There Goes My Gun

Here's what I think... and I think its a pretty damn solid take on the song, especially given Charles' habits of using sound, volume, effects and inflection to add description or reference to whatever story he was telling:

The song is a story about an abstracted encounter with and shooting of a hostile stranger...

1st verse: "Yoo-hoo" Charles is shouting out loud to get the attention of someone far away from him

2nd verse: "Look at me" Charles is shouting with increasing volume from an echoy distance, in another attempt to get the unknown's attention.

3rd verse: "Friend or foe?" Charles starts out with shouting, and with each repetition, it gets quieter and less echoy... the person is getting closer, until finally we are right there with Charles whispering to us.

This is where "There goes my gun" comes in as the conclusion- the chorus of the song that we've been listening to. The unknown is in fact a foe, and Charles' gun goes off.

Has anyone ever noticed this?

Take the titles of "Here Comes Your Man" and "There Goes My Gun"

Here --------------- There Comes ------------ Goes Your -------------- My Man --------------- Gun

Pretty cool IMO

There goes my gun means he shoots. he shoot whatever moves, girls, friends or foe. That's my point of view: this could be a critic on the American rednecks and army who tend to be trigger-happy

but it's still a great song!

This song is a perfect example of how it doesn't really have to make sense. It's like twisted poetry. The phrases "look at me," "there goes my gun" "friend or foe" and "yoo-hoo" don't really mean anything when you throw them together, but they all have interesting connotations by themselves. Have Frank Black scream the lyrics while Kim Deal provides smooth backing vocals and set the whole thing to the usual Pixies noise and you have a winner. This is the formula for lots of great Pixies songs. This band is/was brilliant.

Huh. I thought this was about being in the army and accidentally killing one of your own men.

I'm suddenly disturbed by pixies fans. Every song someone interperets it as "it's about raping some bitch", "it's about how this cunt was a bitch" or "it's about how this bitch was controlling him". I think that anyone who has made such comments needs to nail a note to their door in the interest of public safety that says:

"Be warned, I am now or am soon to be a rapist, most likely of the date-raping variety. I have a twisted set of logic, alot of anger against women and a general feeling of superiority over women as a sex. Any female entering this household without a weapon, or a parent/guardian with a weapon is in grave danger."

All the people saying this song makes no sense, or is just meant to be a nonsense song are putting no thought or effort into it and don't do this minimalist masterpiece any justice.

I like the interpretation in the Doolittle book that likens it to a surrealist film about a soldier at war whose been separated from the rest of his army and is yelling out of a trench through the smoke to find anyone "Yoo-hoo!" Problem is he's so on-edge and nervous he shoots first and asks questions later: "There goes my gun." Again he thinks he hears/sees someone, "Look at me!" he yells, but again, as the person gets closer his nerves get the better of him and "There goes my gun." Once again he sees someone so calls out "Friendsa Foe?" but before he realises that the other soldier is on his own side—BANG! There goes his gun.

Could be a commentary on the trigger-happy attitude of many Americans, people being mistaken for an intruder in their own home, and accidently being gunned down by a relative etc. Or how guns can just as easily take the lives of friends or foes if the person with the gun feels threatened enough.

Although 'yoo hoo' also ties in with 'look at me', so perhaps that's right... I'm sure about verse 2 and 3 tho!

This song sounds great. It's really one of my favourites