Beat Happening is an American indie pop and punk rock band formed in Olympi… Read Full Bio ↴Beat Happening is an American indie pop and punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, United States in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi movements, noted for their use of primitive recording techniques, disregard for the technical aspects of musicianship, and songs with subject matters of a childish or coy nature.

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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You Turn Me On
Beat Happening Lyrics

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Back of the woods with the fire glowing
Behind the barn, burning slowly
Set the fire, set the timber
Burn it down to ash and cinder

Turn me on dead man (x10)
Oh, you turn me on

Back of the house, down the steps
Under the cellar door we crept
Brought the doors, brought the windows
Set a match to scarecrow tinder

Turn me on dead man (x10)
You turn me on

Out of my head
Out of my tree
Out of my stuff drip out of me

Burn down the house
Burn down the barn
Burning down the entire farm
Cross the fields, fallow garden
Watch the scarecrow, forever autumn

Turn me on dead man (x10)
You turn me on

(To be done?) we'll keep our bargain
You and I forever autumn

Turn me on dead man (x7)
You turn me on

You turn me on
Turn me on dead man

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Beat Happening's "You Turn Me On" paint a picture of destruction and chaos. The song starts by describing a fire burning slowly behind a barn in the woods. The tone of the song is dark and eerie, with the repetition of the phrase "Turn me on dead man" adding to the ominous feeling. The imagery of burning down the house, barn, and entire farm adds to the overall sense of destruction and chaos.

The second half of the song switches to a more personal tone, with the singer describing being "out of their head" and "out of their tree". This feeling of being out of control is mirrored by the destruction described earlier in the song. The singer seems to be asking to be turned on, possibly to feel something or to feel less out of control. The repetition of the phrase "You turn me on" adds to the urgency of this desire.

The final lines of the song suggest a kind of pact being made between the singer and someone else. The phrase "we'll keep our bargain" suggests that the singer is making a deal with the dead man they've been calling out to throughout the song. The final repetition of "Turn me on dead man" adds a final feeling of uncertainty and unease.

Line by Line Meaning

Back of the woods with the fire glowing
Behind the forest, where the fire shines brightly

Behind the barn, burning slowly
Backside of the barn, where the fire slowly burns

Set the fire, set the timber
Start the fire, light the wood

Burn it down to ash and cinder
Burn it all till it turns to shreds and ashes

Turn me on dead man (x10)
Excite me like a corpse (repeated 10 times)

Oh, you turn me on
Oh, how you excite me

Back of the house, down the steps
Behind the house, down the staircase

Under the cellar door we crept
We sneaked under the cellar door

Brought the doors, brought the windows
Brought the doors and the windows to fuel the fire

Set a match to scarecrow tinder
Lit a match to the scarecrow's hay

Out of my head
Out of my mind