Lost Cause
By: Beck Hansen
Written by: Beck Hansen

Versions:
  1. Lost Cause (3:48)
    Available on Sea Change and 6 other releases.
    Credits
    Beck Hansen: Banjo, Guitar (Acoustic), Percussion, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
    Justin Meldal-Johnsen: Bass (Upright), Glockenspiel, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
    Roger Joseph Manning Jr.: Clavinet, Keyboard / Synthesizer, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
    Joey Waronker: Drums, Percussion
    Darrell Thorp: Engineer
    Nigel Godrich: Engineer, Mix, Producer
    Smokey Hormel: Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Percussion, Vocals (Background)
  2. Lost Cause (Surround Sound Mix) (3:48)
    Available on Sea Change.
    Credits
    Elliot Scheiner: Remix
    3.  
  3. Lost Cause (Video Edit)
 
Lyrics:
Lost Cause [Version (a)]:

Your sorry eyes cut through the bone
Make it hard to leave you alone
Leave you here wearing your wounds
Waving your guns at somebody new
Baby you're a lost, baby you're a lost
Baby you're a lost cause

There's too many people you used to know
They see you coming, they see you go
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy, nobody cares
Baby you're a lost, baby you're a lost
Baby you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause

There's a place where you are going
You ain't never been before
No one laughing at your back now
No one's standing at your door
That's what you thought love was for
Baby you're a lost, baby you're a lost
Baby you're a lost cause
I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of fighting
Fighting for a lost cause
 
The Song:

MTV.com, in reporting on Sea Change's upcoming release, referred to "Lost Cause" as "sparse and melancholy, driven by a folksy guitar passage and soft, sedated vocals and embellished with soft brush drumming." That's pretty accurate. This was the "single" for the album, as there was a video made, and Beck performed it on David Letterman's show, Conan O'Brien's show, and Jay Leno's show, as well as Saturday Night Live.

The interesting twist on this "break-up" song is all the people watching you, from the "sorry eyes" not allowing for any privacy. Beck allowed in one interview that this was a reference to Los Angeles ("this town is crazy / nobody cares"). ("Yeah, it's an L.A. line," he says regretfully. "I wanted to take that line out, but I was too lazy. It is, though. People are very, I don't know, blasé.") The third verse builds on that a bit, where it becomes clear that though people are always watching, they're rarely supportive.
 
Live:

Played live 233 times:
February 24, 2002
August 2, 2002
August 3, 2002
August 6, 2002
August 8, 2002
August 11, 2002
August 12, 2002
August 14, 2002
August 16, 2002
August 18, 2002
...and 223 more.

Earliest known live version: February 24, 2002
Latest known live version: May 19, 2013

"Lost Cause" made it's premiere on stage on February 24 2002. This was the only one of the four shows in the winter of 2002 where it was played. A few weeks later, it was recorded for Sea Change.

A month before the new album came out, Beck went and played an acoustic tour around North America. Beck and Smokey Hormel tended to play "Lost Cause" as dueling guitars, and it felt a bit slower than the recorded version.

With the Flaming Lips in October 2002, they premeired a somewhat more up-tempo version of the song. I think this added some tension to the music, which fit the lyrics and the mood greatly. The record feels a little more peppy than maybe it should. The live arrangement just sounds fuller to my ears. One night, on October 28 2002, Beck messed up the second verse and sang something like:
There's too many people you used to know
They know your secrets and you know theirs
This town is crazy, nobody's home
One foot forward... ???
Throughout 2003, Beck continued to perform "Lost Cause." I prefer the rockier versions of the song, as evidenced through the summer of 2003 (or with the Lips at the end of 2002), over folkier solo versions. But I imagine it's just a matter of taste.
 
Notes: