There are actually not one but two beautiful versions of Bob Mould’s “Believe What You’re Saying.”
The first – issued on Sept. 6, 1994 as part of File Under Easy Listening, Sugar’s second and last official “album” – was an aching mid-tempo ballad about the death of a relationship.
The singer/guitarist offered perhaps his most heartfelt work, something obviously inspired by real loss, as “Believe What You’re Saying” explored the kind of stunned disbelief you have when a loved one decides, seemingly out of the blue, that they no longer care to keep you in their life. Bob Mould’s voice was double and triple tracked (maybe more?) to create deep, lush harmonies that give the song an almost choral feel.
Fitting then is the stripped-down, Bob-and-guitars version that was first issued on a b-side of a single, then later on 1995’s farewell b-sides/outtakes disc, Besides. I’m hard pressed to decide which is better – and I’m glad I never have the make the choice for more than the length of the whichever version of the song I choose.
(Do yourself a favor and track down the two-disc version of Besides with a killer live album: It is more than worth paying a lot extra for.)
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