References and Homages

the pillows

the image of the smoking girl on the very last page of the please mr. lostman booklet is the very same one on the cover of cherry red records’ collection pillows and prayers. this was a poster manabe had in his room, and here their name was born.

thanks to: ruliann.

the pixies/kim deal

the pillows have claimed the pixies as an influence, as well as paid homage to them. at the very end of ‘back seat dog’, right as the song fades out, sawao repeats ‘here comes your man’ a few times, which is from a pixies song of the same name.

and of course, there is the obvious, the song ‘kim deal’ (the pixies’ bassist, occasionally vocalist), which could be interpreted as an ode to her. and look at sawao’s shirt!

lastly, in the lyrics to ‘rain brain’, sawao says “oh yeah, breeder, can you scold me?” the breeders happens to be the name of kim deal’s other band.

thanks to: nuki.

calvero

hey, calvero, how do you feel? this entire song is about a 1952 charlie chaplin movie (his last, as well as considered one of his best) called limelight. charlie chaplin plays a fading comedian star named calvero, helping a suicidal ballet dancer named thereza learn to walk and be happy again (hey, thereza, how’s your leg?). there is also a character named neville as well.

thanks to: bojan.

cassius clay

the c.c. in ‘monster c.c.’ stands for cassius clay (a.k.a. the famous boxer muhammed ali). the names of all the songs are written on the case for smile, include ‘monster c.c.’ written out. it’s also written on the front. perhaps the ‘white bench’ referred to in the song is a reference to his battle against segregation and racism. in addition, the lyrics to ‘hello, welcome to bubbletown’s happy zoo’ include the line “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” part of a famous quote in which he taunted george foreman before their 1974 match. the pillows like boxing, perhaps? or just have great respect for muhammed ali?

thanks to: sP (booklet scan).

the beatles

well, we already know that the pillows like the beatles… homage #1: ‘the beep-beep-beep-beep-yeah’ which occurs at 1:58 in ‘ride on shooting star’ is a homage to the same chorus from ‘drive my car’ (off the rubber soul album). homage #2a: ‘please mr. lostman’, as a title, sounds rather similar to ‘please mr. postman’ (which wasn’t really a beatles song to begin with, but we’ll let that go ;) ). the beatles also have a song called ‘fool on the hill’. the lyrics have nothing to do with ‘fool on the planet’ but again, the title is similar. homage #2b: in ‘bye bye sweet pain’, sawao sings ‘please mister postman’.

homage #3: in ‘mighty lovers’ from MY FOOT, the line ‘love me do’ seems to be nod to the beatles’ song of the same name, from their album please please me. homage #4: in ‘nonfiction’, also from MY FOOT, sawao sings ‘please please me’ which is probably a nod to… you guessed it.

thanks to: ted pino, crescent, aldeayeah.

bob marley

as ‘sonna fuu ni sugoshitai’ (‘i want to live that way’) fades, sawao sings ‘everything is gonna be all right’ (listen closely) in a homage to bob marley’s ‘no woman, no cry’, from his natty dread album.

‘heart is there’ (originally a nine miles song) seems to draw inspiration from bob marley’s ‘don’t rock the boat’. examples:

thanks to: cajun bushi, angelo.

return of…

manabe’s second album as nine miles, ‘return of the polar bear’, looks awfully similar to this reggae album, originally released in 1978 by the upsetters.

thanks to: bojan.

love hina

keitarou is wearing an interesting shirt in volume 14 of the popular manga (and anime) love hina! it’s dubious whether this is a deliberate pillows reference, but interesting nonetheless.

thanks to: tttackler, aldeayeah.

the bible

#1: in ‘rain brain’, the line ‘a tree is known by its fruit’ is quoted from Matthew 12:33. #2: in ‘vain dog in rain drop’, the lyrics reference golgotha hill- the hill where jesus was crucified. #3: ‘babylon verses of angel’ references the tower of babel.

thanks to: ancientoffaith (#1).

K-ON!

In the anime/manga K-ON!, three characters are named after members of the pillows: Sawako Yamanaka, Nodoka Manabe, and Jun Suzuki. Sawako is pictured at left, and Nodoka at right.