You're the Guy I Want To Share My Money With

Laurie Anderson/John Giorno/William S Burroughs

You're the Guy I Want To Share My Money With

New York City, USA: Giorno Poetry Systems, 1981

Vinyl LP/Audio Cassette

Edition size unknown

A cassette and double LP released in 1981, with the CD following in 1993 (with inconsistent track listing across the three formats). The recording was the tenth release from the Giorno Poetry Systems, and the second to feature Giorno and Burroughs. It was was recorded during the "Red Night" spoken word tour of 1981. Most of Anderson's material came from her magnum opus United States, and live versions of some tracks, such as "It Was Up in the Mountains", would also be included in her later 5-LP release, United States Live. This was Anderson's first major album release predating her solo debut, Big Science, by a year.

Whereas many of the Giorno Poetry Systems LPs had covers designed by visual artists (Les Levine, Keith Haring, Gary Panter, Robert Williams, etc.), this record was designed by George Delmerico, the late art director for the Village Voice newspaper.

Anderson's contributions to the LP include "Born, Never Asked", "Closed Circuits", "Dr. Miller", "It Was Up In The Mountains", "For Electronic Dogs", "Structuralist Filmmaking" and "Drums." Burroughs' tracks include "Introducing John Stanley Hart; He Entered The Bar With The Best Intentions", "Progressive Education", "The Wild Fruits", "Mr. Hart Couldn't Hear The Word Death" and others. Giorno is represented by two longer tracks: "Completely Attached To Delusion" and the epic "I Don't Need It, I Don't Want It, And You Cheated Me Out Of It".

The LP was a multi-grooved record, so depending on where the needle landed on the record listeners would hear either an Anderson, Burroughs or Giorno track.

"I toured with William Burroughs and John Giorno in 1981 when our collaborative double album, You’ re the Guy I Want To Share My Money With, was released and I loved hanging out with them. This is when I learned to talk to audiences directly. Burroughs was a master of this. In his Thanksgiving Prayer, he recites a litany of American acts of violence, ignorance and hatred, and at the very end intones in his most condescending voice, “You always were a headache and you always were a bore.” This sudden and jarring use of “you” was shocking. I began to try it out in my own work: This is your captain. Have you lost your dog? It suddenly opened new realms. Jump out of the plane. There is no pilot. Language that could boss, instruct and command. I was suddenly in touch with the audience in a whole new way."

- Laurie Anderson