Beck explained this amazing recording's inspiration when he was on KCRW in 1998: ["Diamond Bollocks"] happened because we'd been in [the studio] about 10 days, I think, doing all these waltzes and dirges and all these 3/4 songs. And I came into the lounge and everybody was watching these acid rock videos, Justin and Roger and everybody were. I think we all just needed to rock out for a minute because we'd been, like I said, in the slow lane for awhile. And the studio is fairly sedentary and we needed to get our cockles warm, just kinda kick it into gear a little bit.
Later Beck described the process with a little more detail. "We literally, in one night, recorded eight songs, then took the 24-track tapes and cut them all up on a tape and created this crazy song. It was more about the process than the actual song, but I ended up liking the song too," he explained.
And what a fantastic recording it is! The band wanted a change of pace, and they sure got it. Opening with a little carnival beat, which in a way predicts the whirlwind pace and structure about to follow, the song blasts off. The gallimaufrey goes something like this:
carnival-esque harpsichord intro (with panting) to choral bridge [:00-:27]
the big rock guitar riff, borrowed from "Megaboob," and first verse (with
lyrics from "Erase the Sun") [:27-1:22]
band jam, with Joey Waronker's phenomenal drumming [1:22-1:52]
birds tweeting [1:52-1:57]
Justin's bass solo mixed with Roger's harpsichord [1:57-2:23]
Beck's middle "Lonesome Whistle" section [2:23-2:53]
a noisy bridge [2:53-3:07]
the "Megaboob" rock section, and end verse [3:07-4:12]
a calm harpsichord chorus ("Looking back at some dead world...") [4:12-4:54]
one last rock blast, with more mad drumming from Joey [4:54-5:36]
a synthesizer coda [5:36-6:01]
So if this was literally 8 songs combined (that seems slightly high hyperbole to me), I guess they could include "Dead World," "Megaboob," "Erase The Sun," and "scented eunuchs" sections.
Lyrically, the song is a dazzling mix of creative phrases, probably just spun together randomly. In 1995, Beck recorded a b-side called "Erase the Sun" which included a number of these lines and phrases, such as "choice cut meets from derelict boulevards," "dazzlements of accidents," "hari-karis," "spinning round the golden looms," and "offices and fountains they named for you."
The initial idea was to put the song as track two on Mutations, but Beck changed his mind and moved it (on American versions of the album) to be a hidden track at the end of the album. He explains, "It's part of the record, but it's like the wayward son at the Thanksgiving dinner who just doesn't really fit in with the family anymore, is the black sheep. So you put him at the end of the table..."
Over the years, Beck has on occasion returned to "Diamond Bollocks" on stage a few times. It's never been played a lot, but a few times in 2006, once more in 2012. Beck drops a lot of his old songs completely, but "Diamond Bollocks" seems to be a song and recording of which he is proud, an ambitious, over-the-top, and fun track.
― Bee OK, Friday, 7 June 2019 19:25 (seven years ago)