Debra (song)
"
Debra" is the name of a song by
Beck. He had originally attempted to record "Debra" with the
Dust Brothers for
Odelay, 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 in
1999.
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. The song draws influence from
Raspberry Beret by
Prince. 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.
A
mashup of the song, "Frontin' on Debra", was made in 2004, mixing the song with "Frontin'" by
Pharrell Williams featuring
Jay-Z.
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Debra - Chopped and Screwed Remix
