"Sexx Laws" is a song by American singer

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 ...

, from his album ''

Midnite Vultures ''Midnite Vultures'' is the seventh studio album by American musician Beck, released on November 23, 1999 by DGC Records. While similar to most of Beck's previous albums in its exploration of widely varying styles, it did not achieve the same bloc ...

'' (1999). It was released as the lead single from the album in October 1999.

Composition

Beck said of the song's lyrics:

It's me playing with the ridiculousness of those entrenched ideas about what a man does and what a woman can do. A lot of
soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
comes from a real masculine strength, but there's also this intense vulnerability about it. You have the masculine tough-guy exterior and the emotional openness, which is feminine, as well. I wanted to have fun with that, turn up that contrast a little bit without getting bogged down into preciousness and psychobabble.

Of the song's music, he said:

I think my main interest in using the horns was for performance - so much music today is so guitar heavy. I sought other places to get muscle into the music. Many bands rely heavily on guitar to pump up the sound, but I thought it would be interesting to make the horns into the guitars. I think it was the L.A. Rams. I used to watch them when I was growing up, and it just reminded me of ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
'' in 1978.

Reception

In 2014, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named it the 260th Greatest Song of All Time. '' Paste'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' both ranked the song number 10 on their lists of the greatest Beck songs.

In popular culture

"Sexx Laws" was used in the 2014

Renault Twingo The Renault Twingo is a four-seater passenger city car manufactured and marketed by the French auto-maker Renault, introduced in 1992 and currently in its third generation. The first generation Twingo (two door, front engine) debuted at the Pa ...

advertisement. The song was also used in the ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'' episode "

Bendin' in the Wind "Bendin' in the Wind" is the thirteenth episode in season three of the animated television series ''Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 22, 2001. It guest-stars Beck as himself. Bender becomes a folksing ...

" and in ''

Daria ''Daria'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis, Susie Lewis Lynn. The series ran from March 3, 1997, to January 21, 2002, on MTV. It focuses on the title character, Daria Morgendorffer, ...

''.

Live performances

Beck has performed the song close to 300 times. Although it was released on ''Midnite Vultures'' in 1999, he performed the song live for the first time as early as June 1998.

Music videos

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

, directed by Beck himself, contains visual references to films such as ''

Mr. Freedom ''Mr. Freedom'' is a 1968 superhero film by the expatriate American photographer and filmmaker William Klein (photographer), William Klein. An anti-imperialist satirical farce, it concerns the exploits of the titular white nationalist superhero ...

'', ''

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

'', as well as the feature film adaptation of '' Ganbare!! Robocon''.

Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...

appears in the music video as a member of the Vision Warrior Men's Circle, along with

Neil Strauss Neil Darrow Strauss, also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author, journalist and ghostwriter. He is best known for his book '' The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', in which he describes his ...

and

Justin Meldal-Johnsen Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent. Meldal-J ...

. Surreal elements of the video include a refrigerator

dry hump Non-penetrative sex or outercourse is sexual activity that usually does not include sexual penetration. It generally excludes the penetrative aspects of vaginal, anal, or oral sexual activity, but includes various forms of sexual and non-sexua ...

ing an oven,

Kenny G Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album ''Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling artis ...

(played by Meldal-Johnsen) in a room of football players, and a spinning mannequin of a zebra with a banjo. There are several versions of the video. The original (once posted on Beck's website) was over 18 minutes long and extended the intro of the Men's Circle. The subsequent versions edited out the intro and ending, the latter truncating a pep rally speech by Jack Black's character.

Track listings

CD1 #"Sexx Laws" – 3:38 #"Salt in the Wound" – 3:24 #"Sexx Laws" (Wizeguyz Remix) – 6:03 CD2 #"Sexx Laws" – 3:38 #"This Is My Crew" – 3:55 #"Sexx Laws" (Malibu Remix) – 6:51 7" #"Sexx Laws" – 3:38 #"Salt in the Wound" – 3:24 12" #"Sexx Laws" – 3:38 #"Sexx Laws" (Malibu Remix) – 6:51 #"Salt in the Wound" – 3:24 #"Sexx Laws" (Wizeguyz Remix) – 6:03

Personnel

- lead vocals, keyboard, horn arrangement *

- bass *

Roger Joseph Manning Jr. Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (born May 27, 1966) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the bands Jellyfish, the Moog Cookbook, and Imperial Drag. He has also spent several years as a member of Beck's backing band, contri ...

- synthesizer, piano, tambourine, shaker *

Smokey Hormel Smokey Hormel (born circa 1959)Cohen (2017) quotes Hormel as saying he was "4 or 5 ears old when "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles was "a big hit on the radio"; the song was released in America in December 1963. is an American guitarist ...

- guitar * David Arthur Brown - tenor sax *Jon Birdsong - trumpet *David Ralicke - trombone *Jay Dee Maness - pedal steel *

Herb Pedersen Herbert Joseph Pedersen (born April 27, 1944 in Berkeley, California) is an American musician, guitarist, banjo player, and singer-songwriter who has played a variety of musical styles over the past fifty years including Country music, country, ...

- banjo *

Arnold McCuller Arnold McCuller (born August 26, 1950) is an American vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was active as a solo artist and session musician, but is perhaps best known for his work as a touring back-u ...

- backing vocals *Valerie Pinkston - backing vocals

Charts

References

External links

Sexx Laws -- a music video retrospective
* * {{Authority control Beck songs 1999 singles Songs written by Beck 1999 songs Geffen Records singles