10 Songs We Wanna Hear Beck Perform Unplugged

Last week, Beck was the 50th glorious artist announcement for Bluesfest's 34th edition. It's been yonks between visits for the most hipster-ish dude to ever brand himself a Loser in multiple languages (ironically or otherwise), but this time he'll be bringing his solo acoustic show – which we're told has received rave reviews all around the globe – for his debut appearance at this Easter festival. 

Beck closed out SXSW in Austin, in acoustic mode, earlier this year – performing a 25-song set comprising deep cuts, b-sides and obscure covers – and how could you be mad about that when it's an artist of his calibre gracing the stage? The best way of gauging whether a song truly rules is by checking to see whether its bones are sound by strumming it out on an acoustic. To be honest, we love the idea of raucous Beck singalongs and feel confident that the Bluesfest massive would definitely get involved. Be prepared for some storytelling between songs, though, because apparently, he's been bantering a fair bit while performing in this fashion. 

Which songs are you hoping he'll belt out? Fingers crossed, we'll get to hear the below ten numbers in all their unplugged glory. 

Gamma Ray

Beck played this banger acoustically to open his 2008 Live on KCRW performance, which certainly doesn't suck. In fact, you should just watch it if you have any reservations at all about how well this fan-favourite translates to a stripped-back format. Plus, those ghostly "aaaah-ah!" moans will sound rad, sung en masse by the Bluesfest massive, especially after a couple brewskis. Actually, come to think of it, we'd love it if Beck performed Jay Reatard's version of Gamma Ray. Can we somehow make sure this happens, please? 

The Golden Age

Beck's more downtempo, melancholy eighth album, Sea Change, contains a lot of obvious choices for acoustic translations. But The Golden Age is simply divine: "Put your hands on the wheel/ Let the golden age begin..." – close your eyes, and you could almost be inside a packed Crossroads tent with a Byron Bay Organic Doughnut in one hand and a bevo in the other, swaying gently from side to side and just generally loving life. 

Deadweight

Let's face it; Deadweight would work a cappella "Don't/ Let/ The/ Sun/ Catch/ Ya/ Cryyyyyying!" – that irresistible chorus, with "crying" delivered in a way that just begs to be hammed-up like an actual melodramatic cry. I just had an idea: can festivalgoers bring percussion instruments into Bluesfest? Come to think of it, pretty sure we've seen some kind of instrument stall on-site! That's it; we'll be right down front against the photography barrier, bang smack in the middle, with güiro in hand, readily anticipating the carefree "doo-DOO-doo-doo-doo" intro and keen to supply some extra percussion parts. Relax, it'll sound sick!

(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle

So apparently, when Beck was first learning how to play guitar, he mastered a grand total of 40 Hank Williams songs! So we're tipping he'll bust one out at Byron Events Farm in April, 2023. And if we could pick our personal fave, it'd be (I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle – wait, it turns out he actually performed this one for the first time at SXSW 2022 (Austin). It went down a treat. So it's looking good, people!  

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime

Does anyone else automatically burst into tears every time they hear this song because of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind? We'd absolutely love to hear Beck sing this one with a cry in his voice that he does so well. Hold up, we found a live version featuring Beck solo, accompanying himself on harmonica and acoustic guitar, and now we just HAVE to experience this wonderment in the flesh. (Wait a sec, I think I've got something in my eye.)

Sexx Laws

Have you ever heard a cheekier, more jubilant brass hook in your life? Selfishly, we wanna hear how this bombastic party tune would scrub up in acoustic mode. Would Beck "bu-bu-BAAAAAAAR" those parts vocally or request that the audience do so? "I'm a full-grown man, but I'm not afraid to cryyyyyyyyy!" – he does go on about crying a fair bit, doesn't he? We've never really noticed that before. The bonkers banjo would still work a treat in acoustic mode. We'd love to see Beck tap dancing some of the percussion as well, to be honest. That wouldn't be cheating at all now, would it?  

Debra

We must insist on this one, with Beck's sublime falsetto delivery. Contender for most fun singalong ever: "I wanna get with you, oh girl/ And your sister/ I think her name's Debra" – just gotta hope there ain't no tone-deaf muthafuckers straining their own vocal cords in the immediate vicinity (Beck boasts a 17-octave vocal range, after all). And don't get us started with the "Ooh, lovely lady/ Girl, you drive me crazy…" outro. Tongue-in-cheek this one may be, but it's also a hoot and a sexy lil number into the bargain. 

Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs

"It's just the shit-kickin', speed-takin', truck-drivin' neighbours downstairs" – this song, the original version, features an actual recording of Beck's downstairs neighbours squabbling up a storm, is pretty much just Beck and his guitar anyway, so...

 Ramona

Beck actually played this soaring song, which he wrote for the 2010 action/romance film Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, live for the very first time in London a couple of months back at one of these intimate shows, which was so spontaneous that he had to go hire some guitars for the gig (Beck was in town to attend the Taylor Hawkins tribute show at Wembley). And it sounded great, from what we could tell via the video snippet Scott Pilgrim Vs The World’s producer Edgar Wright – who was in attendance – later posted to Twitter. 

Loser

Oh, shoosh-up! We just adore the hillbilly guitar sound in this song and the way Beck actually does sound like a bit of a loser during the rapped verses. Altogether now, “I’m a loser babyyyyyyyyy/ So why don’t you kill meeeeeeee…” Also just love watching punters trying to fake the first line of Loser’s chorus, mistakenly thinking it’s in English when it’s actually “I’m a loser” translated to Portuguese: “Soy un perdedor" – don’t tell too many people, though; that’ll just spoil all our fun at future gigs!