"Little Black Backpack" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Stroke 9 Stroke 9 is an American alternative rock band formed in Marin County, California, in 1989. History The band formed due to a "Rock Band" class at Marin Academy in San Rafael, California. In 1990, as a project, students Luke Esterkyn, Greg Gueldne ...

from their third studio album ''

Nasty Little Thoughts ''Nasty Little Thoughts'' is the third studio album by American rock band Stroke 9. It was released on September 7, 1999, by Universal Records. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on April 21, 2000 and yielded 2 singles: "Little Black Backpack" a ...

'' (1999). It was released to radio as the lead single from the album in 1999, by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

. The song was collectively written by Stroke 9 and produced by Jerry Harrison. The song was inspired by a women's fashion trend in the late-Nineties. Commercially, "Little Black Backpack" achieved moderate success in the United States and reached the top 20 in New Zealand.

Writing and inspiration

"Little Black Backpack" was collectively written by Stroke 9. According to frontman Luke Esterkyn, the song was inspired by a late-Nineties fashion trend among women. He stated: "

he band He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

would go out and notice all these little black backpack purse things. Everyone had them. All these seemingly intelligent and cool girls bought into the trend." The song's message of jealousy was inspired by Esterkyn's ex-girlfriend, as he witnessed her wearing a black backpack while out with another man.

Chart performance and critical reception

"Little Black Backpack" achieved moderate success in the United States. The song peaked at number four on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart, in which it spent fourteen weeks on the chart. Heather Phares of

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referred to the song as

college rock College rock was the alternative rock music played on student-run university and college campus radio stations located in the United States and Canada in the 1980s. The stations' playlists were often created by students who avoided the mainstream ...

, in which she praised the radio-friendly nature of it.

Live performances

Stroke 9 performed the song at the 2000 California Music Awards.

Track listings and formats

* CD single # "Little Black Backpack" – 3:43 # "Down" – 4:23 # "One Time" – 3:20 # "Tear Me in Two" – 5:12 # "Little Black Backpack" (live) – 3:43

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the ''Nasty Little Thoughts'' album liner notes. * Luke Esterkyn – vocals, guitar * Eric Stock – drums, percussion * John McDermott – guitar, background vocals * Greg Gueldner – bass * Jerry Harrison – producer * Karl Derfler – recording * Leff Lefferts – recording assistant *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

– mixing *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering

Charts

References

{{Stroke 9 1999 songs 1999 singles Universal Records singles