50 great things about The Pixies "Hey"

1. The intensity in Frank's delivery of the lyrics even though they're probably meaningless.

2. It's the only song I've ever heard that has the ability to make me feel depressed and horny at the same time.

3. The guitar solo sounds fantastic, but is surprisingly easy to play

3. The lyrics/melody to Amerie's 1 Thing go well with it.

5. Makes me feel like I am 13 again. Gonna listen now!

the way Kim wails "Chained!" like she's punctuating Back Fracis's cracked whines and moans in the chorus.

(6.)

7. the way the pre-chorus subtly gains momentum. You barely notice that the drums are coming in for the first time.

the way Kim wails "Chained!" like she's punctuating Back Fracis's cracked whines and moans in the chorus.

8. before Kim's bg vox come in, the way "we're chained" builds to a call & response w/ shards of distorto guitar (& then Kim come's in & the whole thing just sounds even more glorious)

*erroneous apostrophe

9. the way those shards of distorto guitar are incorporated into the end of Joey' solo.

10. ...and the way everything comes to a dead stop at the first time Black Francis yells "Uh!"

11 The tension build with drawn-out or sort of sluggish lines, then bang, voice-switch into yelp attacks.

Where... have you... been...

Ifyougo Iwillsurelydie

Is... the... sound...

thatthemothermakes whenthebabybreaks

12. The way the semi-funky "uh"s are actually part of the lyrics.

13. mary aincha tired of this?

14. how the song starts with "hey!"

15. That fucking bass line.

16. It reminds me that the Butthole Surfers also have an awesome song titled "Hey"

17. Well, it's the core of the Pixies appeal, but really: genius-like simplicity in songwriting... nothing but a D chord during the verses and then three more chords in the chorus and that's it, they work it beautifully.

18. I'm in a state

19. And while I'm at it: The (communication between guitars is brilliant as well. The two guitars keep coming in and out of the mix without minding one another (there are instances in which rhythm guitar gets in first as usual and others where lead holds the backbone while the rhythm is completely silent) and yet it never feels like the song will crumble apart.

xpost: or rather what I meant is that I love how the two guitars are really acting as lead while the bass carries the whole song's backbone.

18. I'm in a state

Um, wrong song dude.

haha oops. i dunno how that happened, except that all the doolittle songs merge into one opus of greatness in my head.

when i first saw the pixies i was amazed what kind of sounds BF could get out of his acoustic. i'm pretty sure his rhythm guitar on Hey is an acoustic with a pickup.

18. I'm in a state

Um, wrong song dude.

― I Ain't Committing Suicide For No Crab (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Wednesday, July 14, 2010 10:00 AM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

actually, tbh that song is even better...

Written very early on this song. Can't remember if it was on the Purple Tape off the top of my head but it was certainly on the Sounds EP (along with Down To The Well) that came out in 1988. The lyrics don't feel very meaningless to me.

I thought the other song on the Sounds 7" was Rocka My Soul?

Ah OK - there was another Sounds EP also released that year that has Hey on it:

http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Sounds-Machine-EP-1/release/523494

They definitely did it on their first Peel Session along with the Eraserhead tune iirc.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/johnpeel/sessions/1980s/1988/May03pixies/

The songs I can definitely remember them playing when I saw them on that UK Pixies/Throwing Muses double header in Manchester were Hey, Lady In The Radiator Song, Levitate Me, Vamos and The Beatles' Wild Honey Pie.

It was Hey back then that really got the hairs standing on end... and that's really saying something.

Damn I saw that Pixies/Throwing Muses tour too at the Town & Country. Don't remember too much about it, other than the fact that the somewhat incongruous Junior Manson Slags were also on the bill.

18. The Devil

Nick B: I went to see Throwing Muses (they were really nice and chatted to us after the gig) but came away a slavering Pixies devotee. Probably the best gig I ever saw.

19. The mmm-hmmm-hmm after "been trying to meet you"

"I would surely die" would reappear in The Dirtbombs' "She Played Me Like a Booger"

(not sure if that counts as 20. or not...)

The guitar solo sounds fantastic, but is surprisingly easy to play

I don't actually play guitar but i can play this. So, yeah.