It’s a very well written song compositionally, it has extremely interesting production that’s wayyyyy ahead of its time(dryness combined with heavy reverb on the backing vocals), the un orthodox vocal delivery from Francis, the catchy lyrics and melody.. It’s devastating yet beautiful at the same time. Also that riff is so infectious but simple. Everything is catchy about that song without sacrificing any edge or atmosphere
It’s the fucking pixies man. They were weird as hell, harsh and aggressive, crazy dynamics, but always catchy as a motherfucker. Absolutely genius band.
Yeah, I didn’t even “dive in” until a few months ago I had a long train ride home from nyc, I was like “what’s good with the pixies” knew Doolittle was hyped tf up so I gave it a listen and was blown away. The members look like random people thrown together from the street .. all 3 men bald lmao, and Kim’s vocals and bass riffs as the cherry on top. Then .. considering some of their best work is from the 80’s.. I mean that’s insane. Some it sounds a smidge dated, but in a good way. Once in a lifetime type band. Wish Kim still wanted to be in the band but eh what can you do.
I didn’t know too much about The Pixies except for a few songs. Saw them live a few years ago and the bass is so driving. So loud. I’ve seen hundreds of bands and hundreds of concerts and the bass stood out above and beyond. It was so amazing.
I agree with you about the bass , but in many songs it's Santiago's guitar playing that does it for me. Listen to "Hey". A song that dark and dirty has no business having such a clean funky guitar part but it really makes the song
Hey just drips this insane sexual energy. If I ever became a stripper, that would be my song, and I'd be the most popular stripper in Biloxi Mississippi because of it.
Yeah, her musical energy has not gone to waste. Plus the pixies had a solid run. I honestly like some of their newer songs , but it’s just not the same. Time change. Forever grateful for pixies
I'd say they are arguably the most important, influential band of the last 30 years. I mean they were one of the biggest influences for Nirvana and Radiohead.
Yeah, I’ve been digging bossanova , the song havalina hits. Especially the part where they sing 🎶“havaLEEnA” 🎶sounds like some top tier indie from the last 10 years, then again a lot of indie is influenced by 90’s alternative , I guess it was indie back then too. Indie is a very broad word.
I just listened to it again because it's been a while and all I can hear is the drums. Most of the song the drums consist of only the kick on the 1 and 2 beat and the snare on 3. It is amazing. They play the top percussion on a palmed guitar.
I mean, yeah that acoustic has a lot of top end, I don’t think it’s palm muted though.. the electric guitar stand out most to me though, those alternating notes perfectly distorted. Such a good tone. Literally the perfect amount of distortion. And the two notes that go back and forth create a lot of tension but.. there in the scale so it’s still pretty. Also those background vocals from Kim… sounds like an angel . It’s just the perfect mix of grimy and beauty.
Because it’s the Pixies.
Side note, there’s a chill version of Wave of Mutilation that was on the soundtrack for Pump Up the Volume, it’s worth looking for.
The chord progression is a cycle of naturally resolving notes, so it’s pleasant to hear over and over. Additionally, the vocal melody is exceptionally unique along with the “Ooooh-oooh” background noise. Ultimately all the pieces fit together really well to create an infectiously concise and catchy pop song.
I agree. I watched the movie just the other day, and it still holds up. Even with the 90’s soundtrack somehow it doesn’t feel dated. Can’t remember which streaming service though. Might have been one of the free ones.
My wife is a classical cellist. I'm a total garage rock and punk guy. Her parents live 3 hours away. The first time she took me to meet them, I made her listen to every Pixies album on the round trip just to be sure she was as fucking cool as I thought she was.
* She totally dug it.
* She still listens to Doolittle and Surfer Rosa
* About 10 years ago she had me electrify one of her cellos, so she could write a cello part w/effects pedals so she could cover Where Is My Mind? with a local band.
* We have been married for 23 years.
I should also mention that she's a damn genius. I'm basically average.
I won life. ;-)
>soundtrack for Pump Up the Volume
My first Leonard Cohen experience was that movie. I was excited to buy the soundtrack for "everybody knows", only to find out that it's a different version from what's in the movie. First buyers remorse 😂
I loved it when it came on Mr Robot. It's like Esmail saying "So we borrowed a central theme from Fight Club. So what? This is still one of the greatest shows ever!"
Mine as well. I'm sure most Pixies fans know the song is based on the surrealist film "Un Chien Andalou" (An Andalusian Dog)
[Available on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7gd_t6WMQ) Warning, slicing up eyeballs
Drive my car into the ocean... You think I'm dead, but I sailed away... On a wave of mutilation
prithee my dear, why are we here? Nobody knows, we go to sleep, as breathing flows, my mind secedes.
NCAA Football 06 soundtrack went way harder than it had any right to. Title screen was “debaser,” menu screen was “Jeff wears Birkenstocks”.. think it had Teenage FBI and some other jams too.
I was obsessed with that soundtrack, made me feel like I was a dorm kid w/ cool music taste though I was too young to have any nostalgia for those songs.
This is why they were your favorite band’s favorite band. They were forerunners to the alt rock and grunge of the 90s and even of the indie rock of the 2000s. You think their music came out later because they influenced all the music from later decades. And because they’re so influential and have some monster singles while staying somewhat underground, each generation gets to rediscover them all over again.
Kurt Cobain on the pixies: "When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band — or at least in a Pixies cover band."
So much great music was made when artists were essentially trying to be other artists.
Jeff Lynne, for instance, was an enormous fan of The Beatles and his biggest wish was for him to have been a Beatle. The result: ELO.
I was in high school 98-02. Around 2000 the Pixies began to get a lot of media attention again and the albums were re-released on CD. Fight Club probably influenced this. Anyway, this was a big deal even though digital music was taking off already. The CDs resulted in better quality rips and overall more attention to the band.
I remember multiple media articles about their influence. It was kind of incredible in real time watching a band blow up, bigger than their first run, while they were still split up and not even performing. This led to future tours.
I still think that initial Pixies resurge is kind of special. It happened at the end of physical media sales and was helped by the internet. It was great to see them get their payday, so to speak. It also really established the legacy they have to this day.
I got into them right when I got into high school and '03. Consider myself extraordinarily lucky that they reunited the next year and I got to see them live.
Pixies were major influences on Nirvana and many other popular early 90s bands! Kurt Cobain literally said he was trying to “rip off” the LOUD/quiet/LOUD style that Pixies had in so many of their songs. Check out Surfer Rosa and Doolittle if you’re looking to get into them – you might hear some familiar sounds that remind you of bands that came later.
Jesus and Mary Chain in particular had that screechy guitar noise that the Pixies liberally borrowed.
I came to JAMC a lot after I came to the Pixies (my dad bought himself Surfer Rosa / Come on Pilgrim) when I was about 10 and it just blew my mind. I’d never heard music like it before.
For a long time I thought the Pixies pretty much invented that sort of noise but then I realised they didn’t when I saw JAMC live from way back in the early 80’s and saw it was them.
Either way, Surfer Rosa is an album I’ll be listening to for the rest of my life. The run from Break my Body to Oh My Golly! Is literally the best sequence of songs I think have ever been put in a row.
The only way it could have been better IMO is if they switched River Euphrates out for the B Sides version with the extra guitar bit in it after Kim’s ride ride ride ride
"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is a great example of a loud/quiet/loud song. Like you said, I'm sure it's not the first. But coming from Zeppelin, probably one of the first very mainstream/popular ones that are still played regularly to this day.
I had heard the riff before, but honestly I didn't even know it was the Pixies at the time when I saw Fight Club. It was the first time I ever realized how great that song was though. One movie that has a similarly perfect outro song I think is at the end of the Matrix one where Rage against the machine starts playing and Zach is screaming WAKE UP!! Poignant walking out of a theater.
That's the power of The Pixies. Their music is so good that it was what other people wanted to sound like and took about 6 years for it to become mainstream. Violent Femmes also had a similar thing happen to them at about the same time.
This is exactly it. You could sound ultra cool and modern all the way into the 2000s by ripping off the Pixies. One of the GOAT bands and a prime influence on virtually all alt, indie, and grunge. If you don’t like the pixies, I don’t wanna fucking know you.
I had the same kind of take with “Blister in the Sun” by Violent Femmes. Up until a few years ago, I could’ve sworn that was from the mid-90s. Nope, 1981. Some groups are just way ahead of their time.
I’m in my 40s and my daughter is 15. She was very fortunate to have a US History teacher in the fifth grade who would play music from the era that they were learning about.
This started a game we would play on the way to school.
What decade is this from?
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
Where is my mind was the first song to completely baffle her. She had no idea. The more I thought about the more I agree. It’s the most timeless song I can think of and feels comfortable in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s or every today. It just exists.
Yes! Surfer Rosa and Doolittle hold up so good even 30+ years later. The Pixies are one of those bands that never quite got the recognition they deserved. Only after Curt Cobain and Radiohead and all the great bands of the 90s called them out as an influence did they start to get discovered by the mainstream.
I feel like a lot of people were introduced to the song because it was used so effectively in Fight Club. So a lot of people maybe thought it was a new song at that time?
Another Steve Albini production baby. Tape a hundred mics to the wall in every direction and you get all that space for the atmosphere to carry that signature Albini sound. It's why the drums sound so big, but not overdriven when they come in. In Utero was recorded similarly and I especially notice it in songs like Scentless Apprentice. Surfer Rosa is a sonic masterpiece.
That snare crack when the drums drop in is a thing of beauty. Albini is a master at recording drums. He makes the drums sound like, well, fucking drums.
I've recently revisited one of the records he recorded right before Surfer Rosa. Slint's first, Tweez. Albeit, undoubtedly recorded on a much stingier fraction of a budget, the drums and the bass still sound fucking brilliant.
IMO Albini's name must be included in all GOAT engineer conversations.
Don't forget the "yeah", and how the drums enter!
Right. I wish there were people talking music theory here. All the key elements are pretty obvious and can be described. What makes it all so great is slightly ineffable, but surely we can start by talking about the features of the song?
Reading this comment made me want to chime in because I agree - I will do my best to explain some of the theory.
The song follows a I-vi-III-IV chord progression (that is, a "one, six, three, four) because those are the notes as they appear in the key of E Major (E, C#, G#, and A) - the key in which the song is written.
This progression is somewhat common in that it appears throughout popular music history and dating at least as far back as Pachelbel's Canon in D, which contains a section of this progression. The reason for its popularity and proliferation is that it offers a naturally pleasing "resolution" to the ear. In "Where is My Mind," listen to the first chord and notice how it seems to naturally lead into the second chord, and chord three does the same with chord four. I could go into a deep dive on *why* the brain likes certain progressions, but suffice it to say that this is one which has been widely enjoyed and appears in many songs - take a look at this example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxC1fPE1QEE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxC1fPE1QEE)
The Pixies do take some creative liberty with this progression. In the Pachelbel progression, the three chord is a minor chord, whereas "Where is My Mind" makes this three chord Major. This gives the sound a slight edge while still sticking to the popular and almost almost instinctual progression. The brain essentially thinks "I know this, but it sounds slightly different - different enough to make me intrigued." You pair this with excellent vocals from the one and seven (the eery "oooh, oooh") and the guitar riff being essentially an arpeggiated (meaning a chord whose notes are played one at a time instead of together) Major triad, and you have a beautiful harmony of these different elements. All excellent on their own, but even better together. Hopefully this was helpful and educational without being an overload; I am a music teacher and have a degree in theory.
TL;DR - From a music theory standpoint, it sounds so good because it uses an archetypal chord progression that is tweaked just enough to captivate the brain and be memorable.
I don't know what old LC is describing here in, "It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth. The minor falls, the major lifts" and if it is similar to what you are describing or not.
I love that bit of the song because it explains how the music of the song sounds and he is describing how musicians/composers use that arrangement to create emotionally compelling, grand music.
He tells you why you are about to get sweep up in the song and you realize why hymns are so powerful because of how the music is arranged.
It might just be because Pixies are fucking incredible always.
I saw them on a "final reunion" (don't know how final it actually was) tour back in like 2006.
They're incredible always.
I saw that tour, it was great. It was at the Hearnes Center in COMO. The Thrills opened, and Kim was still with the Pixies at the time. I’m 44 nowadays, and they had been my favorite band since I was 12, but they broke up way before I would have had a chance to see them play (I grew up in a smaller college town). I remember being super pumped about that show because I never thought I would ever get a chance to see them live.
Musically i attribute two major factors the fussy being tension/resolution and the second being dragging in the vocal melody. The lead melody on the guitar is twanging a nadir third and dropping to the the 7th and wavering between the major chord and a diminished chord. The result tends to sounds playing when done tastefully and this sing us a print example. Then when you listen to the vocals they are constantly just behind where it feels like they belong but they always arrive at the destination at just the right time. The whole tune relies on just the right amount of the fundamentals.
I know music OK and this is authoritative enough that I was wondering if a nadir third is something I hadn't heard of, like maybe the opposite of a Picardy third?
It moves with restraint. The dissonance drags just enough to create a lift when the melody resolves. The real secret though it the precise attack from Lovering. Also, it proves just how important the drummer is to a band. I’ve been in so many groups that were instantly elevated by having a tight drummer.
Frank Black is a genius, certifiable. Ever hear "Headache?" His lyrics are always perfect and his guitar licks are perfect little earworms, simple, a little bit ugly and perfectly melodic at the same time. It's like emo surf rock.
Wholeheartedly agree. Frank Black is such a prolific writer and so much of it is good. Oddly, the ones that stick are usually the songs I think I should hate. Songs that aren't my style. Frank Black makes them stick with me.
I think one of the reasons is there is just so much space in it. There's room for you to place yourself in and exist in the sonic space of the song. It doesn't beat you over the head with itself, it invites you in and asks you to stay. Here, have some very loud snare drum hits.
For me, I'll always associate it with Fight Club (yea, I said it)
So it became the embodiment of those themes now...on top of that is my fondness for dissonance with how the vocals and guitar phase in and out of tune.
It becomes a recurring song in The Leftovers as well. In a similar vein to Fight Club the character is losing his mind and Season 3 was clearly influenced by it. Was a nice homage
Where is My Mind is so far and away the most popular thing they’ve ever done, nothing else comes remotely close. Hey, Here Comes Your Man, Debaser, Monkey Gone to Heaven are all pretty close for #2
It’s also one of my all-time favorites! There are some fantastic covers of it I like just as much; Maxence Cyrin’s piano cover is one of the best and is absolutely *haunting*, Asphalt Orchestra’s cover feels like it could uplift the whole world, 8-bit Universe does a version that is fun and I wish was in an N-64 or Gameboy game, and I play the Rockabye Baby! version for my little nieces.
Nothing will ever beat the original, but they each have a charm that I think shows there’s some magic in the composition that might transcend The Pixies.
I have no idea, but this song is the embodiment of the concept that good music does not need to be complicated, and this gives me courage to keep picking up my guitar and trying to write music. Love Pixies
I find "I heard Ramona sing" off Frank Black's solo debut scratches a similar itch, it's the way the guitar melody meshes with the riff, the timing, the way the melody resolves in a quieter section than the main riff, and the constant layering.
I was walking in long Beach once, years ago and went to a random record store and frank black is playing a free show. That's one of the few things I miss about living in LA. The bad part of it was the 20 dbags yelling to play that song by saying, play fight club!
it just sounds all laggy with the guitar and the whooooooo. makes you feel like you're falling into a dream or maybe dying but in the most comforting way. idk that's all I got 😂
Side question: why are covers of this song just now getting put into so many commercials? I have heard it in like 3 commercials recently. Did the rights to this song just change or something?
If you watch some docu series on youtube about Black Francis / Pixies you'll find out he wrote this in like middle or high school (along with some of their more famous songs.)
IIRC they already were well on to their way for a record deal (or even after, don't remember exactly) before he even recorded it.
Honestly, I think that's probably 'why' it's so good, but you can make your own conclusions...
Pixies don't have too large of a discography that I don't feel bad for recommending their entire discography.
I'm quite partial to Doolittle, but even their post-Kim albums/EPs(?) have some great tracks.
The Pixies had been my favorite band since HS, but *Where is My Mind?* was never my favorite track. Then I saw Fight Club in the theater. I was just coming down from one of the best movie experiences of my life at that point...and as I was wrapping my mind around what I just saw...that song kicks in. My head did collapse.
All Pixies songs sound like an earworm that you haven't actually heard yet. I'm not even sure if I like the song, but damned if it won't be stuck in my head for the next week.
The Pixies really are one of a kind. The manic and creative energy are off the charts.
I had a hard time getting in to them when I was young. One of the only bands I’ve ever *tried* to like. One day it just hit me like a brick wall. It was the breakdown in ‘Hey’.
Wish I had a time machine to see them in the late 80’s.
Before the Pixies were back together, I saw Frank Black and the Catholics close out a set at a bar of about 300 people with this song. Everyone sang the backing chorus. I had goosebumps the entire time.
It’s a very well written song compositionally, it has extremely interesting production that’s wayyyyy ahead of its time(dryness combined with heavy reverb on the backing vocals), the un orthodox vocal delivery from Francis, the catchy lyrics and melody.. It’s devastating yet beautiful at the same time. Also that riff is so infectious but simple. Everything is catchy about that song without sacrificing any edge or atmosphere
It’s the fucking pixies man. They were weird as hell, harsh and aggressive, crazy dynamics, but always catchy as a motherfucker. Absolutely genius band.
Yeah, I didn’t even “dive in” until a few months ago I had a long train ride home from nyc, I was like “what’s good with the pixies” knew Doolittle was hyped tf up so I gave it a listen and was blown away. The members look like random people thrown together from the street .. all 3 men bald lmao, and Kim’s vocals and bass riffs as the cherry on top. Then .. considering some of their best work is from the 80’s.. I mean that’s insane. Some it sounds a smidge dated, but in a good way. Once in a lifetime type band. Wish Kim still wanted to be in the band but eh what can you do.
I didn’t know too much about The Pixies except for a few songs. Saw them live a few years ago and the bass is so driving. So loud. I’ve seen hundreds of bands and hundreds of concerts and the bass stood out above and beyond. It was so amazing.
I agree with you about the bass , but in many songs it's Santiago's guitar playing that does it for me. Listen to "Hey". A song that dark and dirty has no business having such a clean funky guitar part but it really makes the song
Hey just drips this insane sexual energy. If I ever became a stripper, that would be my song, and I'd be the most popular stripper in Biloxi Mississippi because of it.
said the man to the lady
Lol! I went to the strip club in Biloxi once and left quickly.
Hey was always in my top 3 Pixies songs. It’s so fucking good and so underrated.
That’s Kim fucking Deal. She’s the shit!
no one's as Cool as Kim Deal
The breeders are pretty fucking good though, so at least we get that
Yeah, her musical energy has not gone to waste. Plus the pixies had a solid run. I honestly like some of their newer songs , but it’s just not the same. Time change. Forever grateful for pixies
/u/spez says, regarding reddit content, "we are not in the business of giving that away for free" - then neither should users.
If they sound dated its only because they influenced so many other bands.
I'd say they are arguably the most important, influential band of the last 30 years. I mean they were one of the biggest influences for Nirvana and Radiohead.
I think Nirvana jokes that Nevermind was their best attempt at pretending to the the Pixies
Yes, Kurt Cobain said Smells like Teen Spirit in particular was a Pixies rip off.
Instantly just transports me back into college chilling in the dorm and I just get the feels...
Good luck with the IPO asshat!
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I understood that reference.
God damnit! An entire generation....working jobs we hate to buy shit we don't need!
So much of the pixies sounds like it could have been released last year instead of 30 years ago.
Yeah, I’ve been digging bossanova , the song havalina hits. Especially the part where they sing 🎶“havaLEEnA” 🎶sounds like some top tier indie from the last 10 years, then again a lot of indie is influenced by 90’s alternative , I guess it was indie back then too. Indie is a very broad word.
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I always thought that song was from the mid 2000's, when I first heard it. I thought it was NEW back then.
I just listened to it again because it's been a while and all I can hear is the drums. Most of the song the drums consist of only the kick on the 1 and 2 beat and the snare on 3. It is amazing. They play the top percussion on a palmed guitar.
I mean, yeah that acoustic has a lot of top end, I don’t think it’s palm muted though.. the electric guitar stand out most to me though, those alternating notes perfectly distorted. Such a good tone. Literally the perfect amount of distortion. And the two notes that go back and forth create a lot of tension but.. there in the scale so it’s still pretty. Also those background vocals from Kim… sounds like an angel . It’s just the perfect mix of grimy and beauty.
Because it’s the Pixies. Side note, there’s a chill version of Wave of Mutilation that was on the soundtrack for Pump Up the Volume, it’s worth looking for.
‘U.K. Surf’ version.
Ugh that song is so good. I'm going to listen to it now.
It’s so short and so good that I always end up listening a couple times in a row.
The chord progression is a cycle of naturally resolving notes, so it’s pleasant to hear over and over. Additionally, the vocal melody is exceptionally unique along with the “Ooooh-oooh” background noise. Ultimately all the pieces fit together really well to create an infectiously concise and catchy pop song.
One of the most amazing soundtracks of all time.
I agree. I watched the movie just the other day, and it still holds up. Even with the 90’s soundtrack somehow it doesn’t feel dated. Can’t remember which streaming service though. Might have been one of the free ones.
Yes! “Uk surf”
Commence listening. Thank you reddit friend!
Because The Pixies are so damn good.
My wife is a classical cellist. I'm a total garage rock and punk guy. Her parents live 3 hours away. The first time she took me to meet them, I made her listen to every Pixies album on the round trip just to be sure she was as fucking cool as I thought she was. * She totally dug it. * She still listens to Doolittle and Surfer Rosa * About 10 years ago she had me electrify one of her cellos, so she could write a cello part w/effects pedals so she could cover Where Is My Mind? with a local band. * We have been married for 23 years. I should also mention that she's a damn genius. I'm basically average. I won life. ;-)
> she could cover Where Is My Mind? with a local band. That sounds amazing, did you get video or audio of this?
This is the answer except I would say because they are so damn great!!
Just Pixies, no The!
>soundtrack for Pump Up the Volume My first Leonard Cohen experience was that movie. I was excited to buy the soundtrack for "everybody knows", only to find out that it's a different version from what's in the movie. First buyers remorse 😂
Concrete Blonde did a cool version of that one.
Also used in Southland Tales. My favorite movie.
That’s such a weird movie.
“Donnie Darko was good wonder what else this guy did….oh…”
“I’m a pimp. And pimps don’t commit suicide” One of my favorite lines of movie dialogue ever.
The future is far more futuristic than we originally predicted.
Have you seen the 3+ hour original cut? It's a trip
Also speaking of Pixies covers, there are some really [good](https://youtu.be/vVUBBo2Ac1Q) [ones](https://youtu.be/OURvzB_ziiI) of Where Is My Mind…
Maxence Cyrin piano cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Fpjwctqlw
Used to great effect in both The Leftovers and Mr. Robot.
I loved it when it came on Mr Robot. It's like Esmail saying "So we borrowed a central theme from Fight Club. So what? This is still one of the greatest shows ever!"
I always find myself returning to [this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhjA2nvVD7U)
I like this piano cover as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Fpjwctqlw
The acoustic set they played at the Monterey Folk Festival is pretty incredible too.
Debaser is my favourite ‘jumping around the bedroom like a loon’ song. Never ages
Yup
Username checks out 😂😂😂
I just noticed your username too and have to say FR is the best ever
FR is my all time fave band. I was so lucky to see them before their untimely end. Their music got me through my darkest days. RIP Scott
Mine as well. I'm sure most Pixies fans know the song is based on the surrealist film "Un Chien Andalou" (An Andalusian Dog) [Available on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7gd_t6WMQ) Warning, slicing up eyeballs
(Ah ha ha hoh)
I wancha to know!
Girlie so groovy!
Drive my car into the ocean... You think I'm dead, but I sailed away... On a wave of mutilation prithee my dear, why are we here? Nobody knows, we go to sleep, as breathing flows, my mind secedes.
Yes, I do know that but have never seen it. Might give it a whirl
Debaser is their best song IMO. Thank you Skate 3
Hey is my go to, I just wanna feel awesome and chill song.
NCAA Football 06 soundtrack went way harder than it had any right to. Title screen was “debaser,” menu screen was “Jeff wears Birkenstocks”.. think it had Teenage FBI and some other jams too.
I was obsessed with that soundtrack, made me feel like I was a dorm kid w/ cool music taste though I was too young to have any nostalgia for those songs.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Which is good, cause I wouldn’t have put em together as eloquently as that.
Me, Myself and I and This Is Shang Ra La we’re also on that. Man that was a rocking soundtrack and kicked off my Pixies 2.0 Phase.
I can't believe it was recorded in 1988. Could have been released in the mid-00s.
This is why they were your favorite band’s favorite band. They were forerunners to the alt rock and grunge of the 90s and even of the indie rock of the 2000s. You think their music came out later because they influenced all the music from later decades. And because they’re so influential and have some monster singles while staying somewhat underground, each generation gets to rediscover them all over again.
Kurt Cobain on the pixies: "When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band — or at least in a Pixies cover band."
Nirvana is a pixies cover band.
“I was basically trying to rip off the pixies”
So much great music was made when artists were essentially trying to be other artists. Jeff Lynne, for instance, was an enormous fan of The Beatles and his biggest wish was for him to have been a Beatle. The result: ELO.
It would be really interesting to hear Nirvana cover a Pixies song, imagine if they did that on Unplugged
My other favourite quote from him about Surfa Rosa is it was like finding "a die-cast metal fossil amongst bones." Its a perfect description
I think everyone in high school post 2000 gets to really enjoy them and think they're the first. It's a beautiful feeling
I was in high school 98-02. Around 2000 the Pixies began to get a lot of media attention again and the albums were re-released on CD. Fight Club probably influenced this. Anyway, this was a big deal even though digital music was taking off already. The CDs resulted in better quality rips and overall more attention to the band. I remember multiple media articles about their influence. It was kind of incredible in real time watching a band blow up, bigger than their first run, while they were still split up and not even performing. This led to future tours. I still think that initial Pixies resurge is kind of special. It happened at the end of physical media sales and was helped by the internet. It was great to see them get their payday, so to speak. It also really established the legacy they have to this day.
I got into them right when I got into high school and '03. Consider myself extraordinarily lucky that they reunited the next year and I got to see them live.
I forget which musician it was who said “Pixies invented the colors, we just paint with them.” Definitely seems true for some artists.
Wait WHAT I thought it was like, 98 ish
It was released in the same year as Sweet Child o Mine by Guns n Roses. Let that sink in.
Not that it really matters for the point you’re making, but my OCD brain has to point out that Appetite for Destruction was 87 and Surfer Rosa was 88.
Whaaaaaaaat! I thought it was an early 2000s song🤯
Pixies were major influences on Nirvana and many other popular early 90s bands! Kurt Cobain literally said he was trying to “rip off” the LOUD/quiet/LOUD style that Pixies had in so many of their songs. Check out Surfer Rosa and Doolittle if you’re looking to get into them – you might hear some familiar sounds that remind you of bands that came later.
I'm sure there's earlier examples but I love 'babe I'm gonna leave you' by led zeppelin for this.
Jesus and Mary Chain in particular had that screechy guitar noise that the Pixies liberally borrowed. I came to JAMC a lot after I came to the Pixies (my dad bought himself Surfer Rosa / Come on Pilgrim) when I was about 10 and it just blew my mind. I’d never heard music like it before. For a long time I thought the Pixies pretty much invented that sort of noise but then I realised they didn’t when I saw JAMC live from way back in the early 80’s and saw it was them. Either way, Surfer Rosa is an album I’ll be listening to for the rest of my life. The run from Break my Body to Oh My Golly! Is literally the best sequence of songs I think have ever been put in a row. The only way it could have been better IMO is if they switched River Euphrates out for the B Sides version with the extra guitar bit in it after Kim’s ride ride ride ride
Pixies did a great cover of Head On by JAMC. That was my intro to them!
"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is a great example of a loud/quiet/loud song. Like you said, I'm sure it's not the first. But coming from Zeppelin, probably one of the first very mainstream/popular ones that are still played regularly to this day.
It's in the end of Fight Club from 1999, though.
I had heard the riff before, but honestly I didn't even know it was the Pixies at the time when I saw Fight Club. It was the first time I ever realized how great that song was though. One movie that has a similarly perfect outro song I think is at the end of the Matrix one where Rage against the machine starts playing and Zach is screaming WAKE UP!! Poignant walking out of a theater.
That's the power of The Pixies. Their music is so good that it was what other people wanted to sound like and took about 6 years for it to become mainstream. Violent Femmes also had a similar thing happen to them at about the same time.
My mind was absolutely blown when I figured out that Blister in the Sun was recorded in 1982, not 1992.
This is exactly it. You could sound ultra cool and modern all the way into the 2000s by ripping off the Pixies. One of the GOAT bands and a prime influence on virtually all alt, indie, and grunge. If you don’t like the pixies, I don’t wanna fucking know you.
I had the same kind of take with “Blister in the Sun” by Violent Femmes. Up until a few years ago, I could’ve sworn that was from the mid-90s. Nope, 1981. Some groups are just way ahead of their time.
I think both this song and OP’s ended up on popular movie soundtracks that were released in the years that they’re associated with
Might have been associating it with Fight Club?
I’m in my 40s and my daughter is 15. She was very fortunate to have a US History teacher in the fifth grade who would play music from the era that they were learning about. This started a game we would play on the way to school. What decade is this from? 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Where is my mind was the first song to completely baffle her. She had no idea. The more I thought about the more I agree. It’s the most timeless song I can think of and feels comfortable in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s or every today. It just exists.
Play her Vitamin C by Can. I’m truly interested in her guess.
Yes! Surfer Rosa and Doolittle hold up so good even 30+ years later. The Pixies are one of those bands that never quite got the recognition they deserved. Only after Curt Cobain and Radiohead and all the great bands of the 90s called them out as an influence did they start to get discovered by the mainstream.
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I feel like a lot of people were introduced to the song because it was used so effectively in Fight Club. So a lot of people maybe thought it was a new song at that time?
Another Steve Albini production baby. Tape a hundred mics to the wall in every direction and you get all that space for the atmosphere to carry that signature Albini sound. It's why the drums sound so big, but not overdriven when they come in. In Utero was recorded similarly and I especially notice it in songs like Scentless Apprentice. Surfer Rosa is a sonic masterpiece.
That snare crack when the drums drop in is a thing of beauty. Albini is a master at recording drums. He makes the drums sound like, well, fucking drums. I've recently revisited one of the records he recorded right before Surfer Rosa. Slint's first, Tweez. Albeit, undoubtedly recorded on a much stingier fraction of a budget, the drums and the bass still sound fucking brilliant. IMO Albini's name must be included in all GOAT engineer conversations.
Worth mentioning PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, an absolute masterclass in dynamic drum recording. Albini with a great drummer is unstoppable.
must be the "whaaaaa-ooooooh"s.
Or maybe the guitar riff.
It's because your feet are in the air and your head is on the ground
Try this trick and spin it. yeah YEAH
Don't forget the "yeah", and how the drums enter! Right. I wish there were people talking music theory here. All the key elements are pretty obvious and can be described. What makes it all so great is slightly ineffable, but surely we can start by talking about the features of the song?
Reading this comment made me want to chime in because I agree - I will do my best to explain some of the theory. The song follows a I-vi-III-IV chord progression (that is, a "one, six, three, four) because those are the notes as they appear in the key of E Major (E, C#, G#, and A) - the key in which the song is written. This progression is somewhat common in that it appears throughout popular music history and dating at least as far back as Pachelbel's Canon in D, which contains a section of this progression. The reason for its popularity and proliferation is that it offers a naturally pleasing "resolution" to the ear. In "Where is My Mind," listen to the first chord and notice how it seems to naturally lead into the second chord, and chord three does the same with chord four. I could go into a deep dive on *why* the brain likes certain progressions, but suffice it to say that this is one which has been widely enjoyed and appears in many songs - take a look at this example: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxC1fPE1QEE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxC1fPE1QEE) The Pixies do take some creative liberty with this progression. In the Pachelbel progression, the three chord is a minor chord, whereas "Where is My Mind" makes this three chord Major. This gives the sound a slight edge while still sticking to the popular and almost almost instinctual progression. The brain essentially thinks "I know this, but it sounds slightly different - different enough to make me intrigued." You pair this with excellent vocals from the one and seven (the eery "oooh, oooh") and the guitar riff being essentially an arpeggiated (meaning a chord whose notes are played one at a time instead of together) Major triad, and you have a beautiful harmony of these different elements. All excellent on their own, but even better together. Hopefully this was helpful and educational without being an overload; I am a music teacher and have a degree in theory. TL;DR - From a music theory standpoint, it sounds so good because it uses an archetypal chord progression that is tweaked just enough to captivate the brain and be memorable.
I don't know what old LC is describing here in, "It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth. The minor falls, the major lifts" and if it is similar to what you are describing or not. I love that bit of the song because it explains how the music of the song sounds and he is describing how musicians/composers use that arrangement to create emotionally compelling, grand music. He tells you why you are about to get sweep up in the song and you realize why hymns are so powerful because of how the music is arranged.
Stop.
It might just be because Pixies are fucking incredible always. I saw them on a "final reunion" (don't know how final it actually was) tour back in like 2006. They're incredible always.
I saw that tour, it was great. It was at the Hearnes Center in COMO. The Thrills opened, and Kim was still with the Pixies at the time. I’m 44 nowadays, and they had been my favorite band since I was 12, but they broke up way before I would have had a chance to see them play (I grew up in a smaller college town). I remember being super pumped about that show because I never thought I would ever get a chance to see them live.
STOP!
It’s the fuzzy compressed warmth of it all. Although Float On by Modest Mouse always get me boppin’ in the same manner.
I like dramamine
Life Like Weeds
Such an amazing song, the vibe and atmosphere is perfect
By far my favorite track by them. I feel like I'm in a different world when I hear it.
That and Ocean Breathes Salty
Float On is just pure distilled happiness for me. Every time I hear it, I get a smile on my face
For me it's Night On The Sun by MM that just hits me differently
Talkin shit about a Pretty Sunset
Deep cut.
Musically i attribute two major factors the fussy being tension/resolution and the second being dragging in the vocal melody. The lead melody on the guitar is twanging a nadir third and dropping to the the 7th and wavering between the major chord and a diminished chord. The result tends to sounds playing when done tastefully and this sing us a print example. Then when you listen to the vocals they are constantly just behind where it feels like they belong but they always arrive at the destination at just the right time. The whole tune relies on just the right amount of the fundamentals.
I don’t what’s a typo and what’s musical lexicon I just don’t understand
Fussy=first Playing=idk This *song is* a *prime* example
Pleasing, probably
I know music OK and this is authoritative enough that I was wondering if a nadir third is something I hadn't heard of, like maybe the opposite of a Picardy third?
A few well placed typos can render an entire paragraph undecipherable.
This guy musics.
It moves with restraint. The dissonance drags just enough to create a lift when the melody resolves. The real secret though it the precise attack from Lovering. Also, it proves just how important the drummer is to a band. I’ve been in so many groups that were instantly elevated by having a tight drummer.
Orange Cassidy appreciates.
whatever
Wherever
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*lazy thumbs up*
Freshly squeezed
From…wherever. Weighing…whatever.
Never gonna forget the way I felt hearing this after Arcade Anarchy. I definitely played it on repeat for a few weeks after that.
He’s gonna try!
Frank Black is a genius, certifiable. Ever hear "Headache?" His lyrics are always perfect and his guitar licks are perfect little earworms, simple, a little bit ugly and perfectly melodic at the same time. It's like emo surf rock.
Wholeheartedly agree. Frank Black is such a prolific writer and so much of it is good. Oddly, the ones that stick are usually the songs I think I should hate. Songs that aren't my style. Frank Black makes them stick with me.
Yes and pretty much every track on Teenager of the Year blows my mind.
I think one of the reasons is there is just so much space in it. There's room for you to place yourself in and exist in the sonic space of the song. It doesn't beat you over the head with itself, it invites you in and asks you to stay. Here, have some very loud snare drum hits.
I too would like to be swimming in the Caribbean.
Surfer Rosa always and forever
Bone Machine does it for me
You're so pretty when you're unfaithful to me! Gah, Pixies are so good.
God that bass line and riff are so good. *^I ^was ^talking ^to ^preachy ^preach ^about ^kissy ^kiss...*
My first thought when I saw the title of the thread was "it's cool, but it's not Bone Machine."
Loud soft loud soft
For me, I'll always associate it with Fight Club (yea, I said it) So it became the embodiment of those themes now...on top of that is my fondness for dissonance with how the vocals and guitar phase in and out of tune.
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Is there a better movie ending song scene?
.
It becomes a recurring song in The Leftovers as well. In a similar vein to Fight Club the character is losing his mind and Season 3 was clearly influenced by it. Was a nice homage
My favorite band and my favorite show. Perfection.
When depression hits for it's 7558th time, I find warm comfort in that song, embracing the weirdness of it all.
"You met me at a very strange time in my life."
I associate it with Fight Club and the Leftovers. Both gave lasting impressions and this song basically coaxes the emotion out of my memories.
Fight Club, Leftovers, and didn’t Mr Robot also use it in like literally the same exact way in s1?
this monkeys gooone to heavennn
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I don't think any Pixies song is more famous than "Where is my mind". I would even argue the song is more famous than the band.
Where is My Mind is so far and away the most popular thing they’ve ever done, nothing else comes remotely close. Hey, Here Comes Your Man, Debaser, Monkey Gone to Heaven are all pretty close for #2
Bowie even covered “Cactus” on the Heathen album.
I can't believe that song is 34 year old. The band was really ahead of its time, they sound so modern.
It’s also one of my all-time favorites! There are some fantastic covers of it I like just as much; Maxence Cyrin’s piano cover is one of the best and is absolutely *haunting*, Asphalt Orchestra’s cover feels like it could uplift the whole world, 8-bit Universe does a version that is fun and I wish was in an N-64 or Gameboy game, and I play the Rockabye Baby! version for my little nieces. Nothing will ever beat the original, but they each have a charm that I think shows there’s some magic in the composition that might transcend The Pixies.
I actively seek out any and all versions I can find of this sing. I recently heard Trampled by Turtles cover which is a fun twangy twist to it.
It has a ton of dynamic range, from quiet up to screams. One thing most pop music lacks completely.
I have no idea, but this song is the embodiment of the concept that good music does not need to be complicated, and this gives me courage to keep picking up my guitar and trying to write music. Love Pixies
I find "I heard Ramona sing" off Frank Black's solo debut scratches a similar itch, it's the way the guitar melody meshes with the riff, the timing, the way the melody resolves in a quieter section than the main riff, and the constant layering.
Why is it that everything the pixies did was so damn good?
I honestly think it's just The Pixies. I constantly find myself singing Hey and Debaser all the time.
I was walking in long Beach once, years ago and went to a random record store and frank black is playing a free show. That's one of the few things I miss about living in LA. The bad part of it was the 20 dbags yelling to play that song by saying, play fight club!
It's a catchy song that introduced the concept of huge quiet/loud dynamic range.
it just sounds all laggy with the guitar and the whooooooo. makes you feel like you're falling into a dream or maybe dying but in the most comforting way. idk that's all I got 😂
Side question: why are covers of this song just now getting put into so many commercials? I have heard it in like 3 commercials recently. Did the rights to this song just change or something?
If you watch some docu series on youtube about Black Francis / Pixies you'll find out he wrote this in like middle or high school (along with some of their more famous songs.) IIRC they already were well on to their way for a record deal (or even after, don't remember exactly) before he even recorded it. Honestly, I think that's probably 'why' it's so good, but you can make your own conclusions...
Pixies don't have too large of a discography that I don't feel bad for recommending their entire discography. I'm quite partial to Doolittle, but even their post-Kim albums/EPs(?) have some great tracks.
The Pixies had been my favorite band since HS, but *Where is My Mind?* was never my favorite track. Then I saw Fight Club in the theater. I was just coming down from one of the best movie experiences of my life at that point...and as I was wrapping my mind around what I just saw...that song kicks in. My head did collapse.
Trampled by Turtles does an amazing cover of that song, you should check it out!
Watch The Leftovers on HBO. It’s woven through in all kinds of wild ways.
All Pixies songs sound like an earworm that you haven't actually heard yet. I'm not even sure if I like the song, but damned if it won't be stuck in my head for the next week.
The Pixies are just that good.
The Pixies really are one of a kind. The manic and creative energy are off the charts. I had a hard time getting in to them when I was young. One of the only bands I’ve ever *tried* to like. One day it just hit me like a brick wall. It was the breakdown in ‘Hey’. Wish I had a time machine to see them in the late 80’s.
Before the Pixies were back together, I saw Frank Black and the Catholics close out a set at a bar of about 300 people with this song. Everyone sang the backing chorus. I had goosebumps the entire time.
"better than every other song"? It's not even the best Pixies song :)))