Farrah Fawcett Hair

Album: In a Tidal Wave Of Mystery (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • A track from Capital Cities debut album, this is a very experimental song for the duo, which had been working together writing music for commercials before releasing their own material. In our interview with Sebu Simonian, he explained how he and Ryan Merchant came up with the song. "We just wanted to do an experimental track that followed no rules," he said. "So whatever idea came to mind, we just threw it at the wall and most of them stuck."
  • Farrah Fawcett was an actress who rose to international fame as private investigator Jill Munroe in the television series Charlie's Angels. An iconic poster of her, released the same year as Charlie's Angels premiered, helped make Fawcett an international pop culture icon. Her hairstyle became an international trend, with women sporting "Farrah hair" well into the 1980s.

    Her hair in this song is one example of things that are good, which is a running theme on the track. Some of the references are ubiquitous (Thriller, sunsets), while others are more esoteric (public bathrooms with scented candles).
  • The announcer on this track is Frank Tavares, who was the longtime voice of the National Public Radio (NPR) underwriting messages. He appears throughout the song saying various non-sequiturs (Daniel Day Lewis, Nutella), and opens the song by saying, "Support for Capital Cities comes from... Lazy Hooks." Lazy Hooks is the production company the Captial Cities duo formed when they got together in 2008.
  • This song features Outkast rapper Andre 3000. Capital Cities had the middle section of the song completed and wanted a Hip-Hop vocal over it, so they made a list of rappers who they thought would be good for the part. At the top of that list was Andre 3000, so they approached him first, sending him this track and a few others for consideration. "Farrah" was the one he picked.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Classic Metal

Classic MetalFact or Fiction

Ozzy, Guns N' Roses, Judas Priest and even Michael Bolton show up in this Classic Metal quiz.

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.