You and Your Sister

"You and Your Sister"
Song by Chris Bell from the album I Am the Cosmos
Released 1978 (single), 1992
Genre Pop, Rock, Folk
Length 3:14
Label Car Records/Rykodisk/Rhino Handmade
Writer Chris Bell
Composer Chris Bell
Language English
Producer Chris Bell
I Am the Cosmos track listing

"Get Away"
(4)
"You and Your Sister"
(5)
"Make a Scene"
(6)

"You and Your Sister" is a song by Memphis-born musician and Big Star member Chris Bell that appears on his only solo album I Am the Cosmos. It was released as a B-side to Bell's other song and only single "I Am the Cosmos." The song is very similar in composition, vocals, and guitar playing to Big Star's "Thirteen," which Bell co-wrote with band mate Alex Chilton,[1] as it is also an acoustic love ballad.[2] It features backing vocals by Chilton.[3]

Mark Deming of Allmusic described it as a "sweet, guileless love song" that "represents the sincerity and emotional innocence that Bell brought to his brief tenure in the band Big Star" that "make[s] more emotional sense than literal sense" [3] and as "one of the great unknown love songs in the pop canon, a luminous and fragile ballad almost otherworldly in its beauty." [4]

Two alternate versions of the song appear on the 1992 I Am the Cosmos release, an "acoustic version" and a "country version." [4] It was covered by This Mortal Coil on the 1991 album Blood, along with "I Am the Cosmos",[5] by Seana Carmody on the 2007 album Barn Songs[6] and by Mike Daly on A Tribute to Big Star.[7] It was also included in the 2009 Big Star box-set release Keep an Eye on the Sky.[8]

References

  1. Ruhlmann, William. "#1 Record - Big Star". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  2. "Infinite Play: Chris Bell, "You and Your Sister"". Popdose. 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Deming, Mark. "You and Your Sister". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Ankeny, Jason (1992-02-21). "I Am the Cosmos - Chris Bell". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  5. Mason, Stewart (1991-05-13). "Blood - This Mortal Coil". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  6. {{url=http://seanacarmody.bandcamp.com/album/barn-songs |title=Barn Songs - Seana Carmody |date=2007 |}}
  7. Birchmeier, Jason (2001-11-13). "A Tribute to Big Star - Various Artists". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  8. Thomas, Stephen (2009-09-15). "Keep an Eye on the Sky - Big Star". AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.