Lyrics:

The Song:

Beck reminisced at his legendary El Rey concert on November 19 1997 about how he used to play this song all the time at coffeehouses trying to get the audience to sing along. What fun that would be! He still pulls it out for that reason every once in awhile.

The recording on Stereopathetic is a duet between Beck and Ken, the homeless guy who sang "Waitin' For A Train." Sounds like Beck asked him to join in on the song for the taping.

Live:

Played live 15 times:
Earliest known live version: October 31, 1994
Latest known live version: December 5, 2002

On March 21 1996 in Paris, France, Beck played a solo acoustic set as the opener for Sonic Youth. He reached back to his old coffehouse days and pulled out "No Money No Honey." The audience doesn't sing along, but they seem to get a huge kick out of his falsetto lines -- "No money, NOOO HONEEEEEY!"

The version on June 5 1996 is one of the best. It's quite dynamic, full of flashy falsettos, dramatic tempo changes, and a happy audience.

In Paris, on November 29 1996, a much more standard take is in the middle of his acoustic set. Beck ends it suddenly. "That's a song to sing to carry you home after you've had to much Beaujolais Neuveaux. We've got many drinking songs. This is the European Decadence Tour, a tribute to a long lineage of decadence and debauchery in this great continent." After his little speech, his mike breaks, so as he waits for it to be fixed, he plays "No Money No Honey" again... no one can hear him, but the whole audience sings along anyway.