from the LP Mellow Gold, Bong Load Records, 1994Long before adjectives like “prodigious” or “iconic” were commonly used in discussions about musician/artist Beck Hansen, he was just some weird, baby-faced slacker who sang like a troubadour out of his mind on drugs; presumably, based on some early interviews and lyrics from his early material, he had used a plethora of psychoactive substances in his life. Though I normally lean towards the power of nurture over nature, Beck’s biological heritage cannot be overlooked; to be sure, it can’t hurt to have a mother that was in Andy Warhol flicks and deeply involved with that whole madcap Factory scene, and a grandfather who helped found the Fluxus art movement and inspired artists everywhere (most notably including Yoko Ono) by doing such radical things as throwing pianos off of 5-story buildings. With that kind of blood running through your veins you are bound to have, at the least, some of that creative spark inside your mind; I would easily argue that over the last decade and a half, Beck has deftly proven his capacity to generate unique ideas, and showed that he possesses a near-incomprehensible amount of imaginative & inspired ability. Back when he recorded this album he was still a relative nobody, and he really lets his inner-smart-ass shine on this jaded and mournful tune about a relationship gone sour, “…she’s a nightmare hippy girl, with her skinny fingers fondlin’ my world; she’s a whimsical tragical beauty, uptight and a little bit, snooty…” Now, I got a lot of love for the real hippie-chicks out there, but we all know the type of which Mr. Hansen so eloquently writes about here, “…she’s a melted avocado on the shelf, she’s the science of herself…she’s cooking salad for breakfast, she’s got tofu the size of Texas…she’s a witness to her own glory, she’s a never-ending story…she’s got a thousand lonely husbands, she’s playin’ footsie in another dimension…she’s a goddess, milking her time, for all that it’s worth…” I live near a certain mountain-college-town, and every year that city's stable, non-collegiate population watches yet another wave of 18 year-old boys & girls arrive from out of state, and upon finding themselves in such heady surroundings, decide, “well self, I guess we need to be hippyish, because that’s the norm here”. Beck wasn’t the first to compose a disillusioned ode to evil female hippie imposters (see also, Ween’s “Hippy Smell” or “Scarlet Begonias” by the Dead and especially the Sublime redo), but his effort in the tradition never fails to bring a smile to my face. Weird fact: Beck’s current wife, Marissa Ribisi (twin sister of actor Giovanni Ribisi), was actually delivered by Beck’s mom when she was born---and both her and Beck are currently practicing Scientologists…try not to hold it against them…
