Status
Elliott Smith Song
Alternate Versions/Titles
Mama’s Boy
No More
Written By
Elliott Smith
Recording Sessions
Mid 1995 - Mid 1996 (Heatmiser House, Portland, OR - No More) - unofficially circulating, “No More” version)
March-July 1996 (The Shop, Humboldt County, CA - Primary Either/Or Sessions)
January-October 2003 (New Monkey Studios, Los Angeles, CA and Smith Residence, Los Angeles, CA - Sessions with Fritz Michaud) - uncirculating, “Mama’s Boy” version
Availability of Official Release
New Moon
Lyrics
“No More” version
Tired of looking sideways
But the thing’s in black and white
No more, no more
Arguing my case to the wee hours of the night
What for? What for? What for?
Put it in your face and let the petals fall
Cursing your family name
Rather be unhappy as the cause of it all
Panicked and hateful, with nothing to blame
That’s a useful dream that pretended to explain
But no more, no more, no more
Superstition in the image of
One I already believe
Easier to use ‘cause I made it up
To deal with the same things
Tired of looking sideways
But the thing’s in black and white
What for? What for? What for?
“Either/Or” version
You’re strong and stubborn now in an endless symbolic war.
Brave or bored? Either or.
Sometimes I ricochet from the past and at times a future I’ve already had before.
Champion or chore? Either or.
I’ll write the pages you rip out, back in their places again.
One day you’ll know what you’re talking about-I can hardly imagine that until then
I’ll be filling in these blanks that you create every time you win some petty score,
Posing as hardcore, oh yeah, either or.
Look at the spin chief, battered and broken, clutching a plastic rose.
We’re all in the downpour you carry around for trashing a lifestyle you’ve never known.
It’s a useful dream that makes quite an entertaining show and not much more.
Up against and for, either or.
First known live performance
No known live performances.
Notes
An early version of the song exists by the name “No More”. The song was reworked into “Mama’s Boy” during the Basement era.
Audio
(Either/Or / New Moon version)
(No More version)