I was eight years old when Trompe Le Monde was released. I used to look through my older sister Lilly’s tape collection and pick out the ones with the coolest covers. We didn’t have a TV, so I think visual stimulation was a driving motivation for a lot of my exploration as a kid. I remember finding one featuring this weird pile of what looked like flour, with eyeballs sitting in it like raw eggs. I was instantly taken by the image: creepy as all hell, and what a name, The Pixies?! For an eight-year-old with a thing for fantasy and magic, the name alone was awesome. (My mother spent ten years of my young life putting together a collection of Swedish Folktales for Random House; every night I got to hear new stories full of trolls, witches, goblins, nymphs and of course, pixies.) So, that Christmas, Lilly made me a mixtape with songs by the Pixies, the Cure, Mr. Bungle, Mybloodyvalentine, and the Beastie Boys, among others. From then on, I’d say this song (which is not from Trompe Le Monde, but rather Surfer Rosa) has been among my favorites. Like many young men of my generation, my love for the Pixies was again sparked when I saw Fight Club, and heard my favorite song at the very end–as the credit card company buildings begin to crumble. Here’s the original track, along with a wonderful Nada Surf cover, and a vocoder version by someone named Mr. Hopkinson.
Mr. Hopkinson – “Where Is My Mind” (sc)
Nada Surf – “Where Is My Mind” (yt)
Pixies – “Where Is My Mind”(yt)
From the future: when my wife and I were first getting to know each other, we got really into Love Island UK. For whatever editorial and budgetary reasons, outside the pervasive use of shlocky EDM and radio-style sting sound fx, the early seasons of the show featured almost exclusively piano covers of classic songs from the 90s and 2000s. Among them was a cover of “Where is My Mind” that is kinda lovely. Seems worthwhile to post it here, because why not?
Maxence Cyrin – “Where Is My Mind” (sc)