Tropicalia (song)

"Tropicalia"
Single by Beck
from the album Mutations
B-side	"Halo of Gold" / "Black Balloon"
Released	7 December 1998 (UK)
Genre	Tropicália
Length	3:23
Label	Geffen GFS 22365 (UK, 7") GFSTD-22365 (UK, CD)
Songwriter(s)	Beck Hansen
Producer(s)	Nigel Godrich and Beck Hansen
Beck singles chronology
"Deadweight" (1997) "Tropicalia" (1998) "Cold Brains" (1999)

"Tropicalia" is a song from Beck's 1998 album Mutations. It was released as a single in the UK in December 1998. The B-side "Halo of Gold" is a drastically reworked cover version of "Furry Heroine (Halo of Gold)" by Skip Spence.

Background

Beck said that "Tropicalia"'s inspiration was "I've always loved a lot of different exotic music. I've been listening to Brazilian music since I was a kid, but I haven't really felt it was something that would come naturally until the last few years. I think for something like 'Tropicalia' I needed to go to places where that music existed in order to get to the point where I could do it myself. I wrote it in the back of the bus on tour, and then later I put lyrics to it. A lot of times I write the melody and the chords of the songs sometimes years before I ever get around it writing lyrics, so it just sits there incubating." [1]

Beck does not play any instrument in the song.[1]

Track listings

CD

1. "Tropicalia" – 3:23
2. "Halo of Gold" – 4:29
3. "Black Balloon" – 3:30

7"

1. "Tropicalia" – 3:23
2. "Halo of Gold" – 4:29

Personnel

• Beck Hansen – vocals
• Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – synthesizer, organ, percussion
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen – acoustic bass, percussion
• Joey Waronker – drums, percussion, drum machine
• Smokey Hormel – percussion, cuíca, acoustic guitar
• David Ralicke – flute, trombone

References

1. "Beck Song Information - Tropicalia".

External links

• Tropicalia at MusicBrainz