Released February 1994 (USA) Length 6:40 Writer(s) Stephen Malkmus | Genre Indie rock Label Matador Records | |
Recorded August–September 1993
Random Falls Studio
New York City | ||
"Fillmore Jive" is the twelfth and final song on Pavement's 1994 album Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. It is an unusually long track for Pavement, with a length of nearly seven minutes. The song has a very loose structure, consisting of no proper chorus or verse.
The song had been performed live as early as 1993, with original drummer Gary Young contributing shortly before his removal from the band. The additional booklet packaged with the 2004 reissue Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA's Desert Origins contains album track notes by Pavement front man Stephen Malkmus, originally printed in an issue of the now-defunct UK music magazine Melody Maker. Malkmus describes the song as a "plaintive rock classic" and hints towards the meaning of the song by stating:
My friend was saying I shouldn't say there are too many bands. All right - there's too much writing about music then. I'm at this point now where I probably read more about music than I listen to it, which is a terrible state to be in. Most criticism nowadays seems to be concerned with trying to keep music romantic and interesting.