Lyrics:

The Song:

Sitting in the middle of Modern Guilt, "Replica" does indeed sound like nothing else Beck has ever done. Beck described Danger Mouse's beat for the song as "very challenging," and noted that he never would have written to this type of music without Danger Mouse. It is a tense beat, the sort of percussive electro that grooves--but really is not overly danceable.

I've said a few times that Modern Guilt is heavily about a struggle to find your way home, somewhere warm, to find a bed to rest. "Replica" builds on that, as I read it.

In "Replica," the focus is the realization that the way to cope with the chaos is to somehow stand outside yourself. Hold up this replica of yourself to the chaos; while keeping the real you protected from the "howling wind."

In the end, the outward replica may begin "to look cheap," but regardless, it has become a comfort. Left unsaid is what happens to the real person. The unreal has been built up, leaving what?

I usually stay away from these sort of declarations, but man. These lyrics. I love them. They're some of Beck's most underrated. Who writes songs about this? There are surely lots of songs about chaos or struggle or trying to find your way home, a sort of shelter from the storm idea. But the idea to "make a perfect replica of your life"? So unique, deep, and utterly fascinating.

Live:

Played live 15 times:
Earliest known live version: June 9, 2008
Latest known live version: March 26, 2009