The Sonic Youth song inspired by Joan Crawford
Although Sonic Youth‘s seminal sixth album Goo was released almost 35 years ago, it still sounds fresh today. Mixing slightly more accessible tracks, such as ‘Kool Thing’ and ‘Dirty Boots’ with their usual abrasive, experimental style, Sonic Youth’s 1990 release cemented them as alternative rock heroes. Goo set the tone for the decade, inspiring bands such as Nirvana, whose grungier version of alt-rock exploded into the mainstream.
Most of the songs on Goo are five or six minutes long, sometimes more. However, the band also threw in a few shorter pieces which hark back to their earlier, harsher music. Both ‘Scooter And Jinx’ and ‘Mildred Pierce’ lack conventional song structure and focus on the creation of unique textures. Their presence on the album ties everything together, allowing more substantial tracks to transition seamlessly into each other. By maintaining a raw, rough-around-the-edges sound, these tracks prevent Goo from sounding overly polished, thus maintaining Sonic Youth’s signature sound.
In fact, ‘Mildred Pierce’ was one of Sonic Youth’s earliest tracks. According to their website, it was one of the first songs they ever wrote, which means it likely dates back to around 1981. The song, written in standard tuning, was initially titled ‘Blowjob?’ and the eight-minute demo version can be found on the deluxe edition of Goo. The blood-curdling scream which can be heard in the demo is the same one used in the official two-minute and 12-second version, which became ‘Mildred Pierce’.
The track begins with steady, dominating guitar riffs, creating a rather menacing soundscape. ‘Mildred Pierce’ continues to build before exploding into a cacophonic breakdown of thrashing instruments and Thurston Moore’s frenzied screeches of ‘Mildred Pierce/ Why?!’ The track was inspired by the 1945 film noir of the same name, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Joan Crawford in one of her most iconic roles. She took home the Best Actress award at the Oscars for her performance as the eponymous protagonist, who is willing to do anything for her children after her husband leaves her for another woman. The film is a harrowing portrayal of the flimsiness of the American Dream, one that depicts utter desolation and desperation.
The caterwauling screams of Moore’s ‘Mildred Pierce!’ fit perfectly onto Goo, which contains several songs about femininity and the pressures of societal expectations, such as ‘Kool Thing’ and ‘Tunic (Song for Karen)’, akin to Curtiz’s film. Furthermore, the band decided to employ Sofia Coppola, almost a decade before her directorial debut, to channel Crawford in a music video for the song.
The video features grainy black-and-white footage of Coppola walking around the streets of Hollywood, acting increasingly manic and erratic as the song builds to its discordant climax. The band had a close relationship with Coppola, who would collaborate with bassist Kim Gordon on the cult ’90s clothing brand X-Girl. Moreover, Moore suggested she read The Virgin Suicides in 1995, which became the source material for her 1999 feature debut, launching her to filmmaking stardom.
Listen to ‘Mildred Pierce’ below.
