No Souvenirs

"No Souvenirs"
Single by Melissa Etheridge
from the album Brave and Crazy
B-side	Brave and Crazy (live)
Released	1989
Format	Vinyl single (7") Vinyl maxi single (12") Cassette single CD single
Recorded	A&M Studios, Hollywood
Genre	Rock
Length	4:33
Label	Island
Writer(s)	Melissa Etheridge
Producer	Kevin McCormick Niko Bolas Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge singles chronology
"Let Me Go" (1989) "No Souvenirs" (1989) "The Angels" (1989)

"No Souvenirs" is a 1989 song by Melissa Etheridge and the second single of her second album Brave and Crazy.

Song information

“No Souvenirs” was actually written before the first album came out but Melissa Etheridge decided to keep it back until the second album since its original intro was too similar to the intro of “Bring Me Some Water”. The song is about a love affair that goes by very fast and leaves “no souvenirs”. The lyrics reflect a phone call the singer makes a while after the breakup reminding her lover that she can still get in touch with her but that she would also accept it if she destroys all the souvenirs of that relationship. On the bonus DVD of her greatest hits album, Etheridge states that this is the song she gets the most questions about since it names various words she has created and phrases that mean specific things to her (“Jackpot telephone”, “Make the buffalo roam”...).^[1]

Music video

The music video was shot in 1989 and shows the singer sitting at the dock of a bay playing the guitar with her band in the background. The video plays at night in a big city, most likely New York regarding the skyline in the background. The scene is interrupted by various short films showing her lover destroying the souvenirs of the very short love affair. To illustrate the anonymous character of that relationship, the head of the person is not visible.^[2]

Tracks

All songs written by Melissa Etheridge

7" vinyl single

A-side: “No Souvenirs” - 4:33

B-side: “No Souvenirs (live)” - 4:43

12" vinyl maxi single

A-side:

1. “No Souvenirs” - 4:33

B-side:

1. “No Souvenirs (live)”
2. “Brave and Crazy (live)”

Cassette single

A-side: “No Souvenirs” - 4:33

B-side: “No Souvenirs (live)” - 4:43

CD single

1. "No Souvenirs" - 4:33
2. "No Souvenirs" (live) - 4:43
3. "Like the Way I Do" (live) - 10:06

Charts

“No Souvenirs” is the only single of Brave and Crazy that reached the US Billboard Top 100 and peaked at #89. The song was very successful in the Canadian single charts where it became Etheridge's first top 10 hit peaking at #4.

Year	Chart	Position
1989	Australian singles chart	30
1989	Canadian singles chart	4
1989	The Billboard Hot 100	95
1989	Alternative Songs	18
1989	Mainstream Rock Tracks	9

Credits and personnel

• vocals and 12 string guitar by Melissa Etheridge
• Bass, recording and Audio mixing (recorded music)mix by Kevin McCormick
• drums and cymbals by Mauricio Fritz Lewak
• Electric guitar by Bernie Larsen
• keyboards by Scott Thurston
• Acoustic guitar by Waddy Wachtel
• Harmonica by Bono
• Arrangement by Kevin McCormick and Melissa Etheridge
• Engineering by Bob Vogt

Sources

• Melissa Etheridge and Laura Morton: The Truth Is..., Random House 2002
• Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled bonus DVD
• Music video
• Bring me some water at musicmoz.org
• Melissa Etheridge records

References

1. ^ Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled Bonus DVD at 28:01
2. ^ YouTube - Melissa Etheridge - No Souvenirs