"Pretend We're Dead" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band L7 from their third studio album, '' Bricks Are Heavy''. It was written by

Donita Sparks Donita Sparks (born April 8, 1963) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter most notable for being the co-founder of the band L7. Sparks also initiated, performed, and released original material with her solo project, the band Donita S ...

. The song was the first single released from ''Bricks Are Heavy'' and achieved moderate international success. It spent 20 weeks on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart, peaking at number eight. It also reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart and charted in Australia, Belgium, and Finland. A documentary about L7 directed by Sarah Price and titled ''L7:'' ''Pretend We're Dead'' was released in 2016. The film covers the band discussing challenges associated with producing the video for "Pretend We're Dead" including a crane failure that injured

Suzi Gardner Suzanne Gardner (born August 1, 1960) is an American musician and creative director best known for being a guitarist, vocalist, and co-founder of the rock band L7 (band), L7. Early life Gardner was born in Altus, Oklahoma on August 1, 1960 ...

and heavy handed video producers that stifled the creative vision of Sparks.

Conception

Donita Sparks was in her apartment in

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

trying to write lyrics to a cassette she had made. She was heartbroken at the time due to a recent breakup, and she says the first thing that came to her was, "I just pretend that you're dead." She did not mean it as wanting her former paramour to be dead but felt that the only way she could get through the breakup was to pretend he was dead. Then, immediately, in her mind, she thought "I'm not writing that. It's just not gonna happen. What about, "pretend we're dead"?" She liked that because playing dead was a children's game, and it also served as a kind of commentary on

Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party and became an important figure in ...

/ Bush–era

apathy Apathy, also referred to as indifference, is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic i ...

. Sparks stated that there was an unspoken sentiment in the band that love songs were to be avoided. In an interview regarding the early formation of "Pretend We're Dead" Sparks stated "We chose fierceness and humor over vulnerability because we were, you know, navigating challenging waters — women in hard rock. You had to be tough."

Track listing

# "Pretend We're Dead" ( Sparks) # "Shitlist" (Sparks) # "Lopsided Head" # "Mr. Integrity" (Sparks)

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1992 songs 1992 singles L7 (band) songs Slash Records singles Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Songs against capitalism Songs with feminist themes Songs written by Donita Sparks