Pretend We're Dead

"Pretend We're Dead"
Single by L7
from the album Bricks Are Heavy
B-side "Shitlist"
Released April 1992 (April 1992)
Format 7", 12", CD, CS
Recorded
Genre Grunge[1]
Length 3:55
Label Slash
Songwriter(s) Donita Sparks
Producer(s) L7, Butch Vig
L7 singles chronology
"Shove"
(1990)		 "Pretend We're Dead"
(1992)		 "Everglade"
(1992)

"Shove"
(1990)		 "Pretend We're Dead"
(1992)		 "Everglade"
(1992)

"Pretend We're Dead" is a 1992 song by grunge band L7, from the album Bricks Are Heavy.[2] It was written by Donita Sparks. It was the first single from Bricks Are Heavy and achieved moderate international success. It spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks,[3] peaking at #8. It also reached #21 on the UK Singles Chart and charted in Belgium and Australia.

It has featured on the video games Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Rock Band 2, as well as numerous TV programs and films.[4]

A documentary about L7 titled Pretend We're Dead was released in 2017.[5][6]

Conception

Donita Sparks was in her apartment in Echo Park trying to write lyrics to a cassette she had made. She was heartbroken at the time due to a recent breakup, and she says the first thing that came to her was, "I just pretend that you're dead." She did not mean it as wanting her former paramour to be dead but felt that the only way she could get through the breakup was to pretend he was dead. Then, immediately, in her mind, she thought "I'm not writing that. It's just not gonna happen. What about, "pretend we're dead"?" She liked that because playing dead was a children's game, and it also served as a kind of commentary on Reagan/Bush–era apathy.[7]

Track listing

  1. "Pretend We're Dead" (Sparks)
  2. "Shitlist" (Sparks)
  3. "Lopsided Head"
  4. "Mr. Integrity" (Sparks)

Charts

Chart (1992) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 50
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 21
US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[10] 8
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11] 21

References

  1. ↑ Danaher, Michael (August 4, 2014). "The 50 Best Grunge Songs". Paste.
  2. ↑ Watts, Ted (September 7, 1995). "L7's Finch doesn't rock by the numbers". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  3. ↑ https://www.spin.com/2012/03/l7-look-back-20-years-pretend-were-dead/
  4. ↑ https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-story-behind-l7-s-pretend-we-re-dead
  5. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/l7-detail-pretend-were-dead-documentary-release-204327/
  6. ↑ https://www.loudersound.com/features/6-things-we-learned-from-new-documentary-l7-pretend-were-dead
  7. ↑ https://www.spin.com/2012/03/l7-look-back-20-years-pretend-were-dead/
  8. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – L7 – Pretend We're Dead". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Ultratop.be – L7 – Pretend We're Dead" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  10. ↑ "L7 Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ "L7: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
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