Beck was born in Los Angeles, California, to David Campbell (a musician and son of a Presbyterian minister) and Bibbe Hansen (a former dancer for The Velvet Underground, founding member of the satirical band Black Fag, and visual artist). When his parents separated, Beck stayed with his mother and brother in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by that city's diverse musical offerings—everything from hip-hop to latin music—and his mother's art scene – all of which would later reappear in his recorded and published work.
Although Beck's work defies easy description, his eclecticism and genre experiments have sparked comparisons with Prince, though Beck was undoubtedly a less prolific artist, and drew on an absurdist, free-flowing lyrical style totally original when first exposed to mainstream audiences (indeed, some critics labeled him and his breakthrough single Loser as novelties - see below). Despite this individualism, Beck's music was very much a product of the 90s and the media age in general, with hip hop, indie/underground rock, electronic music and genre-benders like the Beastie Boys as notable touchstones; in addition, some critics could not resist likening his head-spinning lyrical aesthetic to a post-modern Bob Dylan sensibility.
After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck educated himself and traveled widely. In Germany, he spent time with his grandfather, fluxus artist Al Hansen. His artistic relationship with his grandfather may have influenced both his album art and sense of musical collage. He began the musical activity in 1988. The late-80's found him in New York City as part of the punk-influenced anti-folk music movement.
Beck returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade, destitute but motivated. During this time, Beck sought out (or snuck onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops. Some of his earliest and most thought-provoking recordings were achieved by working with Tom Grimley at Poop Alley Studios, a part of WIN Records.
In this atmosphere of heady creativity the founders of Bong Load Custom Records discovered Beck. Their 1993 12" vinyl Loser, from an initial run of 530 copies, created a sensation on college and alternative radio that led to a furious bidding war between labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose Geffen Records, who offered him terms that included an allowance for the release of independent albums while under contract (he may have owed Bong Load another album or two).
In 1994, Geffen's official debut release of Mellow Gold made Beck a mainstream smash success; it also led to his iconic status as the "slacker" representative of the alternative rock scene, although the title of the song had been ironic.
At the same time, he released Stereopathetic Soulmanure on Flipside Records and One Foot in the Grave on independent K Records. Beck took his act on the road with the 1995 Lollapalooza tour. Still, some critics panned him as a one-hit wonder. Audiences' (especially at Lollapalooza) familiarity with Loser only, and their general disinterest in his other work only reinforced his image as a one-hit wonder. It's been said said that Beck released Stereopathetic Soulmanure and One Foot in the Grave to shake the Gen X-ers that associated themselves with him and made "Loser" their slacker anthem.
The one-hit wonder label was put to rest with the release of 1996's Odelay, a collaborative effort with The Dust Brothers, producers of Paul's Boutique. The lead single, "Where It's At", received heavy airplay and its video was in constant rotation on MTV. Within the year, Odelay had received perfect reviews in Rolling Stone and Spin magazines, having been listed on countless "Best of" lists (it topped the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 'Album of the Year'), receiving double-platinum status, and earning an impressive number of industry awards, including two Grammys.
Odelay was followed in 1998 by Mutations. Produced by Nigel Godrich of Radiohead fame, it was intended as a stopgap measure before the next album proper. Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced 14 songs. Mutations was a departure from the electronic density of Odelay, and was filled with folk and blues influences. Songs on the album consisted of older tracks, some even dating back as far as 1994.
In 1999, Geffen released the much-anticipated Midnite Vultures, an orgy of sexual and culinary innuendo supported by a world tour. For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza.
After Midnite Vultures came Sea Change in 2002, another airy and emotional album with producer Nigel Godrich, which became Beck's first U.S. Top 10 album, reaching # 8. Sea Change was conceptualized as an album with one unifying theme—the stages following the end of a relationship. The album also featured string arrangements by Beck's father and a sonically dense mix reminiscient of Mutations. The Sea Change tour featured The Flaming Lips as Beck's opening and backing band.
In September 2003, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label album. Guero was produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer and features a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes; it marked a return to Odelay-era sound. The album was released in March of 2005 and despite critical acclaim, the album received a more lackluster response from Beck's indie-oriented fanbase.
Beck married Marissa Ribisi in April 2004, shortly before the birth of their son, Cosimo Henri Hansen. 2004 also saw the release of "10 Years of Mellow Gold," a short documentary about Beck's first album.
Beck's next album, The Information was released on October 3, 2006. It is a largely electronic and ambient, filled with blips and beeps. It was produced by Nigel Godrich, who worked on "Sea Change" and a longtime Radiohead and Thom Yorke producer. The first single was Nausea, an acoustic rock hip hop song. The next single was Cellphone's Dead, and the third single was Think I'm In Love.
His next single, Timebomb, was released on iTunes on August 21, 2007, and the limited edition vinyl 12" was released on November 2, 2007, with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side. In December, 2007, it was announced that Timebomb had been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.
Modern Guilt was the eighth studio album by Beck. It was released on July 8, 2008. The album fulfilled Beck's recording contract with Interscope Records. Outside of North America, the record was released by XL Recordings. Its three singles were Chemtrails, Gamma Ray, and Youthless.
Modern Guilt features two contributions by Cat Power and was produced by Beck and Danger Mouse.
The album entered both the Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart at number four, and gave Beck his first ever Top 10 placing on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number nine. The album has also been Beck's best charting album in Australia, reaching 13. It sold 84,000 copies in its first week. Although successful, this does not match the first week sales of The Information, which were 99,000. In December 2008, Modern Guilt was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.
Song Reader, a project Beck released in December 2012, is 20 songs presented only as sheet music, in the hopes that enterprising musicians will record their own versions. The idea of Song Reader came about nearly fifteen years prior, shortly after the release of Odelay. When sent a book of transcribed sheet music for that album, Beck decided to play through it and grew interested in the world before recorded sound. He aimed to keep the arrangements as open as possible, to re-create the simplicity of the standards, and became preoccupied with creating only pieces that could fit within the Great American Songbook. In 2013 Beck began playing special Song Reader concerts with a variety of guests and announced he was working on a record of Song Reader material with other musicians as well as possibly a compilation of fan versions.
In the summer of 2013, Beck was reported to be working on two new studio albums: one a more self-contained acoustic disc in the vein of One Foot in the Grave and another described as a "proper follow-up" to Modern Guilt. Beck expects to release both albums independently. He released two standalone singles over the course of the summer: the electro ballad Defriended and the chorus-heavy I Won't Be Long. A third single, Gimme, appeared on September 17.
In October 2013, it was announced that Beck signed to Capitol Records. Beck released his twelfth studio album entitled Morning Phase on 21 February 2014. For the recording of Morning Phase, Beck reunited with many of the same musicians with whom he had worked on the critically acclaimed 2002 album Sea Change. On January 20, 2014, the album's first single Blue Moon was released. Beck released the second single, Waking Light, on February 4, 2014.
4 years later, on October 13th, 2017, Beck released the second album that was supposed to come out alongside Morning Phase. This album was called Colors. Colors is very different from Beck's previous albums, in which he takes a stab at pop music. Beck's expertise, mixing genres, works in this album when he mixes Alternative Rock, hip hop, and a lot of Pop. The album's earliest single, "Dreams", was released in June 2015, and three more ("Wow", "Dear Life", "Up All Night") were released between June 2016 and September 2017. The title track was released as a single in April 2018. The album won the Best Alternative Music Album and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classic) at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
After a short wait, Beck released Hyperspace on November 22, 2019. There was little marketing for this album. The whole album is a collaboration with Pharrell Williams, as he produced almost every song on the album. The album's first single was "Saw Lightning" released on April 15, 2019, and had a folk-pop sound to it. It doesn't fit with the rest of the album's synth lo-fi sound. Other singles were "Hyperlife" and "Uneventful Days" on October 17, 2019, and "Dark Places" on November 7, 2019.
2) BECK can refer to a fictional rock band from the Japanese Anime series BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. The fictional BECK's songs feature in the BECK Original Sound Track. BECK's style and members are highly influenced by various different artists. From vocals in the style of Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, guitar influenced by Tom Morello of the same band, the band is highly influenced by rap-rock.
As the series develops, other influence appear, including guitar in the style of Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, and Red Hot Chili Peppers John Frusciante. During the series, the band covers a famous The Beatles song, 'I've got a Feeling'. The name BECK could have possibly been influenced by the first artist Beck, mentioned above. Harold Sakushi, the original author of the series, has confirmed that BECK is generally based around the Red Hot Chili Peppers, being his favourite band.
Beer Can
Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got plans
To ditch myself and get outside
Dancing women
Throwing plates
Decapitating their laughing dates
Swirling chickens caught in flight
Out of focus
Coming down
Shiny teeth
Game show suckers trying to bleed
But I got a drug and I got the bug
And I got something better than love
How you like me now
Pretty good
Going on, feeling strong
I quit my job blowing leaves
Telephone bills up my sleeves
Choking like a one man dustbowl
Freedom rock slimeball
Talking in code
We went down
Lit up the shack
Grab me a beer out of the sack
Everybody bent over twice
Painting the walls throwing some dice
Leaping up into the air getting juiced up beyond belief
And they were singing like this
Winos throwing Frisbees at the sun
Put my soul between a bun
Now I'm hungry now I'm drunk
Now I'm running like a flaming pig
Oh yeah
Scraping off the attitude
Old man eating all my food
Don't be kind
Don't be rude
Just shake your boots and let it all get loose
Oh yeah
My goodness
Fluffy clouds
Jumping rainbows
Fluffy clouds
I'm sad
Jumping rainbows
A soft and snuggly place
[repeat]
Fluffy clouds
I'm sad and unhappy
Oh yeah, I like it like that
Oh that is cold
Somebody put a flame-thrower on that
Oh my goodness
Take me down to the depot
Buddy put me down on the bus
Oh yeah
I like it like that
Somebody bring me a plate of sassafras
Hey hey hey
Uh-huh
What's happenin'
The song "Beer Can" by Beck is a frenetic and enigmatic trip through a wild night of partying and excess. The lyrics describe the singer's state of mind as he navigates a chaotic world of "dancing women throwing plates" and "swirling chickens caught in flight," all while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The verses paint a picture of a surreal and somewhat terrifying world, where the line between reality and fantasy is blurred and the only constant is the singer's own sense of detachment and disorientation.
Despite the hedonistic tone of the song, there's also a sense of rebellion and liberation in the lyrics. The singer seems to be rejecting societal norms and expectations, as evidenced by lines like "I quit my job blowing leaves" and "freedom rock slimeball talking in code." Even as he spirals out of control, there's a sense that he's reclaiming his own agency and embracing a kind of anarchic freedom.
Overall, "Beer Can" is a wild and chaotic ride through one man's night of revelry and self-discovery. The lyrics are full of cryptic references and surreal imagery, but at its core, the song is a celebration of letting loose and embracing the unknown.
Line by Line Meaning
Alcohol on my hands
I have been drinking alcohol and it has spilled on my hands
I got plans
I have plans to leave my current environment
To ditch myself and get outside
I want to escape my surroundings and go outside
Dancing women
There are women dancing nearby
Throwing plates
They are throwing plates around in a chaotic manner
Decapitating their laughing dates
The women are killing their laughing partners
Swirling chickens caught in flight
Chickens are flying around aimlessly
Out of focus
The scene is blurry and unclear
Much too bright
The lighting is too intense
Coming down
The feeling of being high is wearing off
Shiny teeth
People are showing off their dental work
Game show suckers trying to bleed
People are trying to deceive others to win on a game show
But I got a drug and I got the bug
I have a drug addiction and can't stop using
And I got something better than love
The feeling of being high is better than love
How you like me now
I am feeling confident and satisfied
Pretty good
I am feeling good
Going on, feeling strong
I am still feeling good and confident
I quit my job blowing leaves
I quit my job that involved landscaping
Telephone bills up my sleeves
I have hidden or forgotten about my phone bills
Choking like a one man dustbowl
I am feeling suffocated and overwhelmed
Freedom rock slimeball
I am feeling rebellious and carefree
Talking in code
I am speaking in a way that only certain people can understand
We went down
We partied hard
Lit up the shack
We illuminated the house
Grab me a beer out of the sack
Bring me a beer
Everybody bent over twice
People are doubled over with laughter or drunkenness
Painting the walls throwing some dice
We are playing games and being reckless
Leaping up into the air getting juiced up beyond belief
We are jumping and feeling wildly intoxicated
And they were singing like this
People were singing loudly and joyfully
Winos throwing Frisbees at the sun
Drunk people are aimlessly throwing objects
Put my soul between a bun
I am feeling empty or emotionless
Now I'm hungry now I'm drunk
I am feeling hungry and intoxicated
Now I'm running like a flaming pig
I am moving quickly and erratically
Oh yeah
Expressing excitement or enthusiasm
Scraping off the attitude
I am shedding my negative attitude
Old man eating all my food
An elderly person is eating my food
Don't be kind
I do not want people to be nice to me
Don't be rude
I do not want people to be mean to me
Just shake your boots and let it all get loose
Let loose and have fun
My goodness
Expressing surprise or amazement
Fluffy clouds
Referring to an idyllic, dream-like state
Jumping rainbows
Referring to an idyllic, dream-like state
I'm sad
Expressing a negative emotion
A soft and snuggly place
Referring to a comforting environment
Oh that is cold
Expressing discomfort or disappointment
Somebody put a flame-thrower on that
Expressing a need to destroy or change something
Take me down to the depot
I want to go somewhere else
Buddy put me down on the bus
I am asking someone to help me leave
Somebody bring me a plate of sassafras
I want something to lift my mood
Hey hey hey
Expressing enthusiasm or excitement
Uh-huh
Expressing agreement or confirmation
What's happenin'
Asking what is going on
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BECK HANSEN, CARL STEPHENSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@shadowmod3
greetings from Borneo.
everything about the 90s alt rock subculture was weirdly fun,
i think i am the only guy i know which smoked pot, watched too much MTV, kept long hair and listened to alt rock in my entire town then when they are listening to Andy Lau or Aaron Kwok. xD.
i remembered that i had to fly to Kuala Lumpur just to get the Odelay CD in 1996 and it took me 3 days to find the only record store that cater to underground music fans then!
♪ ♫
But i got a drug
And i got the bug
And i got something better than love ♪ ♫
@modeljetjuggernaut4864
this dude was ahead of his time. When asked in an interview if he thought that he was the Bob Dylan of the 90s, he said 'naw, more like the Bon Jovi of the 60s' lol
@jasonkessler7321
Remember seeing that, couldn't stop laughing.
@louisemc3680
He is coolness personified
@cellblocknine5385
What does he mean by that?
@sarahlovesriceee
omg i love this so much
@seandevillier903
@Mister Justice bon jovi is an 80s artist if he was the bon jovi of the 60s it means he was ahead of his time
@parabola8933
Saw Beck in 95 at The Pantages in LA. He opened for Johnny Cash. It was a great show.
@guidodiman
I'm 75 and I love this shit. Nobody like Beck. Makes me feel like i"m never going to be a dinosaur. His stuff is not locked in a time line.
@clodwolf
Hi dad
@abysssss
as long as you didn't vote for Trump, you have successfully escaped boomerism. gratz! there's literally like, 2 of you in existence (maybe)