Kanga Roo

Kanga Roo is spelled that way on the releases and written Kangaroo in most prose. It is credited to Alex Chilton alone and sits late in the running order of Third/Sister Lovers, which Big Star recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis from the fall of 1974 with Jim Dickinson producing. On the 1978 PVC LP it is side B, track 6, at 3:47; on the 1992 Rykodisc CD it is track 8, at 3:46. MusicBrainz lists a different position for it, one of the discrepancies between editions.

The story of how it was made rests on Colin Meloy's retelling of Dickinson's liner notes, so it is secondhand. Chilton sang and played twelve-string guitar on one track, recorded very late at night with his girlfriend Lesa Aldridge in the room. She was the sister of Jody Stephens's girlfriend, which is where the name Sister Lovers comes from. Dickinson is said to have overdubbed the rest afterward: drums, bass, Mellotron and electric guitar. Chilton reportedly told him, "Why don't you produce it, Mr. Producer."

What it sounds like

Critics reach for the same words. Keith Shackleton at Toppermost called it the ghastly love song at the center of the record and described seasick guitar feedback and Mellotron behind a woozy, disoriented Chilton. Jeff Terich at Treble, in 2005, heard a loose melody floating on a sea of feedback and called it a fan favorite. No quotation from Chilton about what the song means turned up.

Earlier forms and covers

A demo titled Like St. Joan (Kanga Roo) is on Complete Third, issued by Omnivore in October 2016, and a Fry rough mix is on a Big Star outtakes collection. A suggestion that the title descends from a Joan of Arc song idea is speculation. This Mortal Coil recorded the song for their 1984 album It'll End in Tears, and Jeff Buckley played it live; it appears on Mystery White Boy and on the Grace Legacy Edition. Louder published a feature on the This Mortal Coil version.

The upload we hold is a fan upload of the album track, most probably the studio master. Which pressing it is has not been confirmed; the album length of 3:46 to 3:47 is the thing to check by ear.