"Baby Britain" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...

. It was released in 1999 by record label

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

as the second single from his fourth studio album, '' XO''.

Release

"Baby Britain" was released in 1999 by record label DreamWorks as the second single from his fourth studio album, ''XO''. The single did not chart in the United States but reached number 55 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Music video

A music video, directed by

Steve Hanft Steve Hanft is a writer, director, musician, and artist. Early life Steven Paul Hanft was born in Ventura, California where he started making films at the age of nine. He has an MFA in Experimental Narrative Film from California Institute of the ...

, was made for the song. In the video, Smith can be seen in a recording studio playing various instruments, including a guitar, piano,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and drums. There is also footage of Smith playing live.

Cover versions

The band Bayside covered "Baby Britain" on their 2006 album '' Acoustic''.

Seth Avett Timothy Seth Avett (born July 30, 1980) is one of the lead singers and founding members of the American folk-rock band The Avett Brothers. Avett sings and plays guitar, drums, and piano for the band based out of Concord, North Carolina. In 2008, ...

from the band

Avett Brothers The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob C ...

and

Jessica Lea Mayfield Jessica Lea Mayfield (born August 27, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter from Kent, Ohio, United States. She is known for her ominous song writing, with a plaintive minimalist style that draws on both country and rock music. Early years Ma ...

covered “Baby Britain” in 2015 on the cover album “Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith”.

Track listings

; CD single 1 # "Baby Britain" # "Waltz #1 (Demo)" # "The Enemy Is You" ; CD single 2 # "Baby Britain" # "Some Song" # "Bottle Up & Explode (Demo)" ; 7" single # "Baby Britain" # "Waltz #1" (demo)

Personnel

*Elliott Smith – vocals, piano, bass, drums, mandolin, organ *Rob Schnapf – guitars *Joanna Bolme – recording

References

{{authority control Elliott Smith songs 1999 singles DreamWorks Records singles 1998 songs Song recordings produced by Tom Rothrock Songs written by Elliott Smith