The song appears in the 2010 film Repo Men.
"Nausea" is sort of a funky acoustic song on record with lots of percussion. Beck said he wanted the song "to sound like The Stooges in South America." On stage, it is much punkier, more pure Stooges.
Beck said the music for this song came quickly, as part of a 7-day marathon of jamming and writing and then going back and taking bits of the jam and expanding.
"Nausea" made its live debut on May 24, 2006 in Davis, California.
"Nausea" was played on The Late Show with David Letterman, during which Sacha Baron Cohen's fictitious Borat made a guest appearance playing the berimbau. Before the performance, Letterman showed a copy of The Information with a sticker of his face on the front.
Beck performed "Nausea" on Saturday Night Live on October 28, 2006.
Used in Mark Ronson's BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix; mixed with Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines" and Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got".
Beck contributed his own remix of the song exclusively to the WWWQ-HD2 benefit album Live X 11 - Strange Apparition under his pseudonym, The Chap.
There have been four music videos for this song; the first one was made for the album The Information that came with a free DVD with low budget music videos for all the songs on the album. In this video, he is playing in a mansion with people behind him playing guitars. The second video shows Beck walking through a street with people and then it turns out to be a set for a music video and he walks out. The third features Beck and his band with his concert puppets. The fourth was a skateboarding video in which he did not appear.
Nausea
Beck Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well I'm a sea-sick sailor on a ship of noise
I got my maps all backwards and my instincts poisoned
In a truth-blown gutter full of wasted years
Like blown-out speakers ringin' in my ears
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
I'm a straight-line walker with a black-out room
I push a shopping cart over in an Aztec ruin
With my minion fingers working for some god
Who could see his own reflection in a parking lot
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
(Let's go! Yeah! Hey! Woo-hoo! Say huh! Yahoo! Right on! Woooo! Come on!)
Now I'm a priest teenager on a tower of dust
I'm a dead generator in a cloud of exhaust
In a long-living desert with skulls for my pets
I rate the days, one to ten, with lead cigarettes
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Beck's "Nausea" is packed with vivid imagery and metaphors that capture the feeling of being lost and disconnected in a world full of noise and chaos. The opening lines set the stage for the rest of the song, as Beck compares himself to a "sea-sick sailor" on a "ship of noise," someone who has lost his sense of direction and purpose. The use of the word "nausea" throughout the song suggests both a physical and emotional discomfort or unease, as if the singer is sick of the world around him and struggling to find a way out.
The second half of the first verse paints a bleak picture of the singer's world, invoking a "truth-blown gutter full of wasted years" and "blown-out speakers ringin' in [his] ears." The use of sound and music as a metaphor for the chaos and confusion of modern life is a theme that runs throughout the song. The chorus, with its repetition of the word "nausea" and its sense of urgency ("we're gone"), reinforces the idea that the singer is overwhelmed and needs to escape.
The second verse adds even more detail to the singer's sense of dislocation and alienation. The image of a "straight-line walker" in a "black-out room" suggests someone who is blindly following a path, without any clear sense of where they are going. The reference to an Aztec ruin suggests a sense of history and culture, but the fact that the singer is pushing a shopping cart there suggests the opposite - a sense of decay and commercialization that has taken over even the most sacred spaces. The reference to "minion fingers working for some god" is a powerful image, suggesting an almost inhumane level of subservience and lack of agency.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I'm a sea-sick sailor on a ship of noise
I am disoriented by the constant barrage of overwhelming stimuli in my environment.
I got my maps all backwards and my instincts poisoned
I am unable to navigate my surroundings effectively and have lost touch with my natural intuition.
In a truth-blown gutter full of wasted years
I find myself in a depressing and hopeless situation, surrounded by the consequences of past failures and missed opportunities.
Like blown-out speakers ringin' in my ears
The noise and chaos around me is deafening, like a continuous screeching sound in my mind.
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
I am consumed by a feeling of overwhelming sickness and despair, and I know that this state will continue indefinitely.
I'm a straight-line walker with a black-out room
I am blindly following a predetermined path, unable to see the direction in which I am heading.
I push a shopping cart over in an Aztec ruin
I am wandering aimlessly in a place that is both unfamiliar and abandoned, with no clear purpose or direction.
With my minion fingers working for some god
I am trapped in servitude to an intangible force that controls my actions and motivations.
Who could see his own reflection in a parking lot
This god is vain and shallow, finding meaning and purpose only in the meaningless and superficial elements of the surrounding world.
Now I'm a priest teenager on a tower of dust
I am a young and naive spiritual leader, perched atop a monument of decay and meaninglessness.
I'm a dead generator in a cloud of exhaust
I am incapable of producing any meaningful energy or ideas, and am surrounded by a wasteland of pollution and decay.
In a long-living desert with skulls for my pets
I am living in a place that is harsh and unforgiving, with no companionship or solace beyond that which I create for myself.
I rate the days, one to ten, with lead cigarettes
I use unhealthy and self-destructive behaviors to numb myself from the pain and disappointment of my existence.
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
I am overwhelmed by a sense of sickness and despair, and know that this will only lead to further disillusionment and pain.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BECK HANSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ted Kaczynski Gaming
Well I'm a sea-sick sailor on a ship of noise
I got my maps all backwards and my instincts poisoned
In a truth-blown gutter full of wasted years
Like blown-out speakers ringin' in my ears
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
I'm a straight-line walker with a black-out room
I push a shopping cart over in an Aztec ruin
With my minion fingers working for some god
Who could see his own reflection in a parking lot
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Now I'm a priest teenager on a tower of dust
I'm a dead generator in a cloud of exhaust
In a long-living desert with skulls for my pets
I rate the days, one to ten, with lead cigarettes
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
SanQuake
1, 2, 3, 4
I'm a seasick sailor
On a ship of noise
I got my maps all backwards
And my instincts poisoned
In a truth blown gutter
Full of wasted years
Like blown-out speakers
Ringin' in my ears
Oh it's nausea, oh nausea
And we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea
And we're gone
Now I'm a straight-line walker
In a black-out room
I push a shopping cart over
In an Aztec ruin
With my minion fingers
Working for some God
Who could see his own reflection
In a parking lot
Oh it's nausea, oh nausea
And we're gone
No it's nausea, oh nausea
And we're gone
Now I'm a priest teenager
On a tower of dust
I'm a dead generator
In a cloud of exhaust
I eat alone in the desert
With skulls for my pets
I rate the days, one to ten
With lead cigarettes
It's nausea, oh nausea
And we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea
And we're gone
David Brown
This video was Not
filmed by bears.
Beck began using them some years
back, he loves their
perspective on matters concerning humans.
Beck decided to go
'human' here, I really like it.
But I gotta be honest,
the bears man they
truly are genius.
Peace from the homeland we've never seen
Tony Bletas
How the hell does this guy compose such perfection with an obvious incessant frequency? Beck is a once in several lifetimes a phenomenon.
Ted Kaczynski Gaming
Well I'm a sea-sick sailor on a ship of noise
I got my maps all backwards and my instincts poisoned
In a truth-blown gutter full of wasted years
Like blown-out speakers ringin' in my ears
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
I'm a straight-line walker with a black-out room
I push a shopping cart over in an Aztec ruin
With my minion fingers working for some god
Who could see his own reflection in a parking lot
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
It's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Now I'm a priest teenager on a tower of dust
I'm a dead generator in a cloud of exhaust
In a long-living desert with skulls for my pets
I rate the days, one to ten, with lead cigarettes
Oh, it's nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Nausea, oh nausea, and we're gone
Chad Blomme
underrated tune. Nihilistic lyricism laced through and through with that funk.On the one hand Beck is celebrated, on the other hand I rarely read actual insightful analysis on the true nature of his achievements. He did it. Carved a place into the eternal stone where the interested will forever congregate. Beck's work will burn in that eternal flame
Sylvia Young
Amen! 🔥🌂🏆🥇🎼🎙💿
Kara
This song is so badass. People are missing out if they haven't experienced this.
Laurie
It's a keeper!! Have you heard Mixed Bizzness? Beck's phenomenal.
Lexx Ball
Its so there fault, I promise it is ... Bad bad man.
nernenu
Beck is my hero.
nernenu
Him, and Prince.
Kara
Haha I’ve heard every song he’s ever recorded