Youthless
By: Beck Hansen
Written by: Beck Hansen

Versions:
  1. Youthless (2:59)
    Available on Modern Guilt and 1 other release.
    Credits
    Recorded at: Anonyme Studios
    Matt Mahaffey: Bass
    Danger Mouse: Beats, Producer
    Larry Corbett: Cello
    Drew Brown: Engineer
    Beck Hansen: Guitar (Electric), Producer
    Brian Lebarton: Keyboard / Synthesizer
    Greg Kurstin: Keyboard / Synthesizer
  2. Youthless (Mix K)
    Available on Youthless.
  3.  
  4. Youthless (acoustic) (3:07)
    Available on Modern Guilt acoustic.
    Credits
    Bram Inscore: Bass
    Joey Waronker: Drums
    Beck Hansen: Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals
    Jessica Dobson: Guitar (Acoustic), Vocals (Background)
    Brian Lebarton: Percussion
Unofficial Versions: [show/hide]
  1. Youthless (Vitaminbeats Vapor Remix) (7:23)
    Credits
    Vitaminbeats: Remix
  2.  
 
 
Lyrics:
Youthless [Version (a)]:

There's a bottomless pit that we've been climbing from
Just to get on level ground
Shake your seasick legs around
Dead of winter in a logo town
Signs of life are soft and flickering
Need a bed to lay my body down
Deadweight that you carry round
The static is lulling me to sleep
Hang your clothes on a chain link fence
In a junkyard, say amen
Your mouth is full of wordless hymns
And run-on sentences

And they're helpless
And forgetting in the background
Holding nothing
And they're youthless
And pretending
With their bare hands
Holding nothing

There's a million horses dragging down a monolith
These trademarks so bereaved
Tied my leg to a barricade
With a plastic hand grenade
That tried to turn emotion into noise
Need a teleprompter for my life
Need a pipeline to the night
My body can't get no relief
And this life, it goes by fast
You're treading water in the past
Trying to re-animate something
That you can't understand

And they're helpless
And forgetting in the background
Saying nothing
And he's youthless
And forgetting
With his bare hands
Tied to nothing

And he's helpless
And forgetting in the background
Giving nothing
That is youthless
Trembling
With his bare hands
Holding nothing
 
The Song:

This is reportedly the 5th track on Modern Guilt.

A Japanese website listed the titles in a sort of translation of the English, and this was how that translation was interpreted. Title may change or be slightly off.

(This is likely called "Youthless" but am waiting for more official verification of that.) (Interesting! Beck had an old poetry magazine called Youthless as a kid, and one of his early bands was named that.)

UPDATE:

It is called "Youthless." This reportedly has a grinding bassline and some Kraftwerky keyboards!
 
Live:

Played live 23 times:
Earliest known live version: June 24, 2008
Latest known live version: March 26, 2009