Carlotta Valdes
Recorded February 1997
Release history
Credits
- Written by Harvey Danger, © But Mom I Love Music (ASCAP)
- Aaron: bass
- Jeff: guitars
- Sean: lead vocal, harmonies
- Evan: drums
Lyrics
Jimmy Stewart follows Kim to where your portrait hangs on a wall
Such a haunting vision, he forgets his partner’s fall
Jump into the San Francisco Bay
I’ll follow you in
I know you can’t swim
when you’ve been dead a hundred years, Carlotta
Carlotta Valdes, Carlotta Valdes, Carlotta Valdes
I will make you her
Everything’s subjective
Nothing lasts for Johnny O
Kiss Kim Novak where the redwoods grow
Bleach her hair
Pretend she didn’t die
Go up the mission stair
I’ll follow anywhere
That is, until you climb too high
‘cause I get vertigo
vertigo
Carlotta Valdes, I will make you her
What a thing to be the center of attention all the time
He isn’t really falling for this, is he?
He’s getting dizzy and so am I
Carlotta Valdes, I will make you her
Quotes
Sean: The words to "Carlotta Valdez" (which, as assiduous HD trainspotters have noted, should actually be spelled "Carlotta Valdes," according to the source material) arose during an afternoon screening of the 1996 re-release of Vertigo (not my favorite Hitchcock), and the song was finished that very same night.10A
Aaron: Sean let out triumphant/relieved "Yes!" at the end of the keeper take (you can hear it on the record). We were pretty inexperienced in the studio, to say the least, and had the weight of time and money (both in short supply) on our shoulders. That moment always reminds me of the uniquely satisfying feeling of getting something exactly right, right when we needed to.10A
Notes
- Misspelled as “Carlotta Valdez” on the album.