Tame (song)

Infobox Song
Name = Tame


Artist = Pixies
Album = Doolittle
Released = 1989
track_no = 2
Recorded = October 31 1988 – November 23 1988 at Downtown Recorders in Boston, Massachusetts and Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut
Genre = Alternative rock
Hardcore punk
Length = 1:55
Writer = Black Francis
Composer = Black Francis
Label = 4AD (UK)
Elektra (US)
PolyGram (Canada)
Producer = Gil Norton
prev = Debaser
prev_no = 1
next = Wave of Mutilation
next_no = 3
Misc ="Tame" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies. It is the second track on their 1989 album "Doolittle". The song was written and sung by frontman Black Francis, produced by Gil Norton and recorded during the album's recording sessions.

Lead guitarist Joey Santiago plays a single Hendrix chord, F7#9, against the three chord rhythm guitar part's Dm, C, and F. [Sisario, Ben (2006). "Doolittle", p.82 and 90. ISBN 0826417744.]

Lyrics and meaning

Francis has said that the song is about "women [who] spend time presenting themselves and still come out forever bland and mediocre." He told a British music publication:

That song is just about all these fuckin' stupid-ass students that live around this neighborhood.... They are the rudest motherfuckers in the world.... These girls around here are just like, man oh man, what's wrong with them, they keep perming their hair! They could be sexy but they're not. They could be interesting people but they keep stuffing their faces with mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings and getting totally drunk and shaking their asses all over Commonwealth Avenue. [Sisario, pp. 81-82.]

Influence of song

The song is most notable for its "quiet verse, loud chorus" dynamic, which would later influence Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". This song was also influential to Nirvana because of the seemingly nonsensical lyrics that actually do have some sort of meaning.

The song also influenced post-grunge rockers Local H, who have covered "Tame" themselves.

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