Debaser

"Debaser" is a song by American alternative rock band Pixies, released in April 1989 as the opening track on their album Doolittle and later as a promotional single following the dissolution of the band.

Releases

The band's 1991 "Head On" single includes a live version of "Debaser" recorded in Chicago on August 9, 1989. The album version of the song was later released as a single in 1997 to promote the Death to the Pixies compilation. A live recording from December 16, 2004, in New York City appears on "Hey" – Live Pixies 2004–2005.

A version of this song was also used in the game DJ Hero 2, remixed with The Prodigy's song "Invaders Must Die"; this mix is available as downloadable content for the game.

Lyrics and meaning

The lyrics of "Debaser" are based on Un Chien Andalou, a 1929 short film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. The film includes a scene in which a woman's eye is apparently cut open by a razor, which is referenced in the lyric "slicin' up eyeballs." According to frontman and songwriter Black Francis:

I wish Buñuel were still alive. He made this film about nothing in particular. The title itself is a nonsense. With my stupid, pseudo-scholar, naive, enthusiast, avant-garde-ish, amateurish way to watch Un chien andalou (twice), I thought: 'Yeah, I will make a song about it.' [He sings:] "Un chien andalou"... It sounds too French, so I will sing "un chien andalusia", it sounds good, no?

The title "Debaser" references the fact that Un Chien Andalou "debases" contemporary morality and standards of art: "I guess it means: one who debases. A debaser. It was an attempt to introduce a new word into the lexicon, but I don’t think it’s been successful, else I would have heard about it."

In the earliest version of the song, the line "un chien andalusia" was originally "Shed, Apollonia!", a reference to a scene from Purple Rain.