"Sissyneck" is a song by American musician Beck, released as the fourth single from his fifth album, ''

Odelay ''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at numbe ...

'' (1996). For the bass line of the song, the Dust Brothers sampled "A Part of Me" by the band ''Country Funk''. The whistling in the introduction comes from "The Moog and Me" by Dick Hyman. The organ line is from "Life" by

Sly & the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi- ...

. The song peaked at No. 30 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Critical reception

British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated the song three out of five, picking it as Single of the Week. They added, "Gaining converts by the day, Beck's maverick touch has now felt fully by the mainstream and this typically languid effort will reinforce his growing reputation as a very cool cat." David Sinclair from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' described it as a "gloriously off-kilter combination of country-rock tune and street-hustle percussion."

Controversy

In the early versions of this song, Beck sampled a talking

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

doll, but

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

did not grant permission to include the audio.

Track listing

Three-track single

# "Sissyneck" – 3:55 # "

The New Pollution "The New Pollution" is a song by American musician Beck, released as the third single from his fifth album, ''Odelay'' (1996). It samples the song "Venus" by Joe Thomas. In the US, the song peaked at number 78 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and num ...

" (Remix by Mickey P.) – 4:08 # "Feather in Your Cap" – 3:46 #* This version can be found on the ''

SubUrbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include Commercial area, commercial and mixed-use development, mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a ...

'' soundtrack.

Alternate pressing

# "Sissyneck" (LP version) – 3:58 # "Burro" (Mariachi Version of " Jack-Ass") – 3:11 # "Dark and Lovely" (Remix by

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on ...

) – 3:38 # "Devil Got My Woman" (

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

cover) – 4:34 # "Brother" – 4:45

UK 7" vinyl

# "Sissyneck" (LP version) – 3:58 # "Feather in Your Cap" – 3:46

Cassette

# "Sissyneck" (LP version) – 3:55 # "The New Pollution" (Remix by Mickey P.) – 4:08

Personnel

*Beck – vocals, guitars, bass, organ, congas, programming, composition *Mike Boito – organ *Gregory Liesz – pedal steel guitar *The Dust Brothers – programming, composition

References

Beck songs Songs written by Beck 1997 singles 1996 songs Song recordings produced by Dust Brothers Songs written by John King (record producer) Songs written by Michael Simpson (producer) {{1990s-rock-song-stub