Incomplete

Album: Lollipop (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from the American rock band Meat Puppets 13th album, Lollipop. Lead singer Curt Kirkwood told us that the song had been floating around for a fair while: "I went to Mexico, I went to Acapulco and stayed down there for a month or so. I think that would probably be the summer of '83. I was getting ready to have kids, and I just kind of freaked out and went to Mexico, because I didn't like being around the tension. Just having kids and we're getting ready to have kids [Curt is the father of twins], you get kind of tightly wound. And I purposely went into denial for about a month. I was just sitting outside up on the hill above the Costera, maybe a quarter mile. But back then, certain time of night, traffic's kind of still down, you could hear a lot of different music coming up from different places now and then. I tried to capture that mood of once again trying to write something for somebody else. In that case, it would have been for Elvis, sort of like a 'Fun in Acapulco' or 'Blue Hawaii' sort of motif, Elvis movie song."
  • The presence of keyboards on this track is a throwback to the synth sound of the Meat Puppets 1987 album Mirage. Kirkwood told Rolling Stone he added them because drummer Shandon Sahm was listening to some early '80s electronica. He explained: "I didn't write it with the keyboard part. I put that in there because Shandon was listening to Gary Numan 'Cars' and stuff like that. So I was just kind of like, 'Check this out.' There's no conscious effort there ­– I go song by song. In terms of the actual recording process, that's the same throughout an album generally. But song to song, I arrange them, and instrumentation and that stuff is just particular to the song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Tony Banks of Genesis

Tony Banks of GenesisSongwriter Interviews

Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."

Sam Hollander

Sam HollanderSongwriter Interviews

The hitmaking songwriter/producer Sam Hollander with stories about songs for Weezer, Panic! At The Disco, Train, Pentatonix, and Fitz And The Tantrums.

Goodbye, Hello: Ten Farewell Tour Fake-Outs

Goodbye, Hello: Ten Farewell Tour Fake-OutsSong Writing

The 10 biggest "retirement tours" that didn't take.

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.