My Top 1000 Songs #556: I Figured You Out

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Quieting things down a bit for this lovely little collaboration between two of the singer-songwriters who formed such a big part of my 90s, Elliott Smith & Mary Lou Lord. Smith wrote the track, and it's pure Elliott, a bitter tale weaving jealousy & stardom ("You don't care what poison you choose, and what person you lose"), wrapped in the prettiest little acoustic ballad you could hope for. And he handed it off to the frail-voiced Lord, for inclusion on her 1996 Martian Saints EP, who gives it a heart-rending delivery.

Smith's original demo was finally unearthed and released posthumously on the 2017 Either/Or deluxe reissue, and of course it's similarly essential.

Smith, solo live acoustic, 2003:

Lord, solo live acoustic (audio only):