Lyrics:

The Song:

"E-Pro" was the first single off of Guero, and was one of Beck's most successful tracks.

"E-Pro," as Beck described before Guero was released, is "like Nelly but with a garage band." That feels pretty accurate. Beck raps over a raw and fairly punky guitar riff, and a powerful drum beat sampled from the Beastie Boys "So Whatcha Want." It kicks off the album in the same way "Devils Haircut" did Odelay: rock and roll. (Know what I'm sayin?)

Beck was asked in one interview what the title of the song means. His explanation, "Nothing. That's what it was titled when we were recording it. Like when you're recording a song, and the engineer will call it 'Dishrag' or 'Cottage Cheese.' They come up with these names that don't mean anything. We couldn't think of another title."

The music features an almost mechanical arrangement, as the song lasts 200 seconds, and can be broken easily into 10 20-second sections (verses, choruses, guitar riff, bridges). The song has some effects at the end, but is mainly consists of a simple line-up of bass, guitar and vocals (and the sampled drums). Beck is very much a one-man band on this one!

The lyrics seem to be Beck venting some anger, perhaps at some miscommunication, gossip, or lies. Though the song is hardly overtly specific, a few lines stand out to me: "talking trash to the garbage around you" is pretty harsh; "it's sick the way these tongues are twisted" is fairly blunt. As Beck admitted on XFM, "It's kind of an angry song, it's just kind of an out-and-out venting song...kind of looking for the humanity in the situation too, but also not really holding back."

Beck was asked about this venting, and admitted that it wasn't empty. "It's kind of letting out an intense feeling, and it's looking for some kind of humanity, trying to find something above the anger," Beck explained. ("And it's about loud guitars," he added.) Interesting that he uses the "looking for humanity" comment verbatim in more than one interview. That does seem to be the conceit of the song--Beck avowing to not give up the ghost (die), to keep looking for that daylight. In a way, anger can be used to keep up hope.

On XFM, Beck seemed very hesitant in explaining the specifics, but did admit that they are there "in the lyrics in my own kind of obtuse way." The closest he got to explaining it is saying "E-Pro" is one of those songs about "human interactions gone awry." (Again with the humanity.) Just how personal "E-Pro" is exactly, I do not know, but the frustration is certainly evident in the lyrics.

Me, I have a fairly up-and-down relationship with "E-Pro," sometimes really into its rawness, other times finding it overplayed. That said, it is one of my favorites on Guero: the raw burst of emotion makes it a standout. (And, live, it really is an exciting jam.)

Live:

Played live 428 times:
Earliest known live version: January 28, 2005
Latest known live version: August 18, 2023

"E-Pro" has been played at virtually every tour show on the Guero, Info and Modern Guilt tours (i.e., since it's been released).

2005-2006-2007-2008-2009-2012

On stage, "E-Pro" is virtually identical to the album. Near the end, Beck freestyles off the riff a little bit during the penultimate section. And I've heard some versions which cut off the last 20 seconds. Other than that, nothing worth mentioning. Surely, you've heard it, and if not, you can imagine it pretty well. :)

Around August 2006, they started extending the song's ending, playing two more iterations of the 20-second riff pattern. Instead of ending as usual, the riff would just keep on going (usually with the audience Na Na Naing). This probably happened sporadically.

On the Modern Guilt tour, the version remained very similar, and the ending extension was much more regular. The song is pretty much always during the encore, though there were a few shows where they opened with it.

2014
Having been played quite regularly since its release, "E-Pro" really totally peaked during the Morning Phase tours of 2014. It was played every night (56 out of 57 shows), and once Jason Falkner joined the band, the song took a huge turn. The band did not really change the song any, but they were able to flesh it out and make it extremely dynamic. It was easily one of the highlights of the tour, the years of performing it having finally settled the song into a classic mainstay of any Beck show.

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