The Greatest American Music: Beck's "Truckdrivin' Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)"

I go back to Beck's music a lot. I am a fan, RD was the first to tell me about him and for that I am ever grateful and he is one of the better writers in the music industry. Lately I have been listening to his earlier stuff. When I revisit an artist I like to start at the beginning, and sometimes I stay at the beginning longer. That is the case right now with Beck. I adore his early stuff. The record that has been getting the most play for me right now is "Mellow Gold".

This album is awesome. I love the gruffness of the record. It sounds so primitive, especially considering his later work. And the song getting the most play is "Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs' '. This song is very simplistic, especially coming from Beck, but it is beautiful in its simplicity. There is not a whole lot to the song. It is four chords. And the four chords are easy chords. They can all be played barred. The song is an A major, followed by a G minor, then a F major with a little D major and finished off with a C minor. Those chords are all very close and I learned them all when I was first in guitar lessons. They are not that hard when you figure them out. But I think it is the construction of the chords and the genius lyrics. The lyrics are funny and perfect. I heard a rumor, probably from RD himself, that Beck wrote this song about literal truck driving neighbors that lived downstairs in the same apartment building as him. That is almost too perfect.

The song starts with some dudes yelling at each other and it makes me laugh every time. The two voices can be heard trading some of the craziest, most white trash insults. One calls the other a lousy lowlife that "can't do nothing for himself". The other guy comes back with, "I may be a lousy lowlife, but at least I'm not a drunk". One calls the other a "lousy puke", and tells him to "call your mommy". I mean, to start a track like this, chef's kiss. I love it so much and it never fails to make me laugh. Then Beck plays the chords and starts with the genius lyrics. We get some wonderful stuff like, "acid casualty with a repossessed car", which is followed by "Vietnam vet playing air guitar". I am instantly in and painting a picture in my mind of what these people look like. They are as white trash as white trash gets in my head. The chorus is glorious too. Beck gives us this gem, "it's just a shit kickin/speed takin/truck driving neighbors downstairs". Again, simplistic and beautiful. You get a great idea of what these people look and act like from one verse into the chorus. In the second verse we get another classic line, "whiskey stained buck-toothed backwoods creep/grizzly bear mother fucker never goes to sleep". I have to imagine Beck was so fed up with these people that he decided he was going to put his anger into a song that would become a classic with his fans, and it works to perfection. Some of my other favorite lines include, "belly floppin naked in a pool of yellow sweat/screamin jackass with a wet cigarette", or "psychotic breakdown double edged axe/growin hair like a shag rug on his greasy back", and the final chorus with Beck singing, "come on honey, feel the grease" over and over. This song is a perfect encapsulation of what it is like to live on your own and have to deal with people who only care about themselves.

I love that Beck took the time to record this. I love that you can see, very early on in his career, that his writing style is so different from everyone else's. I love this song so much and am so happy to live in a world where this song exists. Go listen and tell me I'm wrong about this song. I don't think that you can. "Truck Driving Neighbors Downstairs" is an almost perfect song. I love it so much. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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