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.
Elevator Music
Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Alright...
I'm uptight stupid, get it out of the flame.
I shake a leg on the ground like an epileptic battery man.
I'm making my move, lettin' loose like a belt.
Little worse for wear, but I'm wearing it well.
When the stereos erupt with a kick-drum punch?
Once you do it once, probably do it again and again.
You did it before, but you're more erratic then them.
And you had a rough night, and the vibe's just begun.
Let a little bit of this, the past week is done.
Don't let it hold you back, but you're already set.
No dead flowers gonna grow till the dirt gets wet.
Put the elevator music on.
Pull me back where I belong.
The ambulance sings along.
The fly on the wall
Doesn't know what's wrong.
If I could forget myself,
Find another lie to tell.
If I had a soul to sell,
I'd buy some time
To talk to my brain cells.
Gut bucket and a bottle of pains.
It's like the schoolhouse lights will never turn on again.
Till the bottom wears off of these high-heeled boots.
The bodies all move, some backbone roots.
Everybody workin' hard till the yard's all clean.
The dishes wash good in the washin' machine.
Now you brush your teeth and you comb back your hair.
You drive your vehicle like you just didn't care.
You're walkin' to work with the boys and the girls.
And you're doin' it to death, cause it's the end of the world.
Now everybody's sweatin', forgettin' what's on their minds.
With your hand like a mirror, you can see what's inside.
When you're down and out, poundin' and there's nothing that's real.
It's like a plastic heart, too amputated to feel.
I got a soda can bible song, paranoid Jumbotron.
The lord took the weekend off.
The fly on the wall doesn't know what's wrong.
If I could forget myself, find another lie to tell.
The bottom of an oil well, cell phone's ringing
To talk to my brain cells.
Come on! What!?
All the dudes with banjos.
Chicks with the wigs.
Animals with bananas.
Got my hand like a mirror.
Ah na na na na, na na na,
Na na na, na na na na!
Ah na na na na, na na na,
Na na na...
The lyrics of Beck's song 'Elevator Music' address themes of social anxiety, identity, and coping mechanisms. The opening lines, "One, two, you know what to do" set the tone for the singer's self-consciousness, but also their urgency to act despite it. The singer describes feeling "uptight stupid" and using physical movement as a coping mechanism, likening themselves to an "epileptic battery man." They are self-aware of their precarious emotional state, but still assert some sense of control: "I'm making my move, lettin' loose like a belt."
As the song progresses, the singer describes a scenario of partying and socializing that could be interpreted as a way of trying to escape or transcend their anxieties. There's an emphasis on the physicality of the situation, with lyrics about "grind and bump" and "kick-drum punch." The singer seems to be exhorting themselves, and perhaps the listener, to embrace this moment of release: "Once you do it once, probably do it again and again." There's also a playfulness in the way they describe the scene, with references to dishwashing machines and driving without care.
The chorus, "Put the elevator music on / Pull me back where I belong" echoes this sense of needing to ground oneself in familiar surroundings, while also reaching for something beyond. The last verse takes a slightly darker turn, mentioning a "soda can bible" and a "paranoid Jumbotron," suggesting a feeling of being trapped or scrutinized. The repeated refrain of "If I could forget myself, find another lie to tell" represents the singer's struggle with identity and self-perception. The final lines, "Ah na na na na, na na na, / Na na na, na na na na!" feel like a kind of cathartic release, an affirmation of the power of music to transcend words.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm uptight stupid, get it out of the flame.
I'm feeling anxious and dumb, need to calm myself down.
I shake a leg on the ground like an epileptic battery man.
I dance wildly and erratically.
I'm making my move, lettin' loose like a belt.
I'm taking action and being free.
Little worse for wear, but I'm wearing it well.
I'm a bit beat up, but I'm carrying myself well.
Tell me what's wrong with a little grind and bump When the stereos erupt with a kick-drum punch?
What's the harm in dancing hard when the music is good?
Once you do it once, probably do it again and again.
If you enjoy something, you'll probably keep doing it.
You did it before, but you're more erratic than them.
I've danced like this before, but I'm doing it even wilder this time around.
And you had a rough night, and the vibe's just begun.
I had a tough time before, but the night is still young and there's fun to be had.
Let a little bit of this, the past week is done.
I'm going to enjoy some music now and put the past week behind me.
Don't let it hold you back, but you're already set.
Don't let anything stop you, but you're already on your path.
No dead flowers gonna grow till the dirt gets wet.
You can't make anything happen until you start taking action.
Put the elevator music on.
Play something chill and relaxing.
Pull me back where I belong.
Help me feel like I'm in my comfort zone.
The ambulance sings along.
Even the ambulance sirens are keeping beat with the rhythm.
The fly on the wall Doesn't know what's wrong.
People looking in from the outside don't know what's going on.
If I could forget myself, Find another lie to tell.
If I could forget who I am, I'd tell myself a new story.
If I had a soul to sell, I'd buy some time To talk to my brain cells.
If I could sell my soul, I'd use that time to focus on my thoughts.
Gut bucket and a bottle of pains.
I have simple pleasures, like cheap alcohol.
It's like the schoolhouse lights will never turn on again.
It feels like life will never go back to normal.
Till the bottom wears off of these high-heeled boots.
Until I can't dance anymore, I'll keep going.
The bodies all move, some backbone roots.
We're all dancing and moving, with some people leading the way.
Everybody workin' hard till the yard's all clean.
We're working hard to earn our fun.
The dishes wash good in the washin' machine.
Cleaning up is easy with modern technology.
Now you brush your teeth and you comb back your hair.
Now that the hard work is done, we can take care of ourselves.
You drive your vehicle like you just didn't care.
You drive freely and confidently.
You're walkin' to work with the boys and the girls.
You're enjoying the company of others on your way to work.
And you're doin' it to death, cause it's the end of the world.
We're living our lives to the fullest, as if the end is near.
Now everybody's sweatin', forgettin' what's on their minds.
Everybody is dancing and enjoying themselves, not thinking about their problems.
With your hand like a mirror, you can see what's inside.
When you hold your hand up, you can see yourself clearly.
When you're down and out, poundin' and there's nothing that's real.
When you're feeling low and nothing feels genuine.
It's like a plastic heart, too amputated to feel.
Your heart feels cold and disconnected.
I got a soda can bible song, paranoid Jumbotron.
I have strange things on my mind, like a song about a soda can bible and a suspicious Jumbotron.
The lord took the weekend off.
Sometimes it feels like no one is watching over us.
All the dudes with banjos.
Everyone is having fun, regardless of what they're doing.
Chicks with the wigs.
There's no limit to the ways people are expressing themselves.
Animals with bananas.
Even animals are enjoying the festivities with their own kind of fun.
Got my hand like a mirror.
Still holding my hand up, trying to see myself clearly.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BECK HANSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind