In late '98, I'd started at a new school for senior high, and it wasn't going very well. Junior high had already been a challenge for me, following the rigid stability that eight years of elementary school offered, and I wasn't fitting in at this new school at all. I enjoyed two classes - one was a Criminology course taught by a peculiar woman who assumed if we were in her classroom, we could handle some adult shit. The other was something called Music Exploration, which in hindsight I still struggle to define - we had a very young teacher who seemed unsure of the curriculum, if one even existed, and she was no match for my bandmate and I, who were your typical "too cool" music snob dorks who scoffed at any attempted discussion of "mainstream" music, which was naturally the focus.
I remember one specific task: she asked each student to bring in their favorite song and play it for the class. Well, I spent days mapping out potential sonic weapons to impose on my classmates, seriously pondering the perfect song to demonstrate all of the things I love about music: dynamics, melody, oddity, intensity, whatever. After much debate - I remember R.E.M.'s "Perfect Circle" was the rejected runner up - I decided on "Theresa's Sound-World", which I unleashed upon a room full of bored late 90s teenagers, following weeks of my arrogant droning on about Sonic Youth and "experimental music". (If it helps set the scene at all, here is a polkafied time capsule of the late 90s in popular music.)
I don't know what people thought. I mean, it's a great fucking song, but perhaps not best absorbed by force in a high school classroom. I remember sitting there, facing the class, the boombox blasting this song that I've theoretically deemed my most emotional connection to music, feeling very vulnerable but also trusting in the strength of the music. Maybe someone thought it was cool? No one applauded or said anything, and then the next kid came up and played Mariah Carey or whatever. I do know there was much groaning when my bandmate brought in his song, a VIDEO of "Wildflower Soul" that I had filmed in Seattle earlier in the year, insisiting the room endure NINE minutes of that song's majestic construction. Note that I hesitate to use the word "friend", as he had handled the transition to the new school with much more social success than myself, and we did soon disband, with our last performance actually being in this stupid class, with me playing a rented mandolin (??) and him being too shy to sing. Yup, pretty cool.
Blah blah blah. I just don't have that much to say about "Theresa's Sound-World", except that it's AWESOME. And I think we all know that. It wasn't a mistake that I chose it as my favorite composition 25+ years ago, and it would still be a heavy contender with all of the new songs I've heard in the subsequent years. There's just something perfect about the take that appears on the album, and it was generally very effective during its brief live tenure. Like "On The Strip", no demo appears on the Dirty deluxe edition, but it was recorded in early '92 at the Magic Shop with the rest of Dirty. Butch Vig cites the song as his favorite in Alec Foege's, Confusion is Next, saying: "There was this calm in the studio, the lights were down real low, it was late at night. They'd done several takes on it, and all of a sudden they did that one and the hair on the back of my neck stood up." Thurston compliments Butch on this take (supposedly recorded April 9th - later than I thought) in David Browne's Goodbye 20th Century: "That really hit the mark. If anything really was one hundred percent successful in our relationship with Butch, it was pretty much that."
They premiered the song along with most of the Dirty material on June 27th in Trenton, New Jersey. They booked a quick week of warm up shows leading up to their July 4th Central Park performance with Sun Ra. The song was played almost every night for the North American and European legs of the Pretty Fucking Dirty tour. There's only set list data for about half of the Youth Against Fascism Pacific Rim '93 tour, but it was played at all 7 shows on the March '93 west coast tour, where it closed the main set each time, except for the late show in San Francisco, where it was segued into from "Mote" halfway through the set! It was also played every night on the July '93 "Not Yet Jet Set" European tour, with its final performance on July 16th, 1993 in Birmingham.
For whatever reason, they never did play the song again, despite very frequent fan requests - a sign made by one hopeful Theresa enthusiast actually ended up taped to Lee's guitar amp for several years (still there as of the pic included in the gatefold of Last Night on Earth!). I certainly did my fair share of campaigning over the years, and I always got the impression that certain members would happily play it, but there was a hold-out or two that made it a no-go. Such a shame, though that bitter selfish part of me is kinda glad they didn't unload it in Brooklyn like every other rarity they'd bottled up for the previous two decades. (Sorry.)
From a songwriting perspective, it was the first tune where Lee used a capo. He put it at the third fret of his AAEEAA guitar, creating a CCGGCC tuning to complement Thurston's ACCGG#C. Kim plays a particularly emotive sliding bass part, and the whole band coalesces during the rising instrumental section to create a whirlwind of sound that perfectly peaks and resolves to the simple yet gorgeous intro riff. Once again, Steve gives an all star performance, using one mallet and one regular stick to tease out a particular sound from his toms and cymbals, controlling the tone of each verse with a different beat. Then there's his expert driving snare/cymbal fury (which he asked them to turn down in the mix, per Vig), proving why his playing was so critical to the band's sound.
Since this piece is a little light (and I know my high school backstory was positively scintillating), I should talk about a mystery. As mentioned, the band did a brief Northeast USA warm up jaunt in late June to early July, finishing in Central Park. The night before, they made a surprise appearance at CBGB, supposedly billed as Drunken Butterfly. This recording is circulating, and there were some photos published in the November 1992 issue of Guitar World that I was pretty sure had to be from this gig. It's definitely CBGB, the band has their "Dirty gear", probably playing "100%". Cool. Except...In the December 1992 issue of Guitar For The Practicing Musician, there are photos by Kristin Callahan that also appear to be taken at a CBGB gig. However, the band are wearing totally different clothes, and look to be from a slightly different era. That said, the capo on Lee's headstock is a surefire giveaway that it's "Theresa" era, and the Lee and Kim pic could actually be from "Youth Against Fascism" (if not "Silver Rocket"). Thurston's red Jazzmaster was in GGDDD#D# at this point, perhaps his pix are from the outro of "Mote"? Another pic of Thurston was printed with a 1992 date, for what it's worth. Either way, it's an undocumented CBGB set, and I would love to have more information!
Hey there's another mystery surrounding this song! Did you know it had a music video? Apparently it aired at least once on VH1, and the lore suggests it's one of the fan-made videos for MTV's contest (the winner "Drunken Butterfly" and at least one runner-up, "Swimsuit Issue", appear on the Corporate Ghost DVD). I knew there was a video for "Nic Fit" they wanted to use but couldn't find the people or get the rights or something, which may also be the case with this "Theresa" video, unless someone outright faked the whole thing (it's clearly just a bunch of footage taken from various Goo videos like "Dirty Boots" and "Mary-Christ", interspersed with footage of a wandering guitarist girl). Seems like an odd hoax, in any case, and it makes sense why it would have been otherwise unseen (the burial of the "Stereo Sanctity" video still leaves me more perplexed).
Since Sonic Youth refused to play it anymore, I decided to do my own version, back when I was putting together a "tribute" compilation on the alt.music.sonic-youth newsgroup. Around 20 bands recorded their own versions, ranging from fairly standard to far out, and in addition to a banjo take on "Winner's Blues" I offered an acoustic rendition of "Theresa's Sound-World". It's not amazing, but I kinda like hearing how the song could be stripped away and still retain its shape, if that makes any sense. Probably not. Enjoy?
* a dirty thought. erotic succubus once again foretells future through "flicker" dream. *
[dirty press kit notes]
"THERESA'S SOUND-WORLD"
LAYOUT
A - B - C - D - E - A - B - C - D - E - A
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
ACCGG#C
RIGHT
LEE
AAEEAA (capo 3)
LEFT
A SECTION 00:00-00:24
Thurston:
C---------------------------------
G#--------------------------------
G-----0---0---0---0---0---0---0---
C---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-----
C---------------------------------
A---------------------------------
Lee:
A---------------------------
A-------------0-----0-------
E---------3-----3-----3----- x 6
E-----0-----0-----0-----0---
A---3---0-------------------
A---------------------------
Kim holds this shape and picks away:
G--------
D---17---
A---15---
E--------
B SECTION 00:24-01:11
Thurston switches between these two shapes, mostly focusing on picking the note on the
G string in the first chord, and the high C note in the 2nd chord.
C---3-----0---
G#--0-----4---
G---3-----0--- x 6
C---------0---
C-------------
A-------------
Lee strums these chords:
A---3---5--(3)--0---- the bracketed notes are played in live versions, not as prominent on the LP
A---3---5--(3)--0----
E---3---3-------0----
E---3---3-------0---- x 6
A---------------0----
A---------------0----
Kim:
G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-\17-17-17-17-17-14--14-14-14-14-14---
A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-14-14-14-14-14-14-12\14-14-14-14---
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-17-17-17-17-17-17-20/14---
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-14-14-14-14-14-14-12-10-10-10-10---
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-----------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
G-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-12-10-10-10-10---
A-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C SECTION 01:11-01:41
Thurston picks these notes on the high C string with the open G# droning. You can also let the
open G bleed in a bit.
C---3---5---7------3---5---0----- listen for the rhythm
G#--0---0---0------0---0---4-----
G--------------------------0-----
C--------------------------0-----
C--------------------------0-----
A--------------------------3-----
Lee:
A---3---5---7------3---5--(3)--0----- listen for the rhythm
A---3---5---7------3---5--(3)--0-----
E---3---3---5------3---3-------0-----
E---3---3---5------3---3-------0-----
A-----------0------------------0-----
A------------------------------0-----
Kim:
G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-----------------------------------
A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- x 4
E---------------------------------------------------8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
D SECTION 01:42-01:49
Thurston kicks on the distortion:
C---0---
G#--4---
G---0--- strum chord // slide up an octave before next section
C---0---
C---0---
A---3---
Lee:
A---0--------------------
A---0----9b-9r-7-9br-7---
E---0-------------------- x 2
E---0--------------------
A---0--------------------
A---0--------------------
Kim turns her octave fuzz on to prepare for the next part:
G-------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------
A------------------------------------- etc
E---8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
E SECTION 01:49-02:21
Thurston trem picks these chords, listen for timing:
C---------------------------------------------22----
G#--------------------------------------------------
G---12----10----12----15----17----20----22----22----
C---------------------------------------------------
C---12----10----12----15----17----20----22----22---- skronk chord til end
A---------------------------------18----20----22----
Lee trem picks these chords, listen for timing:
A---------------------------------15----17----------
A---------------------------------15----17----------
E---12----10----12----15----17----13----15----------
E---12----10----12----15----17----------------------
A---12----10----12----15----17----------------18---- bend last chord up and down,
A----0----------------------------------------18---- add extra notes on repeat
Kim has super turbo fuzz on for this part, trem picking the root notes heavily:
G--------------------------
D--------------------------
A---3-----6---8---10--13--- x 2
E---/-----/---/------------
G-----------------------------
D-----------------------------
A---3-----8---6---\20-20-20---
E---/-----/---/---------------
G---------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------
A---3-----8---6-------------------------------
E---/-----/---/-----*DISTORTED PICK SCRAPE*---
A SECTION 02:21-02:56
On live versions, Thurston picks 7th fret harmonics at the start of this section, then
strums behind the bridge until the verse. On the album, he can be heard strumming
behind the bridge.
Lee plays his riff 9 times.
B SECTION 02:56-03:27
Kim basically plays the first four fills from the previous verse, including the two
that Thurston didn't sing over:
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-\17-17-17-17-17-14-14-14-14---
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-14-14-14-14-14-14-12\14-14-14-14---
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--17-17-17-17-17-17-20-14-14-14-14---
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-14-14-14-14-14-14-14-12-10-10-10---
A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C SECTION 03:27-03:57
D SECTION 03:57-04:04
E SECTION 04:04-04:44
This section is longer than the first one, holding on the final skronk chord for
an extra few bars.
Kim strums big distorted chords at the end of this part instead of what sounds like
a pick scrape on the previous play-thru:
G--------------------------
D--------------------------
A---3-----6---8---10--13--- x 2
E---/-----/---/------------
G-----------------
D-----------------
A---3-----8---6---
E---/-----/---/---
G-------------------10------10------
D-------------------10------10------
A---3-----8---6------8-------8------
E---/-----/---/------/-------8------
A SECTION 04:44-05:28
Thurston plays the intro riff but picks behind the bridge.
On the record, Lee plays the main riff til end (10 times), but live he would often kick his Phase 90 on
and hit a big open chord, maybe a few harmonics, etc til end.
Kim plays her main shape and ends on:
G----------
D----------
A---15/3---
E----------
text + tab by Chris Lawrence
w/ thanx to Larsen and FDSwayze
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