This song became somewhat of an anthem to me when I was working over seventy hours a week (Full time 9 to 5 plus late night shifts of six hours about four times a week). I mean, seriously, I was tired. Usually I can sleep over ten hours a night comfortably, so it was a real shock to the system. A couple of days a week I'd wake up at 7:30am to get to work, get home by 6:00pm, sleep for an hour then get to the other job at 7:30pm and work until 2:30am, going to sleep at about 3:30. On the weekend I had a twelve hour shift, four hours sleep, then another six hour shift (which was when my After Work story occured). I'd pretty much only have time to listen to one song when I was getting dressed, and more often than not, this was it.
The seventh (and probably the best) track off the Pixies' first EP; 1987's Come On Pilgrim. The song is a typical grunge song (remember, The Pixies arguably invented grunge); ie. quiet verses and loud, fast, sing-a-long choruses. Although this was off their first release (which 4AD had obtained by hacking up their demo tape), it shows what a potent force the Pixies would become, and already how adept they were at expressing their ideas through their music and lyrics. Obviously about sexual frustration and deviation, Black Francis' typically twisted and surreal lyrics were just reaching their best, before the stage when he was reduced to yabbering senselessly about UFOs (Although it was still good). Definitely one of my favourite, and one of the most overlooked Pixies songs - one which presents the Pixies' influences (Stooges-esque raw power, early Velvet Underground (notice the Lou Reed reference)), and the future of grunge.
The song opens with Black Francis' shortened count in, then his vocals are only matched by David Lovering's drums. Singing in his famous falsetto for much of the song, the rest of the band's soft, upbeat music only becomes noticeable about two-thirds of the way through the opening verse. Kim Deal gets a look in the lyrics by singing two lines near the end of the song, but the tune is ultimatily dominated by Francis' not-always-pleasant, but interesting none the less, vocal theatrics.
Don't worry if you can't find Come On Pilgrim, the CD issue of their debut album Surfer Rosa contain the Come On Pilgrim EP at the end. The CD lists 'I've Been Tired' as track 20, but it is actually 21. |
