Alone, Stinking, and Unafraid - Guided by Voices - Unknown Late 90's Bootleg

It sort of amazes me that I haven't written about GBV more. Considering the sheer bulk of songs that have come out of the mind/pen/cassette tape of Robert Pollard and my willingness to buy about 75% of it, I figure that Pollard's music probably accounts for about 2.5% of the contents of my iPod...and considering that the current count is 10, 192...that's not inconsiderable.

A little bit of obscure anthropology for you. When one GBV fan meets another it must be immediately determined which tier of fandom the other exists at, because there are many.

Tier One: The Nostalgic - "Oh, I remember 'I Am A Scientist'...what a great song, that takes me back to my sophomore year..."
Tier Two: The Essientialist - "Yeah, I own Bee Thousand, it's one of the classic albums of the 90's"
Tier Three: The Indie Snob - "I own the albums from Propeller to Alien Lanes/Under Bushes, Under Sky/Mag Earwhig, but after he fired the band he was dead to me."
Tier Four: The Strict Constructionist - "I own all of the GBV albums (or everything since Propeller) but I don't mess with the solo records."
Tier Five: The Avid Fan - "I own all of the GBV records, and the well reviewed/well regarded solo work/side projects."
Tier Six: The Obsessive Compulsive - "I own ALL the GBV records, even the ones from before Propeller. I own all of the side projects and solo albums. I have an original press copy of Propeller from when they were on SCAT records. I saw them at Sudsy Malones on the Same Place The Fly Got Smashed Tour and I won a free dinner with Robert Pollard."

Tier Sixes exist to make us Tier Fives feel better about ourselves...."Well, I may have spent way too much money on Bob Pollard releases, but at least I'm not that guy. I have no need for the early records, or the current wierd side projects...but I do love Bob and all that he stands for.

Anyway, this song was originally released on the Lexo and The Lepers album (another of his bizarre side projects) which I do not own (I'm not that twisted) but it became a staple of the GBV live shows. Which is why having a bootleg version of it seems more appropriate than the anaemic studio version. The song does capture Bob's wonderful chip on his shoulder. He's a lone warrior standing bruised and bloody, yet defiant...defiant against what? and for what cause? are the questions to be asked...but answers are never the point with Bob...the defiant stance is the point.