"Debaser" is a song by

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 Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

, and is the first song on their 1989 album '' Doolittle''. The song was written and sung by frontman Black Francis and was produced by

Gil Norton Gil Norton (born in Liverpool) is an English record producer known for his work with alternative rock bands such as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo ...

during ''Doolittle'''s recording sessions.

Releases

The " Head On" single includes a live version of the song recorded in Chicago on August 9, 1989, and a recording from Debaser December 16, 2004, in New York City appears on ''"Hey" – Live Pixies 2004–2005''. "Debaser" was later released as a single in 1997 to promote the ''

Death to the Pixies ''Death to the Pixies'' was the first Pixies best-of compilation, released by 4AD in the UK on October 6, 1997, and 4AD/ Elektra the following day in the United States to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the band's debut. It covered the years ...

'' compilation. The single appeared in three forms: live, studio and demo. A version of this song was also used in the game ''

DJ Hero 2 ''DJ Hero 2'' is a rhythm video game and a sequel to ''DJ Hero'', a spinoff of the ''Guitar Hero'' series. ''DJ Hero 2'' uses a special turntable-controller, the same as introduced in ''DJ Hero'', to simulate turntablism, the act of creating a ...

'', remixed with The Prodigy's song "

Invaders Must Die ''Invaders Must Die'' is the fifth studio album by English electronic dance music group The Prodigy. The album was released on 23 February 2009 on the band's new record label Take Me to the Hospital, and was distributed by Cooking Vinyl. Alt ...

"; this mix is available as downloadable content for the game.

Lyrics and meaning

The lyrics are based on a

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

film by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

and

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

called ''

Un Chien Andalou ''Un Chien Andalou'' (, ''An Andalusian Dog'') is a 1929 French silent short film directed by Luis Buñuel, and written by Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. Buñuel's first film, it was initially released in a limited capacity at Studio des Ursuline ...

''. The film includes 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." According to Black Francis: :I wish Buñuel were 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.' e sings:"Un chien andalou"... It sounds too French, so I will sing "un chien andalusia", it sounds good, no? The title "Debaser" references the fact that ''Un Chien Andalou'' debases

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...

and standards of

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

, according to Black Francis. In the earliest version of the song, the line "''un chien andalusia''" was originally "Shed, Apollonia!"—a reference to a scene in the Prince film '' Purple Rain''. In 2022, Black Francis elaborated on the song's meaning: "I guess it means: one who debases. A debaser. It was an attempt to introduce a new word into the lexicon, but I don’t think it’s been successful, else I would have heard about it."

Track listing

Debaser – Demo #"Debaser" (Demo) – 2:59 #"No. 13 Baby" (Demo) – 3:10 Debaser – Live #"Debaser" (Live in Chicago, August 10, 1989) – 2:44 #"Holiday Song" (Live in Chicago, August 10, 1989) – 2:10 #"

Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

" (Live in Chicago, August 10, 1989) – 2:27 #"Nimrod's Son" (Live in Chicago, August 10, 1989) – 3:08 Debaser – Studio #"Debaser" – 2:52 #"Bone Machine" (Live in Netherlands, 1990) – 3:03 #" Gigantic" (Live in Netherlands, 1990) – 3:24 #"Isla de Encanta" (Live in Netherlands, 1990) – 1:44

Charts

References

{{authority control 1997 singles Pixies (band) songs Songs written by Black Francis Elektra Records singles 1989 songs Song recordings produced by Gil Norton