The biggest song in grunge icons L7’s catalogue has to be “Pretend We’re Dead”. The 1992 track was a massive hit for the band. It never would have been possible, however, without a bad breakup and a disdain for Bush-era politics.
In a 2022 interview for Uncut magazine, co-frontwomen Suzi Gardner and Donita Sparks opened up about their illustrious career. During the conversation, “Pretend We’re Dead” came up, with the pair noting that the song was intended to “inspire, without being preachy” to the listener.
“‘Pretend We’re Dead’ was originally written as ‘Pretend You’re Dead’, Sparks revealed. “I was going through a very difficult breakup. It was so time-consuming and frustrating that I was like, ‘OK, I’ve just got to pretend they’re dead.’ I didn’t want that person dead; it was just the way I could cope. After a couple of days, I was like, ‘Oh, pretend we’re dead – now that’s a cool lyric.’”
She then noted that the George H.W. Bush presidential administration also influenced the tone. “There was horrible apathy going on with politics in the United States and people not voting,” Sparks said. “We had Reagan all those years, and then the first President Bush.”
“It was scary times; they were clamping down on civil liberties,” she continued. “So it was a call to action for people to wake up and smell the coffee, because bad stuff can happen. I suppose I was trying to inspire without being preachy.”
“Pretend We’re Dead” was the first single off of L7’s third album, ‘Bricks Are Heavy’
Gardner then offered some perspective of her own. “It just seemed obvious that we were going to sing about our life experiences and comment on the world around us,” the guitarist said. “I’m grateful that our music had a message.”
Sharing some insight into the musical side of “Pretend We’re Dead”, Sparks revealed how it was arranged. “For the riff, we were just trying to get an effect that would stand out from the thickness of the rhythm bed,” she explained. “We were putting so many f***ing pedals together that it started to sound like a synthesizer.”
Finally, she also weighed in on the song’s music video. “The video shoot was a s**tshow,” she lamented. “The director wanted to try this shot with Suzi lying on the floor. The crane was not fastened securely, and it came crashing down and hit Suzi right on her cheekbone.”
“It could have been way worse. But it was bad,” Sparks added. “The shoot was cancelled, and [Suzi] had to have surgery. When we reconvened, [my ideas] were being dismissed by the director. I had to put my foot down. It was a bummer, but it turned out cool.”
Photo by Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
The post ‘Inspire Without Being Preachy’: How a Breakup and Bush-Era Politics Helped Create This L7 Hit appeared first on VICE.
