“Got me a movie / I want you to know”: 15 musical works inspired by visual art

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“Got me a movie / I want you to know”: 15 musical works inspired by visual art

Most songs are inspired by songwriters’ emotions or a story that they
want to tell, but some are reactions to other works of art. While that
usually means other songs, visual art also sometimes serves as a
catalyst for songwriters. Here are 15 musical works inspired by visual art.

previous arrow3. Pixies, “Debaser” (1989) next arrow

Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s surrealist silent short “Un Chien Andalou” opens with an iconic scene of a man (played by Buñuel) slitting open a woman’s eye with a razor. Inspired by that “film about nothing in particular,” Black Francis penned the lyrics to the opening track from Pixies’ Doolittle, a nonsense mix of shouting about wanting to show someone “Un Chien Andalou.” The opening lines, “Got me a movie / I want you know / Slicing up eyeballs / I want you to know,” couldn’t refer to anything else, and that surrealistic streak runs through the rest of the album and Francis’ career.

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