Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XCVII--The Pixies: Debaser

A number of years ago, I read a piece about pop music in which the writer (it may have been Dave Marsh , but I won't swear to it) said that pop song lyrics were nonsense and we listened again and again because of the music.  I found myself somewhat ambivalent about his opinion--while I've never believed that Bruce Springsteen was on a par with T.S. Eliot as a wordsmith (Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize notwithstanding), "Born to Run" wouldn't be nearly the song it was if it had been an instrumental.

I've always thought, though, that this week's tune proved both sides--the lyrics to "Debaser" by the Pixies are so completely nonsensical and so completely brilliant that the song would be unimaginable without them.  But still it's the music that keeps you coming back for more....

Formed in 1986 in Boston, Massachusetts, the Pixies may have been the Velvet Underground of their generation--they didn't sell a whole hell of a lot of records but they influenced the hell out of so, so many bands (including Nirvana, Blur, Weezer, The Strokes, and Radiohead).  Their first incarnation lasted seven years before a bitter breakup--they reformed in 2004 and are still together today (though without original bassist Kim Deal, also of The Breeders fame).  Amazingly, in all that time they've only released six albums, but it's been enough to keep them touring regularly and made for a hell of a greatest hits package.

Released in 1989 on their Doolittle LP, "Debaser" was based on a film by Luis Bunuel called Un Chien Andalou (An Andulusian Dog for those who Spanish is either rusty or nonexistent), a film which is supposedly about nothing. Basing it on the film was a brilliant move by songwriter Black Francis, as "Debaser" is also pretty much about nothing.  It's truly nonsensical lyrics matched with frenzied guitars and maniacal vocals...which makes it a perfect song for dorks like me who have devoted far too much of our lives to pop music but haven't regretted a minute of it.  It's two minutes and fifty-six seconds of unadulterated rock and roll, two minutes and fifty-six seconds of joyous celebration, and two minutes and fifty-six seconds of riotous vocals amped by driving guitars with a funky as all hell bass and electric drumming.

In short, in case you're wondering, it's a hell of a song.

Lyric sheet:  "Don't know about you, but I am un chien Andulusia!"

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XLI--The Breeders: Cannonball

Some years ago I read a piece (no idea where, though I think it might have been written by Dave Marsh) wherein the author claimed that rock and roll lyrics were more or less vapid, and we listened to such tunes for the music.  While I wouldn't say I buy into this theory, it does have some merit.  For instance, I have loved "Cannonball" by The Breeders for a number of years now, and until I looked up the lyrics today I had absolutely no fucking clue what the hell they were singing.

Of course, I still don't know what they're singing about, but at least now I know they're using actual words....

I came a little bit late to "Cannonball"--like about a dozen years after its release (better late than never...).  I was watching some VH1 top 100 songs of something or other sometime in the 2000s when it came up on the list and as I listened it turned into one of those "How the hell did I miss this one?" moments.  Turns out The Breeders were a hiatus project for Kim Deal of the Pixies (a band that, oddly enough, I also came to sometime after the fact).  Formed in 1990, The Breeders have stayed together (more or less) in several different incarnations until the present, though outside of Last Splash (the album that spawned "Cannonball") the band has not enjoyed a wealth of popular success.  "Cannonball reached #44 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Cannonball" starts with a chant that's sounds like it came from the mouths of the Wicked Witch of the West's Winkie Guards (and who the hell knew they were called Winkie Guards?  Certainly not me, at least until about five minutes ago).  It quickly morphs into a bass line that is a wicked rat-a-tat-tat, to which a guitar solo is added which can best be described as what walking through a House of Mirrors would sound like musically.  Next in are some power chords, by which time if you're not shaking to the music you're probably in a coma.  And it's only then that Kim Deal's vocals come bounding in, and they're a cross between the pop sensibilities of The Bangles and the throatiness of Joan Jett.  The bass and guitars continue echoing around the vocals, with a few false stops thrown in, until the end--all in all, the best description I can give of the song is that it sounds like a roller coaster feels.  And just like a roller coaster, it's about four minutes of unbounded exhilaration.

Embarrassing Factoid:  While I'd love to use the line "The bong in this reggae song" as this week's lyric link, I have to admit that until just a couple of months ago, I thought the band was singing "Shimmy shake, shimmy shake" when they were actually singing, "In the shade, in the shade."  And my coolness quotient sinks like a rock....

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee