Totally agree, it sounds so simple, but upon practicing for a PIxie's cover set with this being in it, I have quickly realized how difficult his parts really are to play and sing.
It isn't easy, if you're just starting out, but then it's Charles' way of playing, so it'll be easy to him. You develop your own style so pointless trying to copy another players technique. He's a great guitarist in any case. But then so is anyone who can play. I've made my living from ONLY music since 1978 and am hitting the 4,500 gig mark this year, BUT I am still only a functional rhythm player, simply because I don't HAVE to be anything else (lead guitarist Jim Underhill handled that, now I'm solo) and the amount of gigs I do a week doesn't leave me wanting to try new tricks. I'm happy as I am, and anyone who is had achieved their aim. Enjoy music guys. (Point clarified in edit)
Caverman are you kidding me? Its simple to play. He doesn’t even need to change from playing the G root note. Been playing long have you mate? No! Thought not.
jamis play and sing this at the same time and see how easy it is. multi tasking is not natural to most humans especially when you haven't A. written the song you're playing or B. played it for years, if not both. think it's easy now? no! thought not.
I’ve been listening to this song since the 90s but watching this 3 things hit me: 1. Frank is so at ease on the mic 2. I could fall into the glittering darkness that is Kim Deal’s eyes and 3. This song is damn unique; where the hell would someone in 1988 even find inspiration for this?
Kurt Cobain said " I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily that I should have been in that band-or at least a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard."
@H R I am far less grateful for those bands. I'm not sure Cobain penned any good lyrics, and I only recall Pavement as a name (and not a very good one).
It's funny, they're one of those volcanic, lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry musical units where you couldn't replace any of the members, but unlike most of those groups where in their younger days they seem tight like a gang, the Pixies ALWAYS seemed like this awkward group of misfits on the verge of telling each other to fuck off haha
+mywhychromosome Have you seen the documentary of their reunion? That's well worth seeing, and it would totally support your conclusion, b/c none of them act like their buds with a single other band member. Like they all just met on some message board, and freakishly happened to have musical chemistry when they didn't care a whit about each other off stage. That may be a complete misimpression, but the doc has this sequence where they are all sitting around each other, but they're doing the equivalent of looking at their phones. Drummer is space drumming, some dude is reading.. I don't remember exactly.. but the gist is.. we have nothing more to say to each other. They seemed like they all had good professional relationships, but it was like an office where you would never hang out with the people you work with. But the music sounding NOTHING like that. It sounded like they were born to work with each other. Black's voice was perfectly complemented by Daal's and there was just nothing missing. I didn't blame anyone who didn't like them or thought they were too messy.. one of those bands where your emotions take over or they don't. So to some people, they're gods, and some people their just noise.
Sancho Quixote That's a good point about the "some people they're gods, others just noise" thing...Pixies are almost a good 'test' band in that regard, to see if someone is on the same cracked mental wavelength as you are, because you can't 'learn' it, you either hear one thing or the other. As for the documentary, I did see it once years ago, and I remember being vaguely disappointed at the time that they were so awkward with each other, but I chalked it up to "well, it's a reunion years-and-years later, even the closest bands can get awkward like that when they get old". But the point I was making with this video was that it shows Pixies were ALWAYS awkward like that with each other, even in their heyday
+Sancho Quixote The only members who were friends were Frank and Joey. The rest were just in the same band. And Frank and Kim pretty much HATED each other.
+mywhychromosome the pixies definitely aren't the same without kim deal, she was the coolest one in my opinion, and she is a brilliant songwriter herself, her and black francis should have worked together on more songs with the pixies!
Joel Davis Yes. Essential even when not a lot. I freaked out over Surfer Rosa and then Doolittle. Then when Bossanova came out I remember thinking , “Where the heck is Kim Deal?” I was shocked actually. I didn’t even ever buy Trompe Le Monde.
@mcsoupy Very silly and foolish of Frenchie to lose Kim. But she was always destined for greater things and she did it. So happy for her and The Breeders/The Amps, Kelley and Josephine and that groovy little drummer of theirs.
I refer to it as the coolest song in rock and roll. Not the most bombastic, technically complex, or even radio friendly, but there's something about it that is just smooth, sophisticated, and slightly bizarre. It's cool
@CD M Ye but due to copyright laws and other bs, a lot of pixies content is being removed from the web. And because of that the entire younger generation is missing this bands legacy, just because they don't really produce any content for their old sound
The band that opened my ears to a whole world of music I hadn't known existed. Still one of my all time favourites and a go to listen whenever life gets too real! The Pixies rock!
One of the most under appreciated bands and yet they deserve so much more credit for their style and sound inspiring dozens and dozens of incredibly popular bands of the 90s all the way up to today. This band is a gem and always will be
You can really hear how Frank sings so damn loud that it distorts the microphone. When I saw them live I swear you could hear him louder just off his natural voice than he was on the speakers, especially when he really got into the howling. The only singer I've ever known to do that was David Bowie. Probably no surprise they where mutual fans of each other.
Unmatched genius. It depresses me so much that I wasn't alive to see them when they were like this. I've seen them since they reformed, but it's not the same
Have you seen the Dennis Miller performance? At the height of their super powers. "this is a song about a little bird that goes to sleep and has a dream he goes to Mars..."
I saw Frank Black live when I was in High School in the 90s. It was a couple years after the Pixies broke up. I don't know if I've ever watched video of the Pixies playing live in the 1980s. They're actually really tight. The four instrumental parts of this song fit together quite well. Their timing and dynamics are quite good for a live rock band in the 1980s. Frank gets a lot of credit, but I think the entire band was really tight, and they fit together very well musically.
Such an amazing song, amazing lyrics, amazing backing vocal, perfect one-note guitar solo, eerie and compelling the whole thing. God I loved this band.
Definitely! It may even be the best record of this song. For the last couple weeks I have been listening the other records of this song, yet I can't see any better one.
This is one of the best song that ever been preformed. And I love all kind of music. But this is perfection. Damn. It is just something from another world. The lyrics, the desperation in the voices, the tone of the guitar, the haunting bass. I think this song will survive for a very long time. At least as long as humanity have left.
That “you heard here first” hit hard. Like your living in a era where someday it’s just going to be a mark from the past and sometimes you don’t realize it yet.
Pixies were the 'actual' beginning of Grunge. Kurt Cobain was clearly influence by these guys... 80's were not ready for them at all. Hell, neither were the 90's -- They have a sound that just didn't exist at the time. The music revolution didn't start in Washington. It started in Mass.
The Fall, Joy Division, The Cure, Killing Joke, Swell Maps, The Damned, The Membranes, Echo and The Bunnymen, Fields of the Nephilim, Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy and other British groups were also making sounds going in this direction at the end of the 70s and early 80s, not forgetting Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü, Fear, Butthole Surfers, Daniel Johnson and others in the US. Different bands influence each other, and that's cool. Nobody has an ultimate claim to one particular style of music.
I love the space in this! Everything these days (well from the nineties onwards, i.e the loudness wars) is over compressed to shit. The volume dynamics just adds so much drama to the composition. Amazing, and inspirational!
I can't thank the Pixies enough for their music!!... "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". Kurt Cobain.
First heard this in 1988 when it was released on an EP that was given away free by (I think) melody maker and it instantly became one of my favourite Pixies songs. A truly great band.
This song takes me back to high school. Pixies was one of those bands you only listened to if you were in a certain group. Everyone else just kind of listened to the pop chart music and the auto tuned rap. Of course my friends and I being skaters we loved Pixies and sonic youth. All of us smokers at the time hanging out in the smoking section. Glad we all mostly quit now though. Especially as one of my friends is a singer/music producer now. He's just released a cover of "All Along the watchtower" and I swear it sounds to me as if Pixies covered it themselves. It's a strange but cool take on it. Try searching Lonely Gimmick - All Along the Watchtower, I think he's seriously talented and deserves more attention. He does all the music himself recording to his laptop.
The combination of raw talent, emotion and ....... damn, something that’s just special. Soundtrack of my youth, music that always sparks a reaction no matter how many times you hear it.
Pixies are one of the top 3 the greatest in the all time alternative rock scene. (In my opinion). Both Kim and Charles are more than amazing vocalists.
What I love about the pixies is they just were like everyone else they showed the world anyone can do this if they have passion and drive. Yet no one can do it like them. Love the pixies.
"Come on Pilgrim" and "Surfer Rosa" opened my mind to so much more music. I didn't understand them in 1988-89, but then I heard them again in late '90 and then the early months of '91 and I haven't looked back. So glad I heard this band before Nirvana and all those others after. These guys were the one of the best innovators!
I just started to learn how to play the guitar (as someone who grew up on hip-hop and rnb) and always heard this song in impactful moments of tv and movies and loved it, so I decided to look into playing it. But I never would've thought it was as old as me. It sounds like it could've came out in the early 2000's.
This has been one of my favorite songs since I was 12 and I've been singing it for YEARS. I recently started reading tarot and realized that this whole song is a reference to The Devil card. Its about putting yourself into a torturous prison of your own making. The card represents a problem you and your partner can choose to get out of but you submit to suffering (probably because its fun).
My favorite Pixies song and a fantastic version of it. As a bass player who eventually let go of my technical ambition (in high school i adored dream theater, jaco pastorius, tony levin, victor wooten) in favor of emotion, expression, and generally being awesome (in college i fell in love with pixies, the replacements, dinosaur jr, the wrens) it's both endearing and reaffirming to hear one of my favorite musicians of all time flub a couple notes at 2:26.
