Buck Rogers

Album: Echo Park (2001)
Charted: 5
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Frontman Grant Nicholas (from Kerrang! magazine June 21, 2008): "If I put my hand on my heart, I was just trying to write a song that sounded like the Pixies. On the demos, it was much more raw, too, but I think the end result was a bit poppy, a bit throwaway."
  • Kerrang! asked Nicholas what was going on when he wrote this song, which tells the story of a relationship ending in which the girlfriend of the subject of the song leaves him for a character called Buck Rogers. He replied: "I was going through a break-up and it was inspired by that. I just put a load of words down without really thinking about them. It was supposed to be stupid and funny - it was never supposed to be used for anything. I thought it would be a B-side at best; the label went berserk for it though. I actually re-wrote it and changed all the words but Gil Norton, our producer, made me stick with the original."
  • Kerrang! asked Nicholas about the lyric "Drink cider from a lemon." He replied: "Aargh! That's always the line people ask about! I was just being stupid. It was fun! If I'd have known people would still be asking about it, I definitely would have changed it. Part of me is annoyed about the song because we've written so many better ones and that one's the hit. The other part of me is proud because we proved we could write a great pop song. It's not the deepest song I've ever written but there's nothing better than standing in front of a big festival crowd and seeing the reaction."
  • This reached #1 in South Africa.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. Televangelists

Jesus Thinks You're a Jerk: Rock vs. TelevangelistsSong Writing

When televangelists like Jimmy Swaggart took on rockers like Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica, the rockers retaliated. Bono could even be seen mocking the preachers.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Maria Muldaur

Maria MuldaurSongwriter Interviews

The "Midnight At The Oasis" singer is an Old Time gal. She talks about her jug band beginnings and shares a Dylan story.

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TV

90210 to Buffy to Glee: How Songs Transformed TVSong Writing

Shows like Dawson's Creek, Grey's Anatomy and Buffy the Vampire Slayer changed the way songs were heard on TV, and produced some hits in the process.

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin Popoff

Rush: Album by Album - A Conversation With Martin PopoffSong Writing

A talk with Martin Popoff about his latest book on Rush and how he assessed the thousands of albums he reviewed.