Where Is My Mind?

"Where Is My Mind?" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies, and is the seventh track on the band's album Surfer Rosa. Although the song was never released as a single, it is one of the band's signature songs.

For the tribute album named Where Is My Mind? A Tribute to the Pixies, see List of Pixies tribute albums.
"Where Is My Mind?"
Song by Pixies
from the album Surfer Rosa
ReleasedMarch 21, 1988 (1988-03-21)
RecordedNovember 1987
StudioDowntown Recorders, South End, Boston
Genre
Length3:53
LabelRough Trade
Songwriter(s)Black Francis
Producer(s)Steve Albini
Audio sample
Sample of end of 3rd verse and part of chorus
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Background and release

"Where Is My Mind?" is the seventh track on the Pixies' 1988 debut album Surfer Rosa. The song was written by frontman Black Francis while he attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, inspired by his experiences while scuba diving in the Caribbean. He later said he had "this very small fish trying to chase me. I don't know why—I don't know too much about fish behavior."[1] A live version of the song recorded at 2004's Coachella was released free through BitTorrent.[2]

Cover by Placebo

In 2003, a cover by the band Placebo was featured on their album Covers.

Cultural impact

After being featured in the 1999 film Fight Club (in which the song plays over the final scene), the song gained an even wider audience and became iconic.[3][4] "Where Is My Mind?" was voted number 29 in the "Hottest 100 of All Time" music poll conducted by Australian radio station Triple J in 2009.[5] Over half a million votes were cast in the poll.

On Tuesday, April 13, 2004, NASA used "Where Is My Mind?" to wake up the team working on the Mars rover, Spirit, in honor of its software transplant.[6]

Mr. Nobody, a film released in 2009 also featured the song.[7] HBO drama The Leftovers featured both the Pixies version and Maxence Cyrin's piano cover in the show’s acclaimed second season. Cyrin's cover of the song has also been featured on Mr. Robot.[8][9]

End of Fashion have been criticized for their uncredited copying of the guitar riff from "Where Is My Mind?", for their song "O Yeah". For example, Rockus Online Magazine reviewer Jonathon Miller called the song "disturbingly Pixies-ish" and went on to write:

End of Fashion are having no problem appealing to the 95% of people that haven't heard (and still remember) the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" and have never experienced a truly exciting live show, and if that's what the band is aiming for, then they are a complete success.[10]

Weekly charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11] 199

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[12]
since 2009 		Gold 25,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[13]
2004-2020 sales 		Gold 400,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Biel, Jean-Michel; Gourraud, Christophe. "Pixies Titles/Names". Alec Eiffel. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  2. "BitTorrent Bundle - Pixies". BitTorrent Bundles.
  3. Greene, Andy (4 January 2013). "Flashback: The Pixies Reunite At Coachella". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  4. Beaumont, Mark (21 September 2016). "Inside The Cult Of Pixies: Why They're More Than Just A Band - NME". NME. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  5. "Countdown | Hottest 100 - Of All Time | triple j". Abc.net.au. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  6. Colin Fries (2010-04-20). "CHRONOLOGY OF WAKEUP CALLS" (PDF). NASA History Division. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
  7. "Soundtrack Staples: Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind?'". STACK | JB Hi-Fi. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  8. Saraiya, Sonia (29 December 2015). "Best TV of 2015: The best pop-music cues, from "Where Is My Mind" to Fleetwood Mac". Salon. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  9. Sarkar, Samit (1 July 2016). "Pixies' 'Where Is My Mind?' comes to Rock Band 4 next week". Polygon. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  10. Jonathon Miller, rockus.com Archived October 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. Zywietz, Tobias. "CLUK Update 22.03.2014 (wk11)". Zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  12. "Italian single certifications – Pixies – Where Is My Mind" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 26, 2020. Select "2017" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Where Is My Mind" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione".
  13. "British single certifications – Pixies – Where Is My Mind". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
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