Lyrics:

The Song:

Beck began writing his own songs during the year he spent in New York in the "anti-folk" scene circa 1988. He remembered:

I would go to the Chameleon for the open-mike night and play Woody Guthrie or Mississippi John Hurt songs, which was my whole world at the time; I didn't even want to know about anything else. But [they] wouldn't book me for a whole night unless I wrote my own songs. So I said, 'OK.' And I went and got a pen and paper and wrote five songs about stuff like pizza, or waking up after having been chain-sawed in half by a maniac... stuff like that. He finally gave me a Friday night."

So if that's literally true, "Cut 1/2 Blues" is one of Beck's original, oldest songs, a product of the first time he seriously put pen to paper to compose something. Well, maybe, not so seriously.

This funny weird folk tune has two known arrangements, and three recordings. The first arrangement is the one he put on his homemade tape, Don't Get Bent Out Of Shape. (This was also included on Fresh Meat.) It is a solo performance, done with very bluesy acoustic guitar, and a lot of harmonica. Another version was found on another version of Don't Get Bent Out Of Shape, though it was basically identical; maybe a bit more spirited, and some minor lyric differences and an extra fourth verse about the undertaker (which we knew from Stereopathetic).

The second version was officially released on Stereopathetic Soulmanure, and is done with a band, as a slowburn blues/punk song. It is hard to know which came first for sure (due to Stereopathetic being a ramshackle collection), but it is probably safe to assume that the one from Don't Get Bent acted as a demo for the second. And if this was one of the first songs Beck wrote in New York, there might also be some earlier recordings of it somewhere that pre-date Bent, which was from 1992!

There are new verses in both takes, which I would use to imply that Beck probably had more. Surely, he could rattle off a ton of verses about being cut in half whenever he wanted to.

The excellent performance on Stereopathetic is highlighted by Beck's droll vocals, which fits comically with the fact that he's singing about having been cut in half. Beck's always been able to put the perfect delivery on his lyrics, in how he lets the music or humor or lyrics shine. Featuring some choppy acoustic guitar, buzzing electric guitar, and even a mini-drum solo, "Cut in Half Blues" is neat and amusing in both forms, and it is an entertaining example of a young Beck's songwriting.

Live:

I am not aware of this having ever been played live since 1994. Probably didn't last in Beck's stage catalog much longer than, say, 1990? :-)