Though not officially broken up, the band has not performed together in public since the early 1990s. In 2005, they were invited by Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse to perform at All Tomorrow's Parties but respectfully declined the invitation.
The band met while attending The Evergreen State College and began recording in 1983. The band's basic lineup was drums, guitar and vocals, though when they formed their only instruments were a pair of maracas and a Sears Silvertone guitar purchased at a thrift shop. Heather once joked in an interview that the history of the band could be told through a list of the various people they'd borrowed drums from. Heather and Calvin had been members of a previous band and approached Bret, who had no musical experience at the time, saying they ought to start a band and go to Japan. Indeed, it was on a trip to Tokyo that the band members recorded Three Tea Breakfast, an EP that established the band's reputation.
Calvin Johnson was one of the founders of seminal indie rock label K Records. The label achieved modest success and continues to hold its independent integrity, claiming to have been "exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1982."
Beat Happening (1985), their full length debut, was critically acclaimed, as was Jamboree (1988). By the release of Dreamy in 1991, Beat Happening was one of the most popular bands in the indie rock community, leading to their pivotal role in the International Pop Underground Festival, which brought anti-corporate rock its earliest mainstream acceptance. Their last full-length album was 1992's You Turn Me On, which represented the band breaking many of their established conventions from earlier albums, most notably on Godsend, which runs 9 minutes in length and features blatant use of multitrack recording. The album was described by allmusic.com as "A masterpiece." Though never announcing a break-up and claiming at one point to still practice once a month, the members of Beat Happening have moved on to various other projects. In 2000 they released the Angel Gone single, their first new release in eight years.
A Beat Happening box set, Crashing Through, which collects all of the band's officially released music except for two of their tracks from a live cassette split with The Vaselines, was released in 2002. The box set included a booklet containing a lengthy essay on the history and impact of the band by Lois Maffeo, as well as rare photos of members Calvin, Heather and Bret.
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Ask Me
Beat Happening Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I feel the same as yesterday
Five hands crawling up my back
Thump, thump had a heart attack
And oh, hey, well okay
Aren't you gonna ask me what I did today?
I'm goin' up and down
Black and white
Why can't it be right?
And oh, hey, well okay
Aren't you gonna ask me what I did today?
Got a pumpkin and a tree
And ideas all flowery
You got a joke, a smoke
And punctuation
But not enough time for conversation
And oh, hey, well okay
Aren't you gonna ask me what I did today?
The song Ask Me by Beat Happening talks about a feeling of monotony in life, as the singer feels the same way they did yesterday. They are burdened with the weight of stress and anxiety, as described by "five hands crawling up my back" and "thump, thump had a heart attack". However, they still wish for someone to pay attention to them, to ask them how their day went. The lyrics suggest a longing for meaningful relationships, as seen in lines like "not enough time for conversation". In a way, the song paints a picture of an individual facing various challenges and issues, yet yearning simply for a friend or loved ones.
The second verse delves deeper into this theme through the use of contrasting imagery. The singer is going up and down, hitting the ground (perhaps a metaphor for life's ups and downs), and is stuck in a dichotomy between black and white - good and bad, right and wrong, etc. They wonder why life can't be "right", as if they are longing for an ideal that they can't reach. Despite all of this, they still have moments of creativity, such as the pumpkin and tree, and flowery ideas. They long for company, someone to share jokes and witty remarks with. At the end of it all, they still want to be asked what they did today.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't know I feel today
I'm unsure of how I'm feeling today
I feel the same as yesterday
My emotions haven't changed from yesterday
Five hands crawling up my back
I'm experiencing anxiety
Thump, thump had a heart attack
My heart is racing with fear
And oh, hey, well okay
An expression of indifference or nonchalance
Aren't you gonna ask me what I did today?
Why haven't you shown interest in my daily activities?
I'm goin' up and down
My emotions are fluctuating
Hit the ground
I've hit rock bottom emotionally
Black and white
Everything seems bleak
Why can't it be right?
Why can't things be better for me?
Got a pumpkin and a tree
I have trivial things in my life
And ideas all flowery
I have creative thoughts, but they may be impractical
You got a joke, a smoke
You have momentary pleasures
And punctuation
You are more articulate than I
But not enough time for conversation
We don't have enough time to truly get to know each other
And oh, hey, well okay
An expression of indifference or nonchalance
Aren't you gonna ask me what I did today?
Why haven't you shown interest in my daily activities?
Contributed by Kaitlyn W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.