Debaser

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"Debaser"

Cover of the Debaser: Studio single.
Single by Pixies
from the album Doolittle
Released	September 22, 1997
Format	CD
Recorded	1989
Genre	Alternative rock
Label	4AD
Chart positions
#23 (UK)
Pixies singles chronology
"Head On" (1992)	"Debaser" (1997)	"Bam Thwok" (2004)
Doolittle track listing
	"Debaser" (1)	"Tame" (2)

"Debaser" is a song by the alternative rock band Pixies written by Black Francis. It is the first song on their 1989 album Doolittle.

The song was re-recorded by indie band Rogue Wave in 2006 for Music from the O.C. Mix 6 - Covering Our Tracks.

1 Background
2 Singles
3 Sample
4 External links

[edit] Background

The lyrics are based on a French surrealist film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí called Un chien andalou. The film opens with a scene in which a woman's eye is slit by a razor, which is referenced in the song lyric "Slicin' up eyeballs/I want you to know".

'I wish Buñuel was still alive. He made this film about nothing in particular. The title itself is a nonsense. With my stupid, pseudo-scholar, naive, enthusiast, avant-garde-ish, amateurish way to watch Un chien andalou (twice), I thought: 'Yeah, I will make a song about it,' he sings: "un chien andalou"...It sounds too French, so I will sing "un chien andalusia", it sounds good, no?' (Black Francis, translated from a Spanish interview)[1]

Black Francis actually mispronounces "un chien" in the song, pronouncing it instead like "oune chienne".

The title "Debaser" comes from Un chien andalou debasing morality and standards of art, according to Black Francis.

The music was very influential on alternative rock. The song opens with a solo bass guitar and has a loud/soft dynamic, like many future Nirvana songs would. Kurt Cobain has even said he was trying to imitate "Debaser" musically and lyrically when writing the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (The bass line that is heard throughout "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is similar to the opening bass line in "Debaser").

The Pixies headlined the Reading Festival in 1991, where they played a highly enthusiastic version of "Debaser" which has become legendary among fans. This song also appears on the best-of albums Death to the Pixies and Wave of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Debaser" at number 21 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.

[edit] Singles

Although "Debaser" was a Pixies staple since the release of Doolittle in 1989, the song was not released as a single until 1997, long after the Pixies' break-up. 4AD released three singles simultaneously, entitled Debaser: Studio, Debaser: Live, and Debaser: Demo. The three singles were released on September 22, 1997, and each featured a different cover and track listing.

[edit] Studio

The Debaser: Studio single was released on CD, and featured a slightly remixed version of the album track, along with non-album studio recordings of three other tracks.