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.
High Five
Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
High five, high five
"C'mon on! Eight
Everybody! C'mon
Seven! C'mon, now
Six! Five
Aw, yeah, I like that shit"
Want a slap in the face I love the taste
All my days with my wheelchair ways
Watch me die in my suicide high
I don't mean it 'cause I only come on to you
When I step to the room with a powerful motion
Leopard skin let the records spin
'Round and round with the speed of sound
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
Rocky mountain low we gotta go
Put that gadget in the random mode
Cripple candy rocking the candy
Rhumba, brickshot, doing the foxtrot
In my car sweating like a dog
Beers and chairs no frontiers
On my way from the 'Frisco Bay
Dixieland, soda-pop man
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
Yeah, put that machine in random mode
Talking about popping jugger
Like the last century
"Turn that shit off, man! What's wrong with you?
Man, get the other record! Damn"
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
High five! More dead than alive
Rocking the plastic like a man from the Catskills
"Ok, now. Do like designer jeans
Everybody, designer jeans! say, say, say, say, say
Ooh, la la
Sasoon
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon
Everybody
One more time, let me hear you say
Ooh, la la, Sasoon
Just do it everybody, c'mon
Now I want the ladies
All the ladies, say
Sergio Valente
Sing it, girl
Let me hear you say
Sergio Valente
Say, Jordache"
The lyrics of Beck's song 'High Five' express his jubilant energy and love for music. His 'rocking' music makes him feel like giving a high five to the world. He sings that he loves the taste of a slap in the face, which may reflect his audacity as a performer. Beck gives a nod to his physical challenges using 'wheelchair ways' as a metaphor for his feelings of being trapped, frustrated or limited by external conditions. The line 'watch me die in my suicide high' is a paradoxical statement, and it could mean that he is dying to get high or lose himself in the music. It could illustrate how his high energy performances allow him a momentary escape from the outside world.
The lyrics of 'High Five' are characterized by Beck's freestyle and experimental nature. There are elements of electronica, hip-hop, and rock genres in his music. There are references to dancing styles such as foxtrot, rhumba, and brickshot, and his lyrics are peppered with flippant language like 'put that gadget in the random mode' or 'cripple candy rocking the candy'. The phrases are a jumble of nonsensical and non-specific expressions, but they create an impression of a celebratory dance club or a music event where people can enjoy being themselves. The lyrics reflect Beck's wry sense of humor and ability to combine different influences and create something unique, and the high five at the center of the lyrics is a universal symbol of recognition, encouragement, and friendship.
Line by Line Meaning
High five, high five!
Beck greets the listener with enthusiasm; asking for a celebratory high five.
C'mon on! Eight!
Beck counts down from eight, hyping up the crowd to participate in a game or other activity.
Everybody! C'mon!
Beck encourages everyone to join in the group activity or game.
Seven! C'mon, now!
Beck continues his countdown, urging everyone to keep up with the pace of the game or activity.
Six! Five!
Beck continues to count down, building anticipation and excitement for the activity to come.
Aw, yeah, I like that shit.
Beck expresses his enjoyment of the activity, possibly a game or dance, and encourages everyone to continue to participate.
When I rock it's like a high five
Beck compares his performance to the celebratory gesture of a high five, indicating that he's performing well and wants to receive praise.
Want a slap in the face I love the taste
Beck expresses his enjoyment of a challenge or confrontation, indicating that he enjoys the sensation of being tested or pushed.
All my days with my wheelchair ways
Beck references his days spent in a wheelchair, potentially indicating a personal struggle with disability or injury.
Watch me die in my suicide high
Beck uses vivid language to describe a euphoric moment, possibly indicating a reckless or self-destructive behavior.
I don't mean it 'cause I only come on to you
Beck assures that his behavior is not threatening, and that he wants to build a positive relationship with his listener or audience.
When I step to the room with a powerful motion
Beck describes his entrance to a situation or event with confidence and intention.
Leopard skin let the records spin
Beck references the fashion style of leopard print and describes music playing, possibly indicating a dance floor or party scene.
'Round and round with the speed of sound
Beck describes the music continuing to play, building energy and momentum.
Rocky mountain low we gotta go
Beck references the geological feature of Rocky Mountains, possibly indicating a desire to travel or escape to a different location.
Put that gadget in the random mode
Beck talks about technology and experimentation, indicating a interest in trying new things and discovering unexpected outcomes.
Cripple candy rocking the candy
Beck uses provocative language to describe an unexpected or unconventional situation, possibly indicating a desire to break from the norm.
Rhumba, brickshot, doing the foxtrot
Beck names different types of dances, indicating that he's in a lively social scene that encourages movement and excitement.
In my car sweating like a dog
Beck shares a personal experience of discomfort or struggle, indicating a challenge or dilemma he's faced personally.
Beers and chairs no frontiers
Beck describes a relaxed, social setting that is inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
On my way from the 'Frisco Bay
Beck references San Francisco, indicating that he's traveled from a distance to experience the current situation or environment.
Dixieland, soda-pop man
Beck references an old-timey style of music and a sweet, fizzy beverage, possibly indicating a whimsical or playful attitude.
Yeah, put that machine in random mode
Beck repeats a line from before, indicating a desire to experiment and discover unexpected outcomes.
Talking about popping jugger
Beck uses slang or potentially made-up language, adding excitement or humor to his lyrics.
Like the last century
Beck references time past, potentially indicating his own nostalgia or appreciation for history.
Turn that shit off, man! What's wrong with you?
Beck references the feeling of frustration or annoyance, possibly indicating that he's encountered something unexpected or unpleasant.
Man, get the other record! Damn!
Beck expresses frustration and has a desire for the situation to be resolved in a specific way.
Ok, now. Do like designer jeans.
Beck moves the attention to a new activity or action, asking the listener to participate.
Everybody, designer jeans! say, say, say, say, say
Beck instructs the listener to repeat a phrase or take a specific action, creating a participatory and inclusive environment.
Ooh, la la, Sasoon!
Beck references a fashion brand in a playful, enthusiastic way, potentially indicating his admiration for style or aesthetics.
C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!
Beck urges the listener to follow his lead or engage in a specific activity or action.
All the ladies, say Sergio Valente!
Beck addresses a specific group of people and instructs them to respond in a particular way.
Sing it, girl. Let me hear you say Sergio Valente!
Beck encourages a female vocalist to perform and connect with the listeners, creating an inclusive and supportive environment.
Say, Jordache!
Beck references another fashion brand, continuing his playful and enthusiastic tone.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Michael S. Simpson, John Robert King, Beck David Hansen, Vincent Willis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind