In November 1989, the band went into Waterworks Studio to record 8-track demos for their forthcoming Geffen debut. They demoed every song from the album, with vocals in various states of completion, as well as an instrumental take on future out take "Lee #2" (aka "Letter to Thom"), and a cover of "I Know There's An Answer" for a Beach Boys tribute. The demos were traded and bootlegged in the early 90s, to the point where the band opted to release their own CD version, from the master mix, via the new Sonic Death fan club. When the deluxe edition of Goo was released in 2005, they included freshly remixed versions of the demos from the original masters, offering a much clearer and cleaner sound than the presumably quick, reverb laden late 80s mix. In some cases, the songs were slightly extended, including our song of the week, which gained a 90-second outro of squealing noise! Then it was known as "Corky", one of several songs that still had working titles. I have no idea what the significance of "Corky" is, whether a reference to a song or a character or a person or ??? Any thoughts?
By the time it was recorded for Goo, it had significantly upgraded its title. Now branded "Cinderella's Big Score", they'd trimmed the last verse slightly and made some lyrical adjustments (and dropped the deep drone outro). They premiered it live along with most of the Goo material on March 8th, 1990 in Washington, DC (still "Corky" on the set list). When they started touring in August, it was usually placed near the end of the set. It started moving up towards the front, often being the first "new" song following a few old tunes to kick things off. On the European leg in September, it started popping up in the occasional encore, otherwise maintaining that early set placement. This carried forward into the second North American leg. They included five songs from their November 3rd Irvine gig on the Dirty Boots EP, including a sinister take on "Cinderella" that clearly demonstrated the band's live intensity. This was some of the first officially released live Sonic Youth material, and they picked five great, high energy tunes that made for a quality EP. Years later, they remixed the show for potential inclusion on the deluxe Goo, but chose the remixed demos as a more valuable offering. They have since made the entire Irvine gig available on bandcamp, though the original mix (as featured on the Dirty Boots EP) does circulate in full. To my ears, the remix brings the guitars up, which is always a plus, but maybe at the cost of the vocal. Kim sounds virtually possessed howling over the band on the original release, and is perhaps a tiny bit muted on the remix. Still, it's a killer performance, and sadly the only official live release of the song.
Well...not entirely. From January through April 1991, Sonic Youth appeared as the opening act on Neil Young and Crazy Horse's Smell the Horse tour. There are plenty of missing set lists from this extended run, but from what we do have, "Cinderella" was not played very often. When an illness required the LA show to be cancelled, Sonic Youth booked two Whisky gigs in one day, and "Cinderella" was last known to be performed in its electric entirety at the late show, not making the cut for the August European tour with Nirvana. However, when Neil invited Sonic Youth to appear at his all-acoustic Bridge School Benefit concert that November, the band evidently looked at Goo and chose one song each of them could theoretically sing an acoustic rendition of, resulting in a set list consisting of "Dirty Boots" "Mote" and (again, theoretically) "Cinderella's Big Score". Unfortunately, whatever luck and skill was on their side to stumble through the unamplified acoustic disaster of the first two songs ran out about two minutes into old "Corky", with Kim insisting that they can't hear themselves. After some potential audio adjustments(?), they picked it up where they left off, but fell apart approaching the first verse, which Kim had rewritten to a single word: "Fuck!" The stage full of children made this perhaps slightly more controversial than it otherwise would be, and they continued to bomb through a version of the New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis", culminating in Kim smashing an acoustic guitar and leaving a legacy of least professional performance at the Bridge School Benefit. They'd point towards comments they'd made about Neil's crew on the winter tour, suggesting sabotage on stage, but it also sounds like they showed up with acoustic guitars that weren't equipped with pick ups, leaving them to be miked up and monitored as best as anyone can do on an amphitheatre stage. It's definitely a bizarre performance, a legitimate flop (the crowd booed them almost every night on the Smell the Horse tour, but the boos during "Personaliy Crisis" are serious), and the video is available to rent for 48 hours over at the Neil Young Archives website! A half-official release of a half-performed song? Worth a dishonorable mention, perhaps.
And that was it, no further attempts at the song were ever made, at least in the public. It's one of countless songs they abandoned after their tour cycle, and never reconsidered as a "deep cut" in later sets. For me, "Cinderella's Big Score" might be a top 10 Sonic Youth song. All of its riffs and changes had a huge influence on my own songwriting, and it was a lot of fun finally dissecting everybody's parts. Usually when I finish one of these things, I can't listen to the song for a few months, but I could easily crank "Cinderella" at the drop of a shoe. Like "Becuz" or "Female Mechanic", there's so many little moments I look forward to - the squeal of Lee's guitar around the 1:25 mark, and then the sudden shift to the heavy atonal chord attack (I always think of the fast-paced editing in the video during this section). The next time they play that part, it's Thurston with a sick pick scrape that resolves incidentally to some open strings with a perfectly timed "clunk", launching into the heavy chord bit again. This kind of transitional open chord measure is something they used a lot, especially in songs with long multi-riff instrumental sections. Let's not forget Steve, who is critical to managing the song's tension and dynamics, delivering hypnotic tom beats, casual ride passages, and wild, heavy drum fills during the verse. I look forward to the latter each time, particularly during the final verse when Thurston sludges along with him. Then that slow death ending while everyone winds down while wilding out, a job well done.
When the band enlisted directors for their long form Goo video project, Dave Markey was drafted for two songs: "Mildred Pierce" and "Cinderella's Big Score". While the video for "Mildred Pierce" contains footage from Hollywood and Reno in August 1990, the "Cinderella" video apparently uses live clips shot at the Academy in NYC on October 11th. These are interspersed with the main narrative, which follows a 16-year-old male prostitute on Santa Monica Boulevard (Kim's request that Markey seek inspiration from Gus Van Sant's film Mala Noche went mostly unacknowledged). During the verses, Kim is seen with the actor Chris Cohen on a playground merry-go-round, spinning while she lip syncs her vocal. Overall, Markey put a ton of effort into the film and in my opinion, it's one of the best clips made for the record. For $500! The video was originally released on the Goo home video, and was later included on the Corporate Ghost DVD with separate commentary by Sonic Youth and Dave Markey.
I think Kim's vocal is fantastic, and the live version on the Dirty Boots EP is unhinged, but she evidently wasn't a fan, saying "It's one of my least favorite vocals" in the Goo deluxe liners. Though, I'm not 100% sure if she's specifically addressing her vocal on the demo version, or just the song in general. As for the music, this ends our time with the ACCGG#C and AAEEAA pair of tunings (well, I suppose that was technically last week). For whatever reason, Lee chose to tune his low A strings up to B for this song, making the tuning BBEEAA. I'm not 100% sure how that benefits him, unless I've radically misunderstood his part (possible!). That said, both Lee and Thurston have quite intricate parts that segment and repeat in weird ways, and there's a heap of overdubs during the verses - I stuck to basically what you'd hear with the gorgeous stereo separation offered by the Irvine version, or even the demo take. It's worth noting that Thurston's part requires string behind the bridge during the intro. I have to give big historic thanks to Madsun, who transcribed both parts pretty well back in 1998 (but using AEA), as well as Raj Paden, who offered a new look at Lee's part in the proper tuning. I ultimately had to break down the entire song myself, but I thank them both for their efforts and their guidance. Please let me know if you have any comments or corrections!
"CINDERELLA'S BIG SCORE"
LAYOUT
A - B - C - D - E - F - D - G - H - I - A - B - C - D - E - F
KIM
EADG
CENTER
THURSTON
ACCGG#C
RIGHT
LEE
BBEEAA
LEFT
A SECTION 00:00-00:31
Thurston trem picks behind the bridge while fretting these notes:
C-------------
G#------------
G--[10]--[8]-- x 4 bend first note up and down on the 3rd time
C----/----/---
C----/----/--- [play string behind bridge]
A-------------
Lee strums and holds these chords while rocking his Crybaby wah:
A---5----3---- ---5----6----
A---5----3---- ---5----6----
E---3----1---- x 2 ---3----4---- x 2
E---3----1---- ---3----4----
B---3----1---- ---3----4----
B---3----1---- ---3----4----
Kim:
G-------8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
D---10------------10------------------ x 8
A-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
B SECTION 00:31-00:41
Thurston keeps trem picking behind the bridge, then starts playing on the "right" side:
C-----------------------------------------------------------------
G#----------------------------------------------------------------
G--[\17]----17/-----------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---
C-----/---------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---
C-----/-----------------------------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lee:
A---6--- ---3---
A---5--- arpeggiate this chord for four bars then hit this heavy: ---3---
E---3--- ---3---
E---3--- ---3---
B------- ---1---
B------- ---1---
Kim keeps playing the same shape:
G-------8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
D---10------------10------------------ x 3
A-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
C SECTION 00:41-01:21
Thurston picks out a pretty precise progression:
C---------------------------5-5-------
G#------6---6-6-6-------6-6-----6-6---
G---5-5---5-------5-5-5---------------
C-------------------------------------
C-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------
C-------5---5-5-5-7--7-7-7-7-7-5-7--- ---5^7^5-- on repeat
G#--6-6---6--------------------------
G------------------------------------
C------------------------------------
C------------------------------------
A------------------------------------
C---8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-0---
G#--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-----
G-------------------------------------
C-------------------------------------
C-------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------
Play entire thing 4 times.
Lee:
A---3------6------11----
A---3------6------11---- listen for the timing and the strumming
E---3------6------11----
E---3------6------11---- x 2
B---1------4-------9----
B---1------4-------9----
A----------10----10------------11-----10-10-10---10-10------11--11-11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11---
A----------10----10------------11-----10-10-10---10-10------11--11-11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11---
E---8--8-8-----8--8---10\11-11----11-------------------11---11--11-11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11---
E---8--8-8-----8------10\11-11----11-------------------11---11--11-11-11-11-11--11-11-11--11-11---
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A----------10----10------------11-----10-10-10---10-10----------------------------------------------
A----------10----10------------11-----10-10-10---10-10------------10-11-10--------10-11-10----------
E---8--8-8-----8--8---10\11-11----11-------------------11---10^11-----------11-11----------11-10/---
E---8--8-8-----8------10\11-11----11-------------------11-------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kim starts the same then shakes it up:
G-------8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-8-8--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-
D---10------------10----------------10------------10------------------------------------------------- x 2
A----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------
D---10--10-10-10-10---------------------- x 6
A-------------------10--10-10-10-10-10---
E----------------------------------------
D SECTION 01:21-01:27
Thurston:
C------------------
G#-------X-X-------
G--------X-X--0---- the mutes are more like a quick thrash on open and muted strings near the nut
C---0----X-X--0----
C---0----X-X--0----
A------------------
Lee:
A---------10------10----
A---------10------10----
E---8------8-------8---- feedback squeal
E---8--------------8----
B-----------------------
B-----------------------
Kim:
G------------------
D------------------
A---15-------15----
E------------------
E SECTION 01:27-01:52
Thurston:
C----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-0-0-0-0--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10---
G#---8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-0-0-0-0--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10---
G----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-0-0-0-0--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--- x 2
C----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8----------10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10---
C----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-----------0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0---
A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-12-12-12-12--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10---
G#---8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-12-12-12-12--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10--- x 2
G----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-12-12-12-12--10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10---
C----8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8--------------10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10---
C----0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0---------------0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0----
A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The last time, go wild at the very end, leading into the verse.
Lee bashes these chords in roughly the same rhythm as Thurston:
A---11-----13-----
A---11-----13-----
E---10-----12----- x 4
E---10-----12-----
B----9-----11-----
B----9-----11-----
Kim:
G-----------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------- x 8
A---15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15-15---
E-----------------------------------------------------
F SECTION 01:52-02:54
To be honest, Thurston and Lee's parts aren't transcribed very clearly. I can hear what
both of them are doing and this is basically correct but you need to listen for their
picking style and incidental notes and shit to really get it "right". Sorry!
Thurston:
C----------------------------------- --9b-- (last time instead of note on G#)
G#--------------------9b--9-9-9r---- x 4
G---9--9-9-9-9-9-9-7----------------
C-----------------------------------
C------9-9-9-9-9-9-7----------------
A------0-0-0-0-0-0------------------
C-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G#------------------- ---
G---2--2-2-2-2-2-2--- do a big slide up the fretboard or play heavy mutes ---
C-------------------- --- x 4
C---2--2-2-2-2-2-2--- just "freak out" for 2nd chord ---
A---0--0-0-0-0-0-0--------------------------------------------------------------
Then play first part 8 times, and second part 4 times.
Lee plays around the 10-12th fret w/ heavy Crybaby action:
A-----------------------10-12br---10-12---
A-----------------------10-12br---10-12--- w/ wah
E-----------------10-12-------------------
E-----------------10-12------------------- repeat variation x 4
B---10--10--10-10-------------------------
B---10--10--10-10-------------------------
A---12----10---- when thurston goes wild, switch to big chords
A---12----10----
E---12----10---- x 4
E---12----10----
B--(10)---(8)---
B---------------
Then play first part 8 times, and second part 4 times.
Kim:
G--------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------- x 4
A-----------------10-10-10--10-10-10---
E---5-5--5-5-5-5-----------------------
G--------------------------------
D-------------------------------- x 4
A--------------------------------
E---5-5--5-5-5-5--3-3-3--3-3-3---
G--------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------- x 8
A-----------------10-10-10--10-10-10---
E---5-5--5-5-5-5-----------------------
G--------------------------------
D-------------------------------- x 4
A--------------------------------
E---5-5--5-5-5-5--3-3-3--3-3-3---
D SECTION 02:54-03:00
G SECTION 03:01-03:25
Thurston plays harmonics:
C---------------------------------------------------------------------------------*5*---------
G#--------------*7*-------------------*7*-------------------*5*----------------------*5*------
G---------*7*------*7*----------*7*------*7*----------*5*------*5*----------*5*---------*5*--- x 4
C------*7*---*7*------*7*----*7*---*7*------*7*----*5*---*5*------*5*----*5*---*5*------------
C---*7*-------------------*7*-------------------*5*-------------------*5*---------------------
A---*7*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee is silent for the first riff, then comes in:
A--------7----7/--5/---3----
A--------7----7/--5/---3---- play variation x 3
E---1\3-----------3/---1----
E-----------------3/---1----
B---------------------------
B---*---------*------------- (* notes not always played)
Kim:
G-------------------12--12-12-12--12-12-12----------------------------------
D---14-14--14-14-14---------------------------------------14---------------- x 4
A------------------------------------------\\15-15--15-15----15--15-15-15---
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------
H SECTION 03:26-03:38
Thurston strums harmonichords:
C---*7*------*5*-----
G#--*7*------*5*-----
G---*7*------*5*----- listen for the timing / let final chord ring...
C---*7*------*5*-----
C---*7*------*5*-----
A---*7*------*5*-----
Lee trem picks an octave higher:
A----19------17--15-------
A----19------17--15-------
E-----/-------/---/------- x 2
E-----/-----------/-------
B-------------------------
B-------------------------
Kim:
G--------------------------------------------
D--------------------14---------------------- x 4
A---\15--15-15-15-15----15--15-15-15-15-15---
E--------------------------------------------
I SECTION 03:38-03:44
Thurston lets his harmonichord ring from the previous section, then starts playing behind
the bridge again like the intro:
C---------
G#--------
G--[10]---
C----/----
C----/----
A---------
Lee:
A---------
A---------
E---------
E---8-----
B---8-----
B---------
Kim:
G---------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------------------------------------------------------------------
A---3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3---
E---------------------------------------------------------------------
A SECTION 03:44-03:55
Thurston plays an abbreviated version of his A section/intro riff, carried over from the
I section:
C-------------------------
G#------------------------
G---[8]---[10brbr]--[8]--- bend 10th fret up and down
C----/------/--------/----
C----/------/--------/----
A-------------------------
Kim:
G-------8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
D---10------------10------------------ x 3
A-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
B SECTION 03:55-04:04
Lee technically comes in on Thurston's last note in the previous section but just to keep it neat:
A-----------11--------------------------13----13--------------
A-------10-----10-----10-------------11----11----11-----------
E---\8--------------8----8--8\10-10-------------------(10/8)-- x 2
E-------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------
Kim:
G-------8-8-8-8-8-----8-8-8-8-8-8-8---
D---10------------10------------------ x 3
A-------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
C SECTION 04:04-04:43
Lee:
A-----------11--------------------------13----13------11--11-11-11--11-11-11-11-11-11---
A-------10-----10-----10-------------11----11----11---11--11-11-11--11-11-11-11-11-11---
E---\8--------------8----8--8\10-10-------------------11--11-11-11--11-11-11-11-11-11--- x 2
E-----------------------------------------------------11--11-11-11--11-11-11-11-11-11---
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***
A----------------------18---------------------------------------18----18\20---
A--------------17---17----17---------17-----------------17---------17---------
E---\15--15-15----------------15--15----15-15\16--16-16-----16----------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---20--20-20-20-20-20-20--20-20-20-20-20---
A---20--20-20-20-20-20-20--20-20-20-20-20---
E---16--16-16-16-16-16-16--16-16-16-16-16--- (repeat from ***)
E---16--16-16-16-16-16-16--16-16-16-16-16---
B-------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------
D SECTION 04:43-04:49
Thurston:
C--------------------------------
G#-------X-X---------------------
G--------X-X--0------------------
C---0----X-X--0------------------
C---0----X-X--0--------------0---
A--------------------XXXxx///0--- (pick scrape)
E SECTION 04:49-05:14
F SECTION 05:14-05:54
Thurston and Lee play each of their verse parts 4 times and end on a screeching wall of
scrapes and squeals and broken strings while Steve thumps out a dying tom beat.
Thurston in particular plays the 2nd half of his verse extra "wild".
Kim:
G--------------------------------------
D-------------------------------------- x 4
A-----------------10-10-10--10-10-10---
E---5-5--5-5-5-5-----------------------
G--------------------------------
D-------------------------------- x 4
A--------------------------------
E---5-5--5-5-5-5--3-3-3--3-3-3---
Aggressively stomp out final note slowly til end.
text + tab by Chris Lawrence w/ Raj Paden
historic thanx to madsun!
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