Smith wrote “Kiwi Maddog 20/20” in 1993 while he was living in southeast Portland with girlfriend JJ Gonson. She said, “The title comes from a bottle he and our housemate, Chris Herring, polished off one night.” It was “bought for the color—like antifreeze—and choked down on a dare.”

Todd William Schultz, author of “Torment Saint: The Life of Elliott Smith” writes,

The tune is a veering drunk istrumental named for the cheap, close to undrinkable wine that broke, incipient hipsters bought at places like Plaid Pantry. It features snare and cymbal by Kid Tulsa (aka Pete Krebs of Hazel).