If you don't know how this series works, here's a little intro. This is an exclusive series I do on Blurt where I recommend you some of the music I like. Don't trust the title, while most of the times it will be rock, there will be other genres as well. In this series I tell you a personal memory that I have with this particular song, then I give you the song and then I'll spin some of the lyrics into something Blurt related. The memory can be fake so don't trust that either. It can also be true, you'll never know.
Alright let's start the show.
Today we're exploring a song written and performed by Pixies. Yes, this song is from the times when a band used to write, compose and perform their own songs. But hey(no pun intended), division of labor I guess.
Pixies is one one of the most influential bands of all time, being an inspiration for the likes of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, etc. Basically all the grunge you're listening is based on the work laid out by Pixies.
Hey is the third most popular song by Pixies on Spotify, but for me it's number one. The guitar rythm is absolutely incredible, for me evoking the rattling of a chain. Not surprisingly, chain, or to be precise chained, is the most used word throughout the whole song.
Listening once to Hey, you can clearly see the similitudes to the Nirvana songs, especially in the occasions the voice becomes a little bit more guttural.
The memory that I have with this song is of a particular summer when I used to work at this huge e-commerce corporation. I was working in translations. Since they wanted to bring products from another country they needed the product descriptions and specifications translated. I was an overqualified Google Translate, which we used quite often, funny enough.
Anyway I hated this job, it wasn't paying enough, it was incredibly boring since a lot of the products had the same description and I would have to go through hundreds of them each day making sure that it's actually the same. I wanted to work as a software developer, but I couldn't find anything suitable back then, so there I was, stuck, chained, producing translated versions of product descriptions.
The building was quite nice and big, it was one of those modern business parks. It was however outside the city. The whole business park had a couple of private buses that we rode for free. I remember one evening, at the end of the summer, after I finished working I waited for a couple of minutes before taking a bus.
Usually right after work, the buses would be full and I wasn't in the mood for that kind of thing. I sat on a bench, watching the twilight and listening to Hey by Pixies and vaping. I used to smoke, then vape, then nothing.
Sitting there, in that moment I took the decision to quit the job I had as soon as I was able to. A month later I quit, breaking the chains.
Here is the much awaited song: Hey.
If you have a Spotify, you can also click here:
And remember...
Must be a devil between us,
Or Blurt in my head
Blurt at the door
Blurt in my bed.
Edit: For Spotify users I've put together a playlist where songs from this series will appear: Rock Infusion