Lyrics:Beginner's Luck [Live version (a)]:
(I kinda mixed lyrics together from the two versions)
Is there time to feel the strain and smoke your lungs?
We could be legible, ?? and maximum
Place your bets on this, but the jury holds your blueprints
Strike a balance with ??
We've got a key above the room, a microscope
We can besiege and pass the day without a care
There's nothing broken but your face now anyway
We're so famous in the scheme of things
Heaven will wait, pull up a ??
Let's all give thanks
Then they compose disposable with those they hate
Lots of reactions, ???
And it's growing from a ??
Spread your disease
The beast, the leopard swallows her cub
We got the scars to tell the czars
That make new blood
He'll be glad to lend a hand
When the end of the world's not stuck
There's no protection from beginner's luck
The Song:This is one of those super-rare, lucky-to-be-known tunes. "Beginner's Luck" is not the most melodic song Beck has ever sung, frankly, but his acoustic guitar is nice and some of the lyrics seem interesting.
The first time Beck played it we know about, he did it solo acoustic. But then the second December 1994 version has Beck accompanied just by Joey Waronker on drums--it's a fantastic performance by the two of them.
The sound quality makes some of them words difficult to discern. There are some clear differences between October and December, but I sort of just combined what I could make from both into one version above.
I have no idea if Beck ever attempted to record this.
Live:Played live 2 times:
Earliest known live version:
October 21, 1994Latest known live version:
December 18, 1994There are two live versions. The October 1994 version has terrible sound quality, and appears to just be Beck alone on guitar. (Hard to tell for sure.) The December 1994 version is out there on video, no less! It's fun to watch Beck and Joey play this.
Notes:
- Thanks to Ryan for help on the lyrics.