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“Debaser” is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, 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 during Doolittle’s recording sessions.
“Debaser” was later released as a single in 1997 to promote the Death to the Pixies compilation. The single appeared in three forms: live, studio and demo.
The lyrics are based on a French surrealist film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí called Un chien andalou. The film notoriously opens with 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 was 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.’ “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 and standards of art, according to Black Francis. In the earliest version of the song, the line “un chien andalusia” was originally “Shed, Appolonia!”—a reference to the co-star in the Prince film Purple Rain.
“Debaser” was later released as a single in 1997 to promote the Death to the Pixies compilation. The single appeared in three forms: live, studio and demo.
The lyrics are based on a French surrealist film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí called Un chien andalou. The film notoriously opens with 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 was 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.’ “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 and standards of art, according to Black Francis. In the earliest version of the song, the line “un chien andalusia” was originally “Shed, Appolonia!”—a reference to the co-star in the Prince film Purple Rain.
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Pixies Debaser Live
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Albums featuring this track
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Doolittle
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Death to the Pixies
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2004-04-21: Victoria, BC, Canada (disc 1)
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Shouts
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serotone9 wrote:
We need a new language to describe how great this song is.
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keithster12 wrote:
Frank Black!
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LowPulp wrote:
fucking fantastic
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vinicorrea wrote:
AAAAAHHHHH HA HA HA HOOOOOOOOO!!!!
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dontmakemeatrgt wrote:
Probably one of the best album openers of all time.
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Steris wrote:
slicin' up my balls whoawhoawhoawhoa
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brighterorange wrote:
One of the best ever.
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Ackibear wrote:
Great shit.
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djnonplus wrote:
SLICIN UP EYEBALLS WOAHWOAHUHOH
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vx_GASMAN wrote:
SHIT i could lose ya
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gfunkj wrote:
Pretty sure I could listen to this all day every day for at least 2 years
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Last_On_Bleach wrote:
the contrast between the dude loosing his mind and the lady's calm is amazing sorry that im a pixies noob
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NigelE8992 wrote:
pop? what the fuck?
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woodear wrote:
i am un chien andalusia
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champagneocean wrote:
DEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAASER
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ewgumz wrote:
best pop song of the past 20 years
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PhamilyJules wrote:
Ever wanted to watch a ukulele cover of Debaser played by a Japanese man in his car? Well, here you go. It's equally frightening and entertaining... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sycwq_nBmfs
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T0m_Me wrote:
ahahoho
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xiempiethps wrote:
and the bass and the guitar and the vocals
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xiempiethps wrote:
this song is so badass, love the drums.
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madsic, paranoid-mraz, timocreon and 6 other people loved Pixies – Debaser. 3 hours ago
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kathereibe tagged Debaser with ‘80s’. Friday evening
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leapsandbounds added Debaser to the playlist amandahi 2009. Friday evening
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