Mote

The 5th song on the LP Goo is called "Mote."

The return of Lee! I have a friend that claims that "Mote" is the quintessential Sonic Youth song. I would file this one under "Greatest Hit" collection. It's my second favorite Lee Renaldo song.

"Mote" follows "the hit" of the album. Strange because if "Mote" had been cut, it easily be an stand out track and possibly a single.

In perfect Lee fashion, the lyrics are derived from a Sylvia Plath poem called "the Eye Mote." The song was actually introduced as "Eye Mote" during early concerts.

The demo is much different from the version on Goo. For starters, its titled "bookstore" and does not feature a bridge and centers mostly around the ending noise jam.

"Mote" became Lee's principle song in concert, typically alternating with Eric's Trip. The song ended up surving longer than most of Lee's songs only getting retired briefly during the 1998-99 Thousand Leaves Tour. "Mote" was brought back during the 2000-01 tour and was played in a medley with Hoarfrost called MoteFrost.

Last April, Mote was the 4th song in the set! Pretty ambitious with the extreme noise jam at the end!