"Cold Brains" is a song by

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...

. It appears on his 1998 album ''

Mutations In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosi ...

''. The song was also released as a single. It was also released in Australia as an exclusive tour EP. Three of the B-sides, "One of These Days", "Diamond in the Sleaze" and "Electric Music and the Summer People", had previously been Japanese exclusives, and as such this EP became a very popular import, especially as those tracks had still not been released officially in the UK, Europe or US as of 2014. The single was intended to be released in the US with a different track listing, but only a promotional version was produced. Beck intended the song to be released on his independent 1994 album ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...

'', but for unknown reasons, it was instead released on ''Mutations''. When asked about "Cold Brains"' bleakness, Beck said:

I think of it as mostly playful, but then I think
Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
is a humorous song writer. In 'Cold Brains' when I say, 'The fields of green are obscene and I lay upon the gravel', there's just this demented auto-erotica that I think is hilarious. It's not meant to necessarily bring anybody down or bum anybody out.

As of 2019, Beck has performed the song live in concert 139 times. He has, however, not performed it live since May 2013.

Track listings

# "Cold Brains" – 3:34 # "One of These Days" – 4:48 # "Diamond in the Sleaze" – 4:08 # "Halo of Gold" – 4:29 # "Electric Music and the Summer People" (alternate version) – 3:35 Alternate promotional CD # "Cold Brains" – 3:44 # "Electric Music and the Summer People" (alternate version) – 3:37 # "Halo of Gold" – 4:31 # "Runners Dial Zero" – 4:06 # "Diamond Bollocks" – 6:01

Personnel

– vocals, guitars, piano, harmonica, glockenspiel *

Justin Meldal-Johnsen Justin Meldal-Johnsen (born March 26, 1970) is an American musician, record producer, songwriter and musical director. He is best known for his work with artists such as Beck, Paramore, Nine Inch Nails, M83, Air, and St. Vincent. Meldal-Johns ...

– bass *

Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (born May 27, 1966) is an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the bands Jellyfish, the Moog Cookbook, and Imperial Drag. He has also spent several years as a member of Beck's backing band, contri ...

– synthesizer *

Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronker ...

– drums and percussion

References

1999 singles 1998 songs Beck songs Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich Songs written by Beck {{1990s-rock-song-stub