a long one to MAD Magazine, showing Beck wandering the Mexican part of LA as things fold in on themselves to reveal their true meanings. At one point, he even comes across a TV with a commercial for a business headed by none other than Al Jaffee. The last one is the wall behind him, forming the words "Super Cheap" and Alfred E. Newman's smile.
- Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: The opening of "Missing:"I prayed heaven today
Would bring its hammer down on me
And pound you out of my head
I can't think with you in it. - Special Guest:
- Jack White, leader of the bassless The White Stripes, plays bass on "Go It Alone."
- Christina Ricci provides spoken word vocals on "Hell Yes."
- Petra Haden of The Rentals contributes background vocals to "Rental Car."
- White Void Room: The cover shows weird doings in one.
- The Wild West: "Farewell Ride" is steeped in Western imagery: Horses, cards, an implied hanging...
