Crackity Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Crackity Jones" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Song by Pixies | ||
| from the album Doolittle | ||
| Released | April 17, 1989 (UK) April 18, 1989 (US) |
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| Recorded | October 31–November 23, 1988 at Downtown Recorders in Boston, Massachusetts | |
| Genre | Alternative rock, Indie rock | |
| Length | 1:24 | |
| Label | 4AD (UK) Elektra Records (US) |
|
| Writer(s) | Black Francis | |
| Producer(s) | Gil Norton | |
| Doolittle track listing | ||
| "Mr. Grieves" (8) |
"Crackity Jones" (9) |
"La La Love You" (10) |
"Crackity Jones" is an alternative rock song by the American band Pixies, written and sung by the band's frontman Black Francis for the band's 1989 album Doolittle. The song describes a crazed roommate and was inspired by Francis' stay in an apartment block with a "weirdo, psycho, gay roommate" in Puerto Rico as a student.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Background and lyrics
Francis was on a six-month trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico (the song's lyrics describe a "stinking island" that is "thirty miles by" and a "hundred miles" long) as an exchange student.[2] He found himself in a squalid high-rise apartment (describing it as a "crazy all-male dormitory"), waiting for his assigned roommate to show up. Francis later described meeting his roommate:[3]
| He didn't show up for about a month. First thing he said to me, he had cut his finger or something, I had never even met him. It was like out of a David Lynch movie. |
Francis continued to live with the roommate, but the roommate's rants about Fred Flintstone[4] and the voices in his head tested Francis' patience. He returned to Boston after six months to start the Pixies with Joey Santiago.
[edit] Melody
"Crackity Jones" is the fastest and shortest song on Doolittle, at an average 150 beats per minute, and has a distinctly Spanish sound, with a G# and A triads over a C# pedal. The rhythm guitar, played by Francis, starts the song with an eighth-note downstroke (typical of punk rock music). Twenty-six seconds into the song, the second verse accelerates and the rest of the song continues at a similarly fast tempo. The song ends with Francis shouting "You're crazy!".[3]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Sisario, Ben. Doolittle. Continuum, 2006 (33⅓ series). ISBN 0826417744.
[edit] External links
| Pixies |
| Black Francis | Kim Deal | Joey Santiago | David Lovering |
| Discography |
| Studio albums and EPs: Come on Pilgrim (EP) | Surfer Rosa | Doolittle | Bossanova | Trompe le Monde Pixies at the BBC | Complete 'B' Sides | Pixies (The Purple Tape) |
| Singles: "Gigantic" | "Monkey Gone to Heaven" | "Here Comes Your Man" | "Velouria" | "Dig for Fire" | "Planet of Sound" | "Alec Eiffel" | "Head On" | "Debaser" | "Bam Thwok" |
| Compilation Albums: Death to the Pixies | Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies |
| Related bands |
| The Breeders | Frank Black and the Catholics | The Amps | The Martinis |
