Debra (song)
Encyclopedia
"Debra" is the name of a song by Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...

. He had originally attempted to record "Debra" with the Dust Brothers
Dust Brothers
The Dust Brothers are the Los Angeles, California based, Grammy Award winning producers, E.Z. Mike and King Gizmo , famous for their sample-based music in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on the albums Paul's Boutique by the Beastie Boys, Odelay by Beck, and the soundtrack to...

 for Odelay
Odelay
Odelay is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, originally released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records.After the mainstream success of "Loser", Odelay featured several hit singles, including "Where It's At", "Devils Haircut", and "The New Pollution"...

, but he thought that it was too tongue-in-cheek. It was debuted main-stream in 1996, and, as Beck noted, "it became the centerpiece of the whole set. It was the song that people would react to more than the songs that they'd heard on the radio. So we kept playing it and playing it." The song finally made it on to Midnite Vultures
Midnite Vultures
Midnite Vultures is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, released in November 1999 by Geffen Records...

in 1999. The song maintains a cult following.

It continued with the "Loser" motif, but—whereas that song related to being a slacker in life, "Debra" relates to being a slacker in love, and a troubled one too. It satirises both some men's desires, and the fashion for songs about sex in R&B and pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

. The song draws influence from "Raspberry Beret
Raspberry Beret
"Raspberry Beret" is a song by Prince and The Revolution. It was the first U.S. single from their 1985 album, Around the World in a Day. The sound was different from any previous Prince track, incorporating Middle Eastern finger cymbals, stringed instruments, and even a harmonica on the extended...

" by Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

. Beck later, on his "Sea Change" tour, admitted how much he detested the song, and changed, to great effect, as many of the lyrics as possible in ad-lib.

The lyrics notably include a (seemingly non sequitur) reference to the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 area restaurant chain Zankou Chicken
Zankou Chicken
Zankou Chicken is a small, family-owned chain of Armenian and Middle-Eastern fast casual restaurants within the Los Angeles area. Its specialty is rotisserie chicken served with a garlic paste and pita bread...

, most likely the location in Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

 (as mentioned previously in the song).

A mashup
Mashup (music)
A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...

 of the song, "Frontin' on Debra", was made in 2004, mixing the song with "Frontin'
Frontin'
"Frontin", is a 2003 song by producer Pharrell. The title refers to putting up a facade , typically to impress peers. The song features rapper Jay-Z, is written by Pharrell and produced by The Neptunes. At the time he insisted the single was a one-off, and that he was purely a producer and not a...

" by Pharrell featuring Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

.

The song also shows striking similarities to David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

 song "Win" from the album Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...



The song was covered by German industrial artist Kompressor. Kompressor's version is called "Kompressor Want To Get With You."

External links

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