"Pepper" is a song by American

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 Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

from their seventh studio album, '' Electriclarryland'' (1996). Released on April 11, 1996, the track reached number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart and number 29 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

chart, becoming the top-ranked song of 1996 on the former listing. In Australia, the song peaked at number 15 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and was ranked number four on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 1996. It also reached number two on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Alternative 30 and number 32 in New Zealand.

Composition and lyrics

"Pepper" opens with the chorus guitar riff, slowed down to half speed. The song shifts from

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

verses to sung choruses. The lyrics of the verses list ten characters and describes how some either die or escape a brush with death. The song also contains the bridge played in

reverse Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...

. The reversed words are the first and last lines of the chorus: "I don't mind the sun sometimes; the images it shows; you never know just how you look through other people's eyes." According to

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

, who put the song on their list of "The Top 10 Hits the Band Wishes Didn't Exist", the song was written as "a send-up of

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

Music video

The video for "Pepper", directed by Gavin Bowden, features 1960s style news clip-like footage of a group of people being arrested in a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

hotel for kidnapping while newscasters and cameramen crowd around. The kidnapping victim, rescued by the police, is portrayed by

Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor and police officer. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series ...

. Singer

Gibby Haynes Gibson Jerome Haynes (born September 30, 1957) is an American musician, radio personality, painter, author and the lead singer of the band Butthole Surfers. Early life and career Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Gibby Haynes is the son of actor ...

is portrayed as the ringleader, and is shown being interviewed by reporters as police gather evidence. The

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segment is filmed in

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, and is broken up by 1960s-style color footage, showing the band performing on a show much like ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

''. This performance footage is interspersed with 1960s style enactments of cooking and variety shows. The police and Estrada are repeatedly shown eating corn from a can, which, according to the director, is "a reference to the way videos are made; how directors have to have this shot and that shot – how they're spoon-feeding images to the audience."

Track listings

US CD and maxi-cassette single # "Pepper" (edit) # "Pepper" (album version) # "Let's Talk About Cars" US 7-inch jukebox vinyl :A. "Pepper" – 4:57 :B. "Birds" – 3:12 UK CD single # "Pepper" # "Hybrid" UK limited-edition 7-inch red vinyl single :A. "Pepper" (single edit) :B. "Pepper" (Butcha' Bros Remix) European CD single # "Pepper" # "Hybrid" # "Pepper" (Butcha' Bros. Remix) # "The Lord Is a Monkey" (demo)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Cover version

On September 2, 2010,

Hesta Prynn Julie Potash (born March 20), also known as Hesta Prynn, is an American musician, singer, and rapper from Long Island, New York. She began her career in music as one-third of the all-female hip-hop group Northern State. After the band broke u ...

and

Shawn Crahan Michael Shawn Crahan (born September 24, 1969), more commonly known by his stage persona "Clown", is an American musician. He is the co-founder and one of two percussionists for heavy metal band Slipknot in which he is designated #6. Crahan he ...

of Slipknot released a cover of "Pepper" as a 7-inch vinyl single. The B-side of the single is the previously unreleased track "Seven Sisters".

References

{{Authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs Butthole Surfers songs Capitol Records singles Electronic rock songs Rap rock songs Songs about death Songs about Texas