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.
Cellphone's Dead
Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I put a dollar in my pocket
And I threw it away
Been a long time
Since a federal dime
Made a jukebox sound
Like a mirror in my mind
To comb my worries
Throw my hopes
Like a juggernaut walks
Now let-down souls
Can't feel no rhythm
Sorry entertainers
Like aerobics victims
Hybrid people
Light a wooded matchstick
Toxic fumes from the
Burning plastic
Beats are broken
Bones are spastic
Robots talkin'
With a southern accent
Voodoo curses
Bible tongues
Voices comin'
From the mangled lungs
Give me some grit
Some get-down shit
Don't need a good reason
To let anything rip
Radio's cold
Soul is infected
One by one
I'll knock you out
God is alone
Hardware defective
One by one
I'll knock you out
Mr. Microphone making
All the damage felt
Like a laser manifesto
Make a mannequin melt
There's people phonin' in
Like it's unlimited minutes
Going through the motions
Just to say that they did it
Treadmill's running
Underneath their feet
So they feel like they're going somewhere
But they're not
So let's put boots
On the warehouse floor
Comin' to you
Like a rope on a chain store
Throwing equipment
From a moving van
Grab a microphone
Like a utility man
Now fix the beat
Now break the rest
Make a kick drum sound
Like an S.O.S.
Get a tow-truck
Cause it's after dark
And the dance floor's full
But everybody's double-parked!
Cell phone's dead
Lost in the desert
One by one
I'll knock you out
Eye of the sun
Is out of its socket
One by one
I'll knock you out
One by one
This jam is real, that's right
Eye of the sun
Eye of the sun
Eye of the sun
Ah
The lyrics of the song "Cellphone's Dead" by Beck are a commentary on the effects of technology on modern society. The song begins with the opening lines, "Strange ways coming today, I put a dollar in my pocket and I threw it away". This line expresses the idea that in the modern world, money has lost its value, as we have become so reliant on technology that we no longer need cash to make transactions. Beck goes on to talk about the effect of technology on music, with the line "been a long time since a federal dime made a jukebox sound like a mirror in my mind", suggesting that modern music lacks the soul and authenticity of older music forms.
The song then takes on a more ominous tone, with Beck describing the negative consequences of technology on individuals and society as a whole. He talks about "let-down souls" who "can't feel no rhythm", and "toxic fumes from the burning plastic". Beck also describes people as "hybrid people", suggesting that technology has started to merge with our own identities, and gives examples of "robots talking with a southern accent" and "voodoo curses, Bible tongues". This line suggests that people are losing touch with their humanity, and that technology is beginning to take over our lives.
In the final verse, Beck describes people as being "lost in the desert", with their "cellphone's dead". This line suggests that people have become so reliant on technology that they are lost without it. The song ends on a positive note, with Beck proclaiming "One by one I'll knock you out", suggesting that he plans to take down the technology that has taken over our lives.
Line by Line Meaning
Strange ways coming today
Today brings about unexpected and unusual occurrences
I put a dollar in my pocket
I have money at my disposal
And I threw it away
I wasted my money
Been a long time
It has been a while
Since a federal dime
Life was different when I could live off government assistance
Made a jukebox sound
I felt nostalgic hearing the music from the past
Like a mirror in my mind
It reflected memories from my past
To comb my worries
To attempt to alleviate my concerns
Fix my thoughts
Get my thinking straightened out
Throw my hopes
Give up on my aspirations
Like a juggernaut walks
Move forward with an unstoppable momentum
Now let-down souls
Despondent individuals
Can't feel no rhythm
They have lost their sense of musical flow
Sorry entertainers
Incompetent performers
Like aerobics victims
As if they suffered from malicious fitness instructors
Hybrid people
Multicultural individuals
Light a wooded matchstick
Ignite dry kindling
Toxic fumes from the
Dangerous vapors originating from the
Burning plastic
Combusting synthetic materials
Beats are broken
The rhythm is inconsistent
Bones are spastic
Muscles uncontrollably spasm
Robots talkin'
Mechanically engineered entities communicating
With a southern accent
In an atypical dialect
Voodoo curses
Malevolent spellcasting
Bible tongues
Speaking in holy tongues
Voices comin'
Auditory hallucinations
From the mangled lungs
From damaged and scarred organs
Give me some grit
Show me perseverance
Some get-down shit
Really fun and enjoyable activities
Don't need a good reason
No justification required
To let anything rip
To let loose and enjoy oneself
Radio's cold
The radio station is unfeeling
Soul is infected
My spirit is tainted
One by one
Individually
I'll knock you out
I will defeat you
God is alone
Divinity is solitary
Hardware defective
The equipment is faulty
Mr. Microphone making
The loudspeaker is manufacturing
All the damage felt
Causes harm to all
Like a laser manifesto
A call to action with intense precision
Make a mannequin melt
Microwaving the pliable but synthetic human-like figure
There's people phonin' in
Individuals calling in to a show or radio station
Like it's unlimited minutes
As if they won't run out of talking time
Going through the motions
Completing routine actions without enthusiasm
Just to say that they did it
Solely for bragging rights
Treadmill's running
The mechanism is in motion
Underneath their feet
Beneath them
So they feel like they're going somewhere
So they believe they're making progress
But they're not
In actuality, they're not
So let's put boots
Let's take our next step
On the warehouse floor
On the surface of the business establishment
Comin' to you
Arriving at your location
Like a rope on a chain store
Like the tether of a store's sign
Throwing equipment
Recklessly discarding gear
From a moving van
While driving
Grab a microphone
Seize a loudspeaker
Like a utility man
Efficiently and skillfully
Now fix the beat
Correct the rhythm
Now break the rest
Disassemble the remainder
Make a kick drum sound
The percussion should be resounding
Like an S.O.S.
As if sending out a distress signal
Get a tow-truck
Summon assistance
Cause it's after dark
Due to the late hour
And the dance floor's full
The room is crowded with dancers
But everybody's double-parked!
They're all there, but they're in the way
Cell phone's dead
My mobile device has lost power
Lost in the desert
Stranded and alone
Eye of the sun
The central source of light
Is out of its socket
Misaligned or dislocated
One by one
One at a time
I'll knock you out
I will overcome you
This jam is real, that's right
This music is authentic and genuine
Ah
Sigh indicating closure
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Beck Hansen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@satchelsatchel
you dare to casually dismiss this videos
i. lack of risibly-overcompensational narcissistic cinematography
ii. dearth of expensive jewelry
iii. absence of dancers executing synchronous moves that Bob Fosse first choreographed 60 years ago
this video is nothing more than heresy and nothing less than iconoclasm
i have never seen such a shameless case of an artist not making the exact same video that ten thousand other artists have made a hundred thousand times before
in the entire film i did not see one single person posturing and flexing in a pitiful attempt to represent himself as having an exponentially greater state of coolness than he could even recognize if he ever saw it
@seancomrie4714
"People phone it in like it's unlimited minutes" is still the greatest ever tongue twister rap line in a song that only the right people love. Beck is criminally under rated, to a point where you have to wonder what the politics are behind that or is it just that he got lost in the tide? All I hear is genius, the man can lace words together like the best of the greatest. Tupac would absolutely love Beck in a different timeline where he is still alive and rap music was looking a lot more fun.
@yankee666187
Norms like cookie cutter shit. Beck is too next level for the masses to comprehend.
@jiggyy
It's tragic how most people have only heard "Loser". Beck has so many cool songs.
@danielwood4808
Yes it is. Sadly beck isnt a global megastar he has probably only sold about 10 million albums world wide. Thats still a lot but nothing compared to a popular musician.
Its still enough though for plenty of people to know how cool he is and spread the word :P
He is easily the best musician america has produced in the last 25 years.
@christopher399
Daniel Wood Only?
@feonixo
And that is the one Beck song I can't listen to lol
@xeskimoex
Fero
@chrisperrien7055
That "Mellow Gold" album is one of them "regulation" rock albums that any collection should have(if you still actually have albums/CD's LOL) . Kind of like the first Boston album or Led Zep 1 and 4, Back in Black, etc. It is up there with those.
@momo_genX
Best instrumental kickdown ever. This Jam is Real..
@ritchl3262
I arrived on your comment on the exact moment! It is cool.