{{Short description|1988 single by Pixies}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox song | name = Gigantic | cover = Gigantic_single.jpg | alt = Sepia photo of a crying baby lying on its back on a wooden floor | type = single | artist = [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] | album = [[Surfer Rosa]] | A-side = "Gigantic" (new version) | B-side = {{ubl|"River Euphrates" (new version)|"Vamos" (live)|"In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song)" (live)}} | released = {{Start date|1988|8|29}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=August 27, 1988 |title=New Singles |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/Music-Week-1988-08-27-S-OCR.pdf |access-date=May 10, 2026 |magazine=[[Music Week]] |page=35}}</ref> | recorded = December 1987<br>[[Q Division Studios|Q Division]]<br>[[Somerville, Massachusetts]] | studio = | venue = | genre = [[Alternative rock]] | length = 3:58 (album version)<br>3:13 ([[Radio edit|single version]]) | label = [[4AD]] | writer = [[Kim Deal]], [[Black Francis]] | producer = [[Steve Albini]] (album), [[Gil Norton]] (single) | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = [[Monkey Gone to Heaven]] | next_year = 1989 | misc = {{Listen | filename = Gigantic.ogg | title = "Gigantic" | plain = yes | description = This sample contains the first bridge and chorus. | format = [[Ogg]] }} }}
"'''Gigantic'''" is a song by the American [[alternative rock]] band [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]], co-written by bassist [[Kim Deal]] and lead vocalist/guitarist [[Black Francis]]. The song appeared on the band's first full-length studio album, ''[[Surfer Rosa]]'', released in 1988. One of the longest songs on the album, "Gigantic" was released as the band's first [[single (music)|single]] on August 29, 1988.
Featuring Deal on lead vocals, the song is one of Pixies' biggest hits and a crowd favorite at [[concert]]s, often played as the [[encore (concert)|encore]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pixiesdiscs.com/blog.php |title=Pixies Set Lists |access-date=September 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815161001/http://www.pixiesdiscs.com/blog.php |archive-date=August 15, 2006}}</ref> The melody line comes from Deal's simple but effective bass playing—the same bassline is repeated throughout the song.
"Gigantic" never achieved a ranking on any major charts and was their only single release from ''Surfer Rosa''. However, it was a fairly successful first hit for Pixies and maintains radio play to this day. The single version of the song appeared on Pixies' 2004 best-of compilation, ''[[Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies]]''.
==Lyrics and melody== According to Deal, the main inspiration for the song was the film ''[[Crimes of the Heart (film)|Crimes of the Heart]]'', in which a white married woman falls in love with a black teenager.<ref name="debaser_gigantic">{{cite web |url=http://dag.wieers.com/debaser/lyrics/Gigantic.php |title=Pixies/Debaser — Gigantic |access-date=September 6, 2006}}</ref> The song is credited to Mrs. John Murphy (Kim Deal's pseudonym at the time of ''[[Come On Pilgrim]]'' and ''[[Surfer Rosa]]'').
The song's lyrics mostly revolve around a woman's observation of an attractive black man making love to another woman, culminating in the chorus: "Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic / A big, big love". Francis later commented on the title of the song and the chorus (in the music magazine ''[[Select Magazine|Select]]''), saying:<ref name="debaser_gigantic" />
{{blockquote|A good chord progression, very [[Lou Reed]] influenced. I'd had the word 'gigantic' in my mind just because the chord progression seemed very big to me.}}
The melody, particularly at the beginning, differs between the album and EP version.
==Single== 4AD label executive [[Ivo Watts-Russell]] did not believe there was a track on ''Surfer Rosa'' that would get much radio play, so he approached producer [[Gil Norton]] to re-record "Gigantic" and "River Euphrates" with the intention of releasing them as the band's first single. It was the first time Norton would record with the Pixies, and the circumstances made him a bit nervous because he was a fan of the band and Steve Albini's work.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frank |first1=Josh |last2=Ganz |first2=Caryn |title=Fool the World: The Oral History of a Band Called Pixies |year=2005 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-34007-0 |page=128}}</ref> Most of the changes he made were in the way the recordings were mixed while minor alterations were made in "Gigantic"'s arrangement. The single was released in the United Kingdom on [[4AD]] as a 12-inch single and on [[CD]]. The CD version was re-issued in 1999. (No version of this single was ever released in the United States.) The single also included a live version of "Vamos" (a song that also appeared on [[mini-LP]], ''[[Come On Pilgrim]]'' and their first [[Album|LP]] ''[[Surfer Rosa]]'') and a live cover of the song "[[In Heaven|In Heaven (The Lady in The Radiator Song)]]" from the [[David Lynch]] movie ''[[Eraserhead]]'', both recorded at the Town and Country Club in London.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/release/393902 |title=Gigantic / River Euphrates |website=Discogs |access-date=March 23, 2013}}</ref>
Based on the results of this re-recording, Gil Norton was asked to produce the next album, ''[[Doolittle (album)|Doolittle]]''. The back cover of the 12 inch features a large leather glove.{{Citation needed|date=May 2026}}
==Track listing== {{Track listing | title1 = Gigantic | note1 = new version | writer1 = [[Black Francis]] and [[Kim Deal]] | length1 = 3:12 | title2 = River Euphrates | note2 = new version | writer2 = Black Francis | length2 = 3:23 | title3 = Vamos | note3 = live | writer3 = Black Francis | length3 = 3:28 | title4 = In Heaven (The Lady in the Radiator Song) | note4 = live | writer4 = [[Peter Ivers]] and [[David Lynch]] | length4 = 1:46 }}
==Cover versions== * In 1990, the Australian alternative rock band [[Tlot Tlot]] wrote a song called "Sunny Delirious" that sampled the intro of "Gigantic". In 1992, their debut album ''[[Pistolbuttsa'twinkle]]'' included the song, while their final single, "[[The Girlfriend Song]]", included an uptempo punk version of the song recorded live as a B-side. * The [[California]] [[ska punk]] band [[Reel Big Fish]] produced a cover of "Gigantic" for 1999's ''[[Where Is My Mind?: A Tribute to the Pixies]]''. Reel Big Fish chose to break away from their traditional sound for this cover, producing a very poppy, highly produced dance track sounding nothing like the original song. Other bands such as [[Belle & Sebastian]], [[the Frames]], [[Pavement (band)|Pavement]], [[Gemma Hayes]], [[the Katies]], and [[the Hippos]] have also covered the song.<ref name="debaser_gigantic" /> * The song was parodied by [[Self (band)|Self]] on the album ''[[Feels Like Breakin' Shit]]'' with a track titled "Titanic". The chorus mimics "Gigantic" with "Titanic, Titanic, Titanic / A big, big boat".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.selfies.com/songs/?titanic |title=SELFies: Songs & Lyrics: Titanic |access-date=September 6, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103033950/http://selfies.com/songs/?titanic |archive-date=November 3, 2006}}</ref> * In 2007, [[OK Go]] covered the song for album ''Dig for Fire: A Tribute to Pixies''. * In November 2009, Brighton-based indie band [[the Miserable Rich]] covered the song on their ''Covers EP'', alongside three other 1980s covers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2009/10/the-miserable-rich-announce-covers-ep/ |title=The Miserable Rich — Covers EP |access-date=November 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201082958/http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2009/10/the-miserable-rich-announce-covers-ep/ |archive-date=December 1, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> * [[Swell Season]] vocalist [[Glen Hansard]] covered "Gigantic" live for the deluxe digital edition of their 2009 album ''[[Strict Joy]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theswellseason.com/news/the-swell-season-announce-new-album-strict-joy/ |title=The Swell Season Announce New Album, 'Strict Joy' |access-date=December 6, 2009 |archive-date=July 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727094949/http://www.theswellseason.com/news/the-swell-season-announce-new-album-strict-joy/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> * [[Alternative rock]] band [[Surfer Blood]] performed a version of the song in June 2011 for ''[[The A.V. Club]]''{{'s}} A.V. Undercover series.<ref name="undercover">{{cite web |title=Surfer Blood Covers The Pixies |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/surfer-blood-covers-the-pixies,53055/ |access-date=March 23, 2013 |archive-date=March 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130331121003/http://www.avclub.com/articles/surfer-blood-covers-the-pixies%2C53055/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> * In April 2014, a cover of the song by [[Phoebe Bridgers]], using many various iPhone and iPod performance and recording apps, was the subject of a widely broadcast advertisement by [[Apple Inc.]]<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmfmUWqlSA |title=Apple – iPhone 5s – TV Ad – Powerful |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-apple-uses-pixies-gigantic-infectious-iphone-spot-157197 |title=Ad of the Day: Apple Uses Pixies' 'Gigantic' for an Infectious iPhone Spot |website=Adweek |date=April 23, 2014}}</ref> * In October 2014, the shoegaze/punk band [[Pity Sex]] covered the song as their second track on a split they released with [[Adventures (band)|Adventures]] on Run for Cover Records.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stereogum.com/1709085/pity-sex-gigantic-pixies-cover-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/ |title=Pity Sex – "Gigantic" (Pixies Cover) (Stereogum Premiere) |website=Stereogum |date=October 2, 2014}}</ref> * Deal began performing the song with [[the Breeders]] in 2017, becoming a staple of the band's setlist therein.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/22/the-breeders-electric-ballroom-london-review-kim-deal-music-defies-physics |title=The Breeders Review – Kim Deal's Music Continues to Defy Physics |website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=October 22, 2017}}</ref>
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140813224620/http://www.pixiesmusic.com/albums_post_type/gigantic/ ''Gigantic''] at PixieMusic * [http://www.last.fm/music/Pixies/_/Gigantic "Gigantic"] at [[Last.fm]] * {{AllMusic |class=album |id=gigantic-uk-mr0000957313 |label=''Pixies – Gigantic (UK)''}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Pixies}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gigantic}} [[Category:1988 songs]] [[Category:1988 debut singles]] [[Category:Pixies (band) songs]] [[Category:OK Go songs]] [[Category:Songs written by Black Francis]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Steve Albini]] [[Category:4AD singles]] [[Category:Song recordings produced by Gil Norton]]