Lyrics:

The Song:

"Devils Haircut" shows off the Dust Brothers' production techniques at their finest. The song is a mixture of samples, but to their great credit, the song still sounds very much like a band performance.

A quick breakdown of the samples turns up three main ones (there's probably some minor ones!). First is the four-note guitar riff which leads the song. Like some of "Jack-ass," this comes from Van Morrison's great '60s group, Them. They did a lot of covers, and one was a groovy song called "I Can Only Give You Everything." Beck and the Dusties did not literally sample this song, however, but just replayed the riff, giving it more muscle and a fuller sound. Yet another Them cover, this one of James Brown's funky classic "Out of Sight," was also used. From this, they get the drumbeat heard during the verses of "Devils Haircut." During the choruses (and "good drum breaks") though, the drums are courtesy of another song, Pretty Purdie's "Soul Drums." Purdie is a jazz drummer, who calls himself the "most sampled drummer ever."

On top of all this, Beck sings some unique and bizarre lyrics. A bevy of grotesque, Beat-poetic images like "discount orgies," "bleeding noses," "garbage man trees," and "stealing kisses from the leperous faces" are relatively off-putting. Beck uses them to evoke a feeling, a sense of disorientation, "a devils haircut in my mind," the blues.

And it is in true blues fashion that the song is open to so many interpretations. How do you define "the blues"? Its definition seems to vary for listeners and artists. Beck noticed this "vague" quality himself. When asked, he's offered up numerous possible interpretations (from the silly, to the obscure, to the possible). Beck even made fun of it during his appearance on the TV show "Futurama": "What was that song about?"

"Devils Haircut" does contain a number of references to travel or touring, and it has been reported that the song was written just after Beck finished the difficult Lollapalooza tour, which had given him a few months break during the recording Odelay.

One intriguing comment from Beck was that the song was a rewriting of the famous "Stagolee" blues myth:

I don't know if I ever HAD any youthful purity, but I can understand that you might be tempted to make commercial shit and compromise to do it. I try not to compromise on anything. I think we associate becoming an adult with compromise. Maybe that's what the devil is. In 'Devils Haircut' that was the scenario. I imagined Stagger Lee . . . I thought, what if this guy showed up now in 1996. The song had this Sixties grooviness, and I thought of using him as a Rumplestiltskin figure, this Lazarus figure to comment on where we've ended up as people. What would he make of materialism and greed and ideals of beauty and perfection? His reaction would be, 'Whoa, this is disturbing shit.'

He explained the song further as being "a really simplistic metaphor for the evil of vanity."

But of course, in the same interview, he said the song wasn't planned out at all: "I thought 'Devils Haircut' was a really bad lyric. If I can't finish a song, I'll just put in something temporary. That's what 'Loser' was. Then the temporary one always becomes the best one, because it wasn't all thought out."

Live:

Played live 715 times:
Earliest known live version: June 27, 1996
Latest known live version: May 12, 2024

"Devils Haircut" has been played at what seems like every rock show Beck has done since he began the Odelay tour in July 1996. It will be almost be a shock when he stops playing it. It is a very natural song for the stage, with it's catchy powerful riff and enthusiastic vocals. The best thing about the song is how chaotic it can feel, while still being a sharp, constructed song.

The song does not sound too different on stage from the arrangement on Odelay, that basic framework has basically remained in place since 1996, but there are some stylistic differences as Beck's bands have shifted.

1996-1997 Odelay tour

Certainly, many of the best performances are from the Odelay tour, surely, with that band, when the song was at its freshest. Since Beck had a DJ back then, and a more atmospheric-type keyboardist, the song had a slight videogame-y vibe, as they dropped in different effects on top of the energetic garage-band rush of the song. Beck played harmonica a little bit too, like the record. The dynamics of the song were played up to great effect: slow motion poses during the verses, high action leaping during the choruses.

There's a small section in live versions of the song, near the end, right before the shouts of "DEVILS HAIRCUT! IN MY MIND!" At this stage, Beck would play some harmonica there.

1998-1999 Mutations tour

Somewhere around 1998-1999, Beck moved "Devils Haircut" to the end of some of his setlists. They tacked 3-4 minutes of chaos and feedback on to the end of the song. ROCK! This continued throughout the Vultures tours of 2000-2001. The feedback's cut out lately, but they continue to rock the crap out of the song. Mostly, though, the song remained the same as it was in 1996-1997.

2000-2001 Vultures tour

The Vultures tour saw Beck expand his band to include horns and background singers, but they did not change "Devils Haircut" much. The horn section seems to add more percussion (and one plays electric guitar), no horns. The singers sing the chorus with Beck. But otherwise, the song remains its ferocious, frenetic self. That little live section near the end on this tour was usually led by turntables, DJ Swamp scratching for a moment before the song's final explosion.

July 2, 2000 was an acoustic show at a festival during what I refer to a "summer break" from the Vultures tour. They did a whole bunch of quiet, acoustic, bluesy songs. Without the usual full-on electric guitar attack, this version relies almost entirely on percussion and some sound effects (though they appear to have found an electric guitar somewhere to rock the riff).

2002-2003 Sea Change tours

August 20, 2002 was one of Beck's solo shows, and on it he started to play "Where It's At" riff on his piano. He stopped it pretty quickly, and then started talking about how it's the first four seconds of songs that's the most exciting. He then started the "Devils Haircut" riff on piano. He's goofing off so he doesn't take it anywhere. But I must say, it sounds really neat that way!

Flaming Lips version
2003 summer version

2005-2007 Guero/Info tours

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2008 Modern Guilt

Still using the same arrangement, Beck's Modern Guilt band played "Devils Haircut" much leaner and more funkier.

2012-2013 pre-Morning Phase

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2014 Morning Phase tour

"Devils Haircut" was the only song played at every show in 2014. On top of that, it led off almost every show, except the times when Beck opened with an acoustic set. (And in those cases, "DH" led off the 'rock' sets.) The song followed the album for the most part, but they rearranged the ending to be more dynamic for the stage. The drum break on the album was replaced by the main riff, and they also stuck in a short, new riff section near the end (which may be my favorite part of the song, it's vicious). In many ways, I think the song as it is on this tour is as good as its ever been. The song is so muscular and sharp, and still maintaining it's chaotic "this could fall apart" feel.

2015-2017 post-Morning Phase tours

Beck toured sporadically in these years, in the build-up to Colors. He played "Devils Haircut" every time though, and he held on to the arrangement from Morning Phase. In 2015, Justin Meldal-Johnsen remained his bassist, and he played a bassline that almost led the song (which works, as the lead guitar riff is so rhythmic). Joey Waronker added some HUGE echoed drums, which made the song feel even bigger. Surprisingly, I may like these versions of "Devils Haircut" more than the Odelay tour.

Beck's new band members of 2016-2017 did not change "Devils Haircut" much; Dwayne Moore has a slightly different feel than Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass but nothing drastic on this song.

2017-2018 Colors tour

2018 was filled up with shows on the Colors tour, around 59 main shows. "Devils Haircut" was played at all but one of them, and was the first song at about 48 of them. It remains a great way to start a Beck concert, and Beck knows this. With some added musicians though (The B-53s), this version of "Devils Haircut" did feel more intricate. Jason Falkner could add more lead guitar noodling, and all the backup singers boost Beck's verses. The organized chaos of the song has been replaced by something a bit more fancy. They also added a droning intro to kick the song off for most of the tour, and halfway through, expanded that intro to include a slow-mo tape of Beck singing "devils haircut" a few times. It built the drama for that famous riff, to get the crowd hyped.

Samples

1. The main 4-note guitar riff comes from Them's song "I Can Only Give You Everything," which was written by Phillip Coulter and Thomas Scott. Beck also used a drumbeat from Them's cover of James Brown's "Out Of Sight" on this song. (He also sampled Them on "Jack-ass.")

2. Beck also used a drumbeat from Pretty Purdie's "Soul Drums." Bernard Purdie is an oft-sampled drummer in the world of hiphop.