| "Pay No Mind (Snoozer)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Beck | ||||
| from the album Mellow Gold | ||||
| Released | April 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1993 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:14 | |||
| Label | Geffen | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Beck | |||
| Producer(s) | ||||
| Beck singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Pay No Mind (Snoozer)" on YouTube | ||||
"Pay No Mind (Snoozer)" is a song by Beck, taken from his first major label album Mellow Gold and released as its second single.
Said to be one of the oldest songs on Mellow Gold, Beck has claimed that he wrote it as a struggling musician, at the age of 18 or 19. Beck claimed that the song originally had ten verses, which were cut down for commercial release. On a limited number of Mellow Gold 12" vinyl albums, one can hear a version with an added stanza, which is inserted between the first and second verses of the standard Mellow Gold version. [1] "Got No Mind", a re-recorded, electric full-band arrangement of "Pay No Mind", features three of the seven verses of "Pay No Mind" that were cut on Mellow Gold and is included on the single for "Beercan". [1] [2]
"Pay No Mind (Snoozer)" is a simple folk rock song with an understated harmonica solo. According to an interpretation by Whiskeyclone.net, [1] the song's lyrical content explores Beck's attitudes towards the music industry. The first verse describes a city, which, despite being decrepit and dirty, is filled with shopping malls. In the second verse, Beck expresses resentment towards what he sees as the commercialism of major record labels focused on record sales and money, rather than artistic creativity. In the third verse, he concludes that, despite his negative stance, he is looking for a change, which getting signed would provide. [1]
Also to be noted is that the songs "Special People", "Trouble All My Days", and "Super Golden Black Sunchild" are from Beck's 1993 "Golden Feelings". On the release, "Special People" is listed as track 2; "Trouble All My Days" is listed as track 5; and "Super Golden Black Sunchild" is listed as track 9.
First known to be played live in 1993, "Pay No Mind" is still a fan-favorite and a staple of Beck's live shows. Beck is known for radically re-working the lyrics of the song while on stage to include commentary on things as diverse as Tom Petty and 99 cent stores. A music video, directed by Beck's friend Steve Hanft, was released for the song which featured Beck playing the acoustic guitar while wearing a shirt with the words "Rock Me" written onto the fabric; interspersed throughout the video are people enjoying cocktails, professional skateboarder Mark Gonzales performing random tricks, lava eruptions, diamonds, and other random stuff. Footage of the lava erupting and the final scene of a policeman running into a police station comes from episodes of the TV series In Search of... with Leonard Nimoy.
The video later appeared on an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head . [3]
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA) [4] | 139 |
American alternative rock band Sonic Youth has recorded the song for Japanese and Brazilian version of their 2009 album The Eternal .
Beck David Hansen, known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical collages of wide-ranging genres. He has musically encompassed folk, funk, soul, hip hop, electronic, alternative rock, country, and psychedelia. He has released 14 studio albums, as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music.
Mellow Gold is the third studio album by American musician Beck, released on March 1, 1994, by DGC Records. Critics noted the album's hybrid of various styles including rock, hip hop, folk, blues, psychedelia, and country, as well as ironic, witty lyrics. Its decidedly anti-commercial attitude led to it becoming an unexpected commercial success, peaking at number thirteen in the United States and eventually being certified platinum. As of July 2008, Mellow Gold has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States.
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The discography of Beck, an American rock musician, singer-songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist, consists of 14 studio albums, one compilation album, one remix album, four extended plays (EPs) and 52 singles. With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics and the public throughout his musical career as being amongst the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.
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"Beercan" is a single by Beck, taken from his first major record label release, Mellow Gold. It peaked at number 27 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks charts.
"Nobody's Fault but My Own" is a song by American musician Beck. The song was released in 1998 on his album Mutations, and was released as a single in Japan only on April 21, 1999. The CD single came backed with the exclusive tracks "One of These Days" and "Diamond in the Sleaze" as B-sides. The insert features the lyrics in both English and Japanese.
"Gamma Ray" is a song by American rock musician Beck. It was released as the second single from his eighth studio album, Modern Guilt, on August 11, 2008. It is seemingly inspired by the surf rock songs of the 1960s, but with ghostly moans and lyrics on the state of the world. The title refers to gamma rays, biologically hazardous energy emitted by radioactive decay. Despite its up-tempo beat, the song lyrics invoke nihilistic or apocalyptic themes, including melting ice caps, boredom, burning houses, crowns of thorns, and natural disasters. The song peaked at number 19 on the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was also placed at number 6 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.
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