Wave of Mutilation by Pixies

Album: Doolittle (1989)

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Lead singer Black Francis (Frank Black) described this song as being about "Japanese businessmen doing murder-suicides with their families because they'd failed in business, and they're driving off a pier into the ocean."
In a concert in 2004 Frank Black stated half-jokingly, "This song is from about 15 years ago and while I didn't invent it, I was the first guy to sing about El Niño before it became all popular and everything. I just wanted to take credit for that." >>>
Suggestion credit:
Martin - Rostock, Germany, for above 2
Pixes drummer David Lovering describes this as a very "un-Pixies-like" song, calling it "gentle and dreamy." He told MusicRadar: "It's an easy song to play, but it's very effective in the way it grabs people. It's got a very odd, arresting spirit. There's nothing else that sounds quite like it."

Comments: 3

I'm For Against That from Not The Mariana IslandsMariana refers to Mariana Trench... so nice try RI.
Rl from NycMariana is a reference to the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific ocean.

El Niño is the warm phase of the Pacific Ocean that increases rainfall and warm weather.
Ryan from Anahola, HiI'm the first to comment. This song was featured in the music video game, Rock Band.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)Will Glahe

In 1939, a polka craze swept America thanks to "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel)."

BloodstreamEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran's "Bloodstream" was written after an experience taking MDMA during a wedding celebration in Ibiza; it's basically about all the feelings that he got from that time.

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. Pete Townshend thought that whoever was in power was destined to become corrupt.

Good TimesChic

The disco song "Good Tmes" by Chic was a huge influence on early rap, providing the bassline for "Rapper's Delight."

Dancing QueenABBA

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson conceived "Dancing Queen" as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo," drawing inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby." Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen."

Uptown FunkMark Ronson

The actress Michelle Pfeiffer gets namechecked in the 2014 megahit "Uptown Funk" ("Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold"). When it was released, "Riptide" by Vance Joy was on the charts; that song also mentions her ("Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen").