They accompanied me through my entire teenage and adolescent life. If my weekly outings to Decadence and Mo Better had their own soundtrack, this song and at least three other Pixie songs would surely be part of it. My claim for independence, my transition from school life into real life was identified with “Where is my mind”, ““Surfer Rosa” 1988 seventh single. I would drink my sour cherry drink – since I was too young to drink alcohol- and raised my glass to alternative rock and grunge, while I waited to hear their trademark guitar tune, which haunts us till this day.
The question “Where is my/our mind?” was quite fitting and even though it’s a simple question it also holds deep meaning. Black Francis was a college student when he wrote that song, inspired by a scuba diving trip to the Caribbean. Without relating to the song’s lyrics, we were content to sway back and forth and imitate the back-up vocals. I became familiar with the Pixies seven years after their breakthrough. I wasn’t in the audience that saw them for the first time live at Rodon, in the beginning of the 90s. I was, however, one of the thousand others who saw them in the beginning of the 2000s, when Black Francis sung while staring at his shoes all night and Kim Deal was the only one interacting with the audience. The original Pixies consisted of Francis, Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering. The group’s men remained members throughout Οι άντρες 1986 and 1993, when they broke-up reunited in 2004. Deal left the group a year ago, and was replaced by Kim Shattuck and Paz Lenchantin. Along with my generation, there were many musicians that are fans of their work, such as Billy Corgan, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Radiohead, The Strokes, Bush, Blur, and many others. The question “Where is my mind?” still suits me and even though 27 years have passed, it still moves me. I used to be considered alternative, but now I’m considered to be “old-school”. The truth is that I like that teenage-romanticism combined with the illusion that not a day has passed since then.
*Words by Natasha Papachristou
