Where Is My Mind? (Review)

Where is my Mind?, taken from the Pixies 1988 album Surfer Rosa, is one of the most identifiable Pixies tracks, and teeters on the brink of insanity and ecstasy. Luring the listener in with distant falsetto howls, its "one take" aesthetic places you right in what sounds like a rehearsal room rather than a studio.

At the time of its recording, this production style was quite uncommon, with most bands favoring a highly processed sound that took advantage of the relatively new digital equipment that had recently become available. Producer Steve Albini completed the entire Surfer Rosa album on a budget of $10,000, taking only $1,500 as his personal fee, so it is perhaps due to a combination of innovation and necessity that this album proves such a defining memento for the band.

Black Francis, Pixies lead singer, strains, "With your feet on the air and your head on the ground," conjuring the absurd, whimsical imagery that is typical of his lyrical script. A YouTube search reveals that Where Is My Mind has inspired countless homemade music videos, and in this writer's humble opinion the most accurately reflective of the song's intent can be found in this amateurish (but brilliantly fun) clip embedded below.

The Pixies possess a collective cool that will never die. Their songs make you forget all the bad in the world, and feel the same warmth and excitement as an awakening, dumb, but carefree teenager. We can only hope that many future generations of musically inquisitive youth will also one day "try this trick, and spin it, yeah."

Where is my Mind? was also featured during the final scene of the 1999 film Fight Club.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

— MK

The Pixies are one of those bands that manage to appeal to an extremely diverse cross section of society. As time passes, they claim an even greater entitlement to their reputation as one of the coolest American indie/alternative bands in history. Referenced openly by contemporary acts such as Placebo and Nirvana, and featured in the soundtracks to groundbreaking films such as Fight Club, this Boston band formed in Massachusetts in 1986. Members Black Francis, Joey Santiago, Kim Deal, and David Lovering succumbed to a spiraling demise of post 80s excess in 1993. The group disbanded for a time, before reuniting in 2004.

Where Is My Mind? (Lyrics)

Ooohh

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground 
Try this trick and spin it, yeah 
Your head will collapse 
But there's nothing in it 
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind? 
Where is my mind? 
Where is my mind?

Way out in the water 
See it swimmin'

I was swimmin' in the Caribbean 
Animals were hiding behind the rock 
Except the little fish 
But they told me, he swears 
Tryin' to talk to me to me to me

Where is my mind? 
Where is my mind? 
Where is my mind?

Way out in the water 
See it swimmin'

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground 
Try this trick and spin it, yeah 
Your head will collapse 
If there's nothing in it 
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind? 
Where is my mind? 
Where is my mind?

Ooohh

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground

Ooohh

Try this trick and spin it, yeah

Ooohh

Ooohh

Contact Information:

The Pixies 
pixiesmusic.com 
facebook.com/pixiesofficial

Where Is My Mind? (Viral Parody)