Today's song is Condor Ave.



We may only be on the 2nd song of this thread, but Condor is probably my favorite Elliott song. It's littered with absolutely beautiful guitar flourishes and creates an incredible atmosphere. The story of the song seamlessly weaves through to create, in my opinion, one of the most impressive and rich songs Elliott ever made.



Some history about this song. The liner notes may credit this song solely to Smith, but its origins are actually rooted in a co-write with Garrick Duckler for Elliott's late 80s recording project named A Murder of Crows. On this (unfortunately uncirculating) cassette, there exists a proto-version of Condor Ave. that is largely the same except for some lyrical changes here and there as well as Elliott's singing style being incredibly different. Most of the lyrics to that version of Condor Ave. were written by Garrick Duckler, with Elliott writing the actual music. The bones of the lyrics were retained into the Condor Ave. we all know and love from Elliott's solo debut, but some lines were altered from the original Duckler-penned version. For example...



Original: "She took the old pale ridge long past condor avenue"

Roman Candle: "She took the oldsmobile out past condor avenue"



Original: "Chimes fell over each other like worn amputees"

Roman Candle: "Chimes fell over each other, I feel onto my knees"



Original: "Someone's throwing bricks out past Condor Avenue, and it will make a poor girl out of you"

Roman Candle: "Someone's burning out on Condor Avenue, trying to make a whisper out of you"



And so on. Anyway, this is a great, great song and a lot of people don't know that there's a handful of Elliott songs that were originally Duckler co-writes from the 80s. I look forward to sharing more regarding the rest once we get to them. Also, sorry that I'm kind of sucky about giving my personal thoughts on songs... I feel much more comfortable dumping all my knowledge of the song's actual history as opposed to personal feelings. haha.

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