"Where Is My Mind?" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies. It is the seventh track on their 1988 debut album Surfer Rosa. The song was written by frontman Black Francis while he attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, inspired by his experiences while scuba diving in the Caribbean. He later said he had "this very small fish trying to chase me. I don't know why—I don't know too much about fish behavior." Although the song was never released as a single, it is one of the band's signature songs. A live version of the song recorded at 2004's Coachella was released for free through BitTorrent.
In 2005, the song was used in some commercials for The Weather Man.
In 2009, it was featured in an HBO commercial for The Dark Knight.
In 2011, an instrumental cover was used in the Microsoft advertisement "The Kinect Effect", while a version by Sunday Girl was used by Thomson Holidays for a TV advertisement as part of their "Time for a Holiday?" campaign. In the same year, the original version of the song was featured in a commercial for Milk Every Moment.
In 2013, the version by Sunday Girl was also used in a trailer for the ITV series Vera. A piano version by Maxence Cyrin was used in a commercial for AT&T's "It Can Wait" campaign. Another piano cover was used in the commercial "Why Bring a Child into this World?" by Unilever's "Project Sunlight" campaign.
In 2014, it was used to advertise the video game Dark Souls II.
In 2015, an instrumental, chamber music version was used as the sound track in Acura's "Lightning in a bottle" ad for the 2016 Acura ILX. A version by The Hit House appeared in the cinematic promo for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.
In 2016, the Nada Surf cover was used in Samsung Gear VR TV Commercial, 'Sharing a Virtual World'. Samsung used the original for the 'A Perfect Day' short, promoting their Galaxy, Gear, & IconX lines.
In 1990, the song was featured in A Matter of Degrees.
In 1998, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole used the song during closing credits.
In 1999, Fight Club prominently featured the song during the final scene and ending credits.
In 2003, Gaz Bar Blues ended with this song. Janis and John also used this song.
In 2009, a cover by City Wolf was featured in Observe and Report. The original version of the song was featured in the documentary Ghost Bird.
In 2010, it appeared in Mr. Nobody and in the closing credits of BBC Documentary Madness in the Fast Lane. In the same year, an instrumental cover by Maxence Cyrin appeared in the film It's Kind of a Funny Story.
In 2011, a cover of the song was included in Sucker Punch, performed by Yoav and Emily Browning.
In 2012, ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards featured this song. Detention of the Dead also used this song.
In 2013, it was used in Horns. Big Ass Spider featured a cover of this song in the opening scene.
In 2014, it was used in Welcome to Me.
In 2015, it was used in Knock Knock and Man Up.
In 2005, the song was used in "Driver Ed", an episode of Veronica Mars.
In 2006, it appeared as intro in the episode "Sex, Birth, Death" of the CBS series Criminal Minds.
In 2007, it appeared in "The Great Leap Forward", the final episode of The 4400.
In 2008, the song was used in "True Calling", an episode of Cold Case.
In 2011, it was sung by Claudia Donovan (played by Allison Scagliotti) on the Syfy TV show Warehouse 13 in the episode "Don't Hate the Player".
In 2012, the song was used at the end of the episode "Things Just Got Real" of the ABC series The Neighbors. An instrumental lullaby version by Rockabye Baby! appeared in "The Lesson", another episode of Criminal Minds. A cover of the song by Jade Williams was used at the end of the episode "Battle of the Proxies" of the CBS series The Good Wife.
In 2013, it was used in the intro of the Covert Affairs episode "Dead". In the episode "The Return of The Aquabats!" of the television series The Aquabats! Super Show!, one of the main characters, suffering from amnesia, attempts to recall a memory and exactly quotes the first three lines of the song's second verse. The same character also quotes lines from "Gigantic" and "River Euphrates" in the episode.
In 2014, a cover version by The Coral Sea appears in the episode "Dicks" of the Showtime series Californication. It also appeared in one episode of Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways.
In 2015, Maxence Cyrin's version appeared at the end of season 1, episode 9 of USA's Mr. Robot, entitled "eps1.8m1rr0r1ng.qt", as a deliberate nod to plot similarities with Fight Club. The second season of the HBO series The Leftovers featured two versions of "Where Is My Mind?" with the original version in episode 2 "A Matter of Geography" and Maxence Cyrin's cover in 3 other episodes. A cover version by Mindy Jones appeared at the end of season 1, episode 9 of the NBC series Blindspot, entitled "Authentic Flirt".
In 2016, the cover version by Sunday Girl was used in the first season, first episode of Crazyhead (TV series).
In 2011, it was featured in the video game Rocksmith.
In 2016, it was released as DLC for Rock Band 4.
A+Machines covered the song on multiple occasions at their live concerts.
Sammy Adams uses part of the main riff in his song "Blow Up"
Rockabye Baby! published an instrumental lullaby version of the song on their 2008 album Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of the Pixies by Mike Baiardi
Bobby Bare, Jr. covered the song on his 2006 album The Longest Meow.
Bassnectar remixed the song in 2010.
James Blunt sang a cover version of the song in a live show on the BBC in 2005, and performed his cover during his US Tour at Radio City Music Hall.
The Coral Sea covered this song.
Maxence Cyrin recorded a piano arrangement in his 2010 album Novö Piano.
Dikembe performed a cover of the song and others for a cover set at The Fest in Gainesville, Florida.
Alice Donut covered the song for their 2009 album Ten Glorious Animals, with the vocal line being replaced by trombone make it fully instrumental.
Arcade Fire covered the song in 2007.
Sunday Girl covered the song in 2011.
Black Francis re-recorded the song in 2004 and released it on his album Frank Black Francis and recorded a live version with The Catholics at the Melkweg on March 24, 2001.
Emmy the Great covered the song as a bonus in their album First Love.
Ghoti Hook covered the song on their 1999 album of covers, Songs We Didn't Write.
Professor Green covered the song under the name "Spinning Out" On his 2011 album, At Your Inconvenience.
The Gosh Guys covered the song on a compilation of 4AD covers called "Thurtene – A Collection of 4AD Covers".
Glen Hansard with guests Bitch Falcon covered the song on December 21, 2015 during a show at Vicar Street, Dublin.
Hey covered the song on their 2003 live album, Koncertowy.
Hurra Torpedo covered the song for their concerts and the song was included on the live-DVD World Tour 2010 – Live at Rockefeller Music Hall.
Illy covered the song for radio station Triple J's program, Like a Version.
Storm Large covered the song on her 2009 album, Crazy Enough.
Kings of Leon covered the song in several concerts throughout 2010.
M.I.A. covered the chorus of this song on the track "20 Dollar" from her album, Kala.
Mt. Eden covered the song.
Ariane Moffatt recorded an acoustic version of the song for the score of the French Canadian television program, Trauma.
Placebo covered the song for their Sleeping with Ghosts bonus track disc. In 2003, they also performed the song live in Paris, with Black Francis as a special guest. The performance can be found on the DVD, Soulmates Never Die.
Nada Surf covered the song for Where Is My Mind? A Tribute to the Pixies.
Power of Trinity covered the song for their 2011 release Loccomotiv.
The Kissaway Trail used to play the song live in 2010.
THePETEBOX made a prominent beatboxing remix of this song using looping station which has gained substantial success on YouTube.
The Supervillains covered this song.
The Toadies covered the song on The Best of Toadies – Live From Paradise.
Trampled By Turtles covered the song in live performances and, in October 2011, they released their version as a single, available for free download on their website. The single is also for sale through digital retailers with proceeds benefiting WhyHunger.
Umphrey's McGee debuted a cover of the song on November 8, 2014, the band's 2000th show, at The Orpheum Theatre in Madison, WI.
White Wives covered the song for their 2011 release Situationist EP.
Zombina and the Skeletones covered the song for their 2008 album B-sides.
Locas Electronicas, a project of Locas in Love and Wolke covered the song with German lyrics. The songs of both Locas Electronicas and Wolke are called "Wo ist mein Kopf" ("Where is my head"), although the translation of the songtext slightly differs.
A Spanish version by Azucarillo Kings of 1998 uses mostly Spanish lyrics (¿Me Lo Dices O Me Lo Cuentas?) and transforms the song to Flamenco-style.
A Dutch version titled "Waar Is Mijn Hoofd" ("Where is my head") by Koos Kreuk was released on the Pixies tribute album Death to the Pixies—We're Better! in 1998.
End of Fashion have been criticised for their uncredited copying of the guitar riff from the "Where Is My Mind?", for their song "O Yeah". For example, Rockus Online Magazine reviewer Jonathon Miller called the song "disturbingly Pixies-ish" and went on to write:
"End of Fashion are having no problem appealing to the 95% of people that haven't heard (and still remember) the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" and have never experienced a truly exciting live show, and if that's what the band is aiming for, then they are a complete success."
"Where Is My Mind?" was voted number 29 in the "Hottest 100 of All Time" music poll conducted by Australian radio station Triple J in 2009. Over half a million votes were cast in the poll.
On Tuesday, April 13, 2004, NASA used "Where Is My Mind?" to wake up the team working on the Mars rover, Spirit, in honor of its software transplant.
