Retro Video of the Week: "Here Comes Your Man" by Pixies

Today is the 35th anniversary of the release of alt rockers Pixies' second studio album, Doolittle.  Back then, we called this kind of music "college rock," though it was basically a term given to "underground" alternative rock bands like REM, Pixies, The Replacements, and the like who weren't played much on Top 40 radio (at least at that time).

Back in 1989, I was certainly not listening to college rock, but if I were to give you what I assumed college rock sounded like, it would be something like "I Will Dare" by The Replacements or Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man" off of Doolittle.

The song is far more poppy than their usual fare, and the riff kind of harkens surf rock.  Lead singer and songwriter Black Francis originally wrote the song as a teenager, and as expected, it's about train-hopping hobos who pee themselves while dying during an earthquake.  The band and Francis didn't want to record it, but the album's producer really liked it, so it ended up on the album and it became one of the band's signature songs.  It reached #3 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, which was essentially Billboard's attempt to categorize the burgeoning alternative rock scene.  The album itself only reached #98 on the Billboard album chart, but it did hit #8 on the UK album chart, and it has since gone platinum in the U.S.

Anywho, the song is great, and the video is expectedly weird.