"Cactus" is a song by the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

alternative rock band Pixies, and is the eighth track on their 1988 album '' Surfer Rosa''. It was written and sung by the band's

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Black Francis Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Fo ...

and produced by Steve Albini.

"P-I-X-I-E-S"

Between the second verse and chorus of "Cactus," the band and the studio members can be heard spelling out "Pixies." Bass guitarist Kim Deal (then credited as 'Mrs John Murphy' in the sleeve notes of the album), later commented on the interlude: "You can hear them spelling 'Pixies' in the break, which

T. Rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' liv ...

did in one of their songs The Groover" 'T-R-E-X,' and they were copying it. I was against it, I was like, 'No way, I'm not doing it,' because that's so trite. And I'm the only one that didn't do it. Steve

Albini Albini or de Albini (of white) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Abramo Albini (born 1948), Italian Olympic rower * Alessandro Albini (1568–1646), Italian painter * Alfred Albini (1896–1978), Croatian architect * Carlo Alb ...

] went along with it and liked it. So I'm the only one that never got on the records [...] Anybody that was in the studio could have gone in there and done it."Frank, Ganz, 2005. p. 83

Cover versions

David Bowie recorded a version of the song for his ''

Heathen __NOTOC__ Heathen or Heathens may refer to: Religion *Heathen, another name for a pagan *Heathen, an adherent of Heathenry Music *Band of Heathens, a North American rock and roll band *Heathen (band), a North American thrash metal band *The Hea ...

'' album in 2002. This version features D-A-V-I-D spelled in the break. Bowie performed the song live on his 2002

Heathen Tour The David Bowie Heathen Tour was a 2002 concert tour in support of the album, ''Heathen'', and was also notable for the performances of all songs from the 1977 ''Low'' album. History The ''Low'' album, not previously performed live in its ent ...

concerts and the A Reality Tour. A November 2003 live performance is included on the '' A Reality Tour'' DVD, as well as the '' A Reality Tour'' album. The Pixies played the song at a Bowie tribute concert in 2016, as a Bowie cover.

re-recorded the song and released it on his 2004 album ''

Frank Black Francis ''Frank Black Francis'' is a 2-CD set released in 2004 by Frank Black, roughly coinciding with the Pixies reunion tour. Disc 1 consists of a March 1987 solo acoustic demo tape recorded by engineer Gary Smith, just prior to the first Pixies recor ...

''. Glen Hansard and The Frames played it live in M-klub on 25 October 2001.

References

*Frank, Josh; Ganz, Caryn. '' Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies''. Virgin Books, 2005. .

Notes

External links

"Cactus"
at Last.fm
"Cactus" at Google Music
{{authority control 1988 songs 2002 songs David Bowie songs Pixies (band) songs Songs written by Black Francis Song recordings produced by Steve Albini