"Y Control" is a single by

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are compl ...

, from their debut album ''

Fever to Tell ''Fever to Tell'' is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, released on April 29, 2003, by Interscope Records. It was produced by David Andrew Sitek and mixed by Alan Moulder. Four singles were issued, the first being ...

''. The name of the song refers to the emotional control of a female, referring to the male

Y chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...

, and can also be read as a reference to Prince's 1995 song "Pussy Control," which is frequently abbreviated as "P Control." The song's music video was controversial for its disturbing imagery; nonetheless, it received some play on MTV and its sister station, MTV2. The song is part of the soundtrack of the 2009 video game Dirt 2.

Critical reception

The song was met with universal acclaim upon its release, with many critics noting it as one of the album's highlights.

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

listed "Y Control" as the 213th best song of the decade.

Music video

The music video for "Y Control", directed by Spike Jonze, was controversial for its images of children carrying the body of a dead dog, giving the middle finger, and a subtitled portrayal of child mutilation including the chopping of a boy's hand and another boy

disembowel Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident ...

ing himself with a knife. MTV and MTV2 agreed to air the video; however, they included a disclaimer from Jonze at the beginning, and blurred out some of the video's more offensive material. The unedited version is available on their " Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow" DVD.

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

gave a negative review of the video, describing the video as "a sort of fairy tale gone wrong," and calling it "amateurish." It was put into rotation on MTV and MTV2.

Commercial performance

The song reached number 54 on the UK Singles chart. It was the least successful single from "Fever to Tell."

Charts

Track listing

#"Y Control" #"Y Control" (

The Faint The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes, with whom T ...

remix) #"Y Control" (Live at the Fillmore)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2004 singles Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs Music videos directed by Spike Jonze 2003 songs Interscope Records singles Songs written by Karen O Songs written by Brian Chase Songs written by Nick Zinner