Darling, we don't care if you cut your hair

I have been listening to Pavement's "Cut Your Hair", from their album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain for quite some time now. It has a very accessible and catchy tune that would easily appeal to the mainstream audience. The fact that it was arguably Pavement's most popular song that situated itself on the Billboard charts and landed them a spot on MTV's "120 Minutes" attests to that. My friend, Aaron, who works at the radio station at Carnegie-Mellon University has also decided to take on this task. I will also be attempting to analyze the song from a historical perspective (I need to read up more on this though), as this forms the basis of the meaning. However fruitless it may be, considering Malkmus employs a stream-of-consciousness writing style for the songs, it is definitely gratifying to get a little fun out of this. However, it is of a concern that the lyrics may contain inaccuracies here and there. I got these ones off of metrolyrics.com and the risk of obtaining the "correct" lyrics from this site is about as productive as finding the meaning of "emo" off of Wikipedia (citation needed.) It's all subjective, and as I wish Malkmus had provided lyrics to his songs on a CD jacket, he probably leaves it up to interpretation for his listeners, and this in itself has a purpose within the song. Some words are slightly muffled by the distortion of the guitars. The tune itself is catchy and to me, that is a statement as to equating the tune to the band's image, while the slightly inarticulate words are supposedly what the band stands for and their value as an artistic form. It is almost as if Pavement purposefully did this as to demonstrate a superficiality. This is directly delineated by how Malkmus substitutes some words for alternate phrases in his live performances. The drill is all the same, with annotations in parentheses underneath the lines, etc.


Cut Your Hair by Pavement

Darlin' don't you go and cut your hair


(In live performances that I've seen on video, Malkmus substitutes "don't you go and" for "we don't care if you". The significance of either of the alternative forms of these lines is the response to the plethora of monopolistic-label induced post-grunge bands of the early 90's. By placing a paramount importance on looks, the actual music just becomes negligible to what the bands try to convey.)

Do you think it's gonna make him change?

(I was thinking about who "him" refers to, and I have surmised that it could one of the suck bands themselves. No matter how spiky, vomit-colored, or dramatic their hair or photoshoot garb may be, they were still a dollop of suck to begin with. In interviews, Malkmus actually described these lines as a breakup scene between a boy and a girl, where the girl decides to change up her hair to appeal and reunite once again with her ex-lover.)

"I'm just a boy with a new haircut"

(The word "boy" is interesting in the context, as it suggests immaturity and naivete. This could be Pavement's perception of these bands. Malkmus mocks these pretentious self-concepts.)

And that's a pretty nice haircut

Charge in like a puzzle

(Honestly, I have no clue what the significance of this line is to the song...it's puzzling. What do you think?)

Hitmen wearing muzzles

(For one, muzzles are an end for discharge at a gun barrel and this envelops imagery of murder and tension. In the context, it seems to be a restraint to prevent speech or expression. I believe that the "hitmen" can be the bands that were "hired" by these lucrative labels to dilute and choke the music scene of the 90's. The muzzles prohibit opinion, and in turn, freedom of expression. Thus, people are forced to look only upon the surface of what these bands have to offer: their kickass hair/clothes/stage presence, etc. I also notice slave and master metaphors in this line.)

Hesitate you die

(If these bands don't follow the expectations of the labels, then their record contract is thus forfeited. This is parallel to "death" as an artist apparently, in hyperbole.)

Look around, around

The second drummer drowned

(This could refer to the "live fast, die young" saying, which could be a direct result of this hardcore image they were trying to portray)

His telephone is found

(To me, this implies that since only a telephone is mentioned, rather than the body, they were merely forgettable entities to society, as they contributed little to their sects. This could be due to the shallowness placed on the band's image, that there was little substance of the person to commit to memory)

Music scene is crazy

Bands start up each and every day

(I'm thinking about Aaron's concept of "generic indie bands" or his "beautiful people" bands haha. Basically, dime a dozen bands.)

I saw another one just the other day

A special new band

(Labels tout their bands with something along the lines of that they can contribute something different and revolutionary for the music scene, especially when they first emerge. Such as, there has never been a band that has incorporated a midget playing an accordian before (ok that was exaggeration, but you get the idea). Without some fanfare, nobody would care. This lines seems to be a sarcastic remark in response to these lofty claims.)

I remember lying

(By strictly following the conditions devised by the labels, the bands do not remain true to themselves.)

I don't remember a line

I don't remember a word

(Maybe I'm just lazy to write this down, but read the comment on the line of "career, career...")

But I don't care, I care, I really don't care

(This juxtaposition furthur indicates the inconsistency of the music scene. It is all about trends, such as "scenesters" or "hXc" if you have it.)

Did you see the drummer's hair?

(Reverts back to the previous lines about the dead drummer possibly, where he was not remembered for his talents or personal attributes of what makes him human, but rather, merely his apparently monumental hair.)

Advertising looks and chops a must

No big hair!

(Possibly an ode to the end of the glam rock era?)

Songs mean a lot when songs are bought

(Those bands who go platinum or such and have landed themselves a record deal with a prominent label, are worthy of being legends, as everyone has heard of them. The songs are worthy of value because the the label thought so.)

And so are you

(In a band, your value is placed upon how "successful" you are in mainstream society.)

Face right down to the practice room

attention and fame

a career, career, career, career

(It's been argued that Malkmus intends to say "Korea" instead of "career" in this song. I believe he has discussed this issue in an interview once? Maybe I'm imagining it... The purpose of this could be a tongue-in-cheek play off the word "career" to furthur reinforce the idea of the triviality of the lyrics, as the listeners won't care anyway.)

A few words...

Malkmus seems to analyze with a satirical jab at what it means to "make it" in such a fickle and inconsistent music industry and the implications of this. In a sarcastic tone of writing and singing, he seems to imply that the image of the band is looked upon more favorably than the musicianship itself. Throughout this song, what came to mind was the fall of the glam rock era and the milieu of post-grunge bands arising in the 90's. While I thought this song was fairly straightforward, which probably contributed to their MTV fame (bite-size lyrics!), I don't think it should be merely taken at face value. I might edit this entry at a later date and include more of the historical perspectives this entails.