Gigantic (song)

Infobox Single |
Name = Gigantic


Artist = Pixies
from Album = Surfer Rosa
Released = August 22, 1988
Format = vinyl record (12″), CD
Recorded = 1988
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 3 min 13 s
Label = 4AD
Producer = Steve Albini (album), Gil Norton (single)
Writer = Kim Deal
Chart position =

• #93 (UK)
  Reviews =
  Last single =
  This single = "Gigantic"
  (1988)
  Next single = "Monkey Gone to Heaven"
  (1989)"Gigantic" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, co-written by bassist Kim Deal and Frank Black, and sung by Kim Deal. The song appeared on their album, "Surfer Rosa", released in 1988. "Gigantic" was released as the band's first single later that year.

  The song's instantly recognizable bassline, humorous lyrics, and catchy chorus have made it one of the Pixies' biggest hits and a crowd favorite at concerts, often played as the encore. [cite web | url=http://www.pixiesdiscs.com/blog.php | title=Pixies Set Lists | accessdate=2006-09-08] The melody line comes from Deal's simple but effective bass playing - the same bassline is repeated throughout the song.

  "Gigantic" never achieved a ranking on any major charts and was their only release from "Surfer Rosa". However, it was a fairly successful first hit for the Pixies and maintains radio play to this day. The single version of the song appeared on the Pixies' recent best-of compilation, "".

  In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Gigantic" at number 38 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.

  Lyrics and melody

  According to Deal, the main inspiration for the song was the film "Crimes of the Heart", in which a married woman falls in love with a black teenagercite web | url=http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/Gigantic.php | title=Pixies/Debaser - Gigantic | accessdate=2006-09-06] and the song "Gigantic" is credited to Mrs John Murphy (Kim Deal's pseudonym at the time of "Come On Pilgrim" and "Surfer Rosa" and an ironic feminist joke).

  The song's voyeuristic lyrics mostly revolve around a woman's observation of an attractive black man making love to another woman, culminating in the oddly light-hearted but sexual chorus: "Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic / A big, big love". Francis later commented on the title of the song and the chorus (in the music magazine SELECT), saying:

  "A good chord progression, very Lou Reed influenced. I'd had the word 'gigantic' in my mind just because the chord progression seemed very big to me."

  The melody, particularly at the beginning, differs between the album and EP version.

  ingle

  The song was re-recorded soon after the release of "Surfer Rosa", with a slightly altered arrangement and production from Gil Norton for release as the band's first single in 1988. The single also featured a new version of "River Euphrates", from the same album. Further included were a live version of "Vamos" (a song that appeared on both the Pixies' first EP, "Come On Pilgrim" and their first LP "Surfer Rosa") and a live cover of the song "In Heaven", the "Lady in the Radiator" song from the David Lynch movie "Eraserhead", both recorded at the Town and Country Club in London, England. The single was released in the United Kingdom on 4AD as a 12-inch vinyl and on CD. The CD version was re-issued in 1999. (No version of this single was ever released in the United States.)

  ingle track listing

  # "Gigantic" (new version)
  # "River Euphrates" (new version)
  # "Vamos" (live)
  # "In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song)" (live)

  Covers

  The Philadelphia based alternative rock band The Low Road covered "Gigantic" on their 1996 album "Fidelity." [cite web | url=http://www.citypaper.net/articles/052396/article008.shtml | title=The Low Road | accessdate=2006-09-08] The California ska punk band Reel Big Fish produced a better known cover of "Gigantic" for 1999's "". Reel Big Fish chose to break away from their traditional sound for this cover, producing a very poppy, highly produced dance track sounding nothing like the original song and because of its unexpected but appealing sound, Reel Big Fish's cover remains one of the most popular and widely distributed Pixies covers. Other bands such as Belle & Sebastian, The Frames, Pavement, Big Digits, Gemma Hayes, The Katies, and The Hippos have also covered the song.

  The song was parodied by Self on the album "Feels Like Breakin' Shit" with a track titled "Titanic". The chorus mimics "Gigantic" with "Titanic, Titanic, Titanic / A big, big boat". [cite web | url=http://www.selfies.com/songs/?titanic | title=SELFies: Songs & Lyrics: Titanic | accessdate=2006-09-06]

  In 2007, Ok Go covered the song for album "Dig for Fire- A Tribute to Pixies".

  ample

  Listen
  filename=Gigantic.ogg
  title="Gigantic"
  description=This sample contains the first bridge and chorus.
  format=Ogg

  Notes and references

  External links

  * [http://www.last.fm/music/Pixies/_/Gigantic "Gigantic"] at Last.fm
  * [http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/Gigantic.php Pixies - "Gigantic" lyrics]