Peaches Album: The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
Lump Album: The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
Dune Buggy Single & Album: The Presidents of the United States of America (1995)
by The Presidents Of The United States Of America
First theory: It's just a song about how peaches are great. Perhaps a little commentary about how natural peaches are better then canned stuff.
Second theory: It's about women's private parts and cunnilingus.
The Presidents Of The United States Of America also have a song called "Kitty," which is about a cat (or is it?). They insist these songs - which they're well aware are full of double meanings - are about the literal explanations.
In an interview with Presidents lead singer Chris Ballew, he told the story behind Peaches. "The key line, 'Moving to the country, going to eat a lot of peaches,' I overheard a homeless man who was walking by the bus stop where I was waiting for a bus," he said. "He was saying it under his breath over and over again: 'I'm moving to the country, I'm gonna eat a lot of peaches.' And I thought, 'That's interesting. I've never heard a homeless guy talk about his future and peaches and the country like that.'
I was on my way to my girlfriend's house and I didn't have a guitar there but the phrase stuck with me. I later got home and put it to a little music. All I had was that, then I was trying to be Nirvana in the verse, gnarly and growly.
So I had a verse and a chorus, and the verses were about how I had taken some hallucinogenic drugs and gone to a girl's house that I had a crush on. I was intending to tell her how I felt but she wasn't home, so I sat in her yard under a peach tree, having a psychedelic experience smashing peaches in my fist, literally like I say in the song, and watching the juice dribble and watching the ants run around. She never showed up, so I never got to tell her, but I bottled it and turned it into that song."
"Peaches" was written by the three band members: Chris Ballew, Dave Dederer, and Jason Finn. Dederer came up with the part that closes out the song:
Millions of peaches
Peaches for me
Millions of peaches
Peaches for free
"The song sounds like two different songs," Ballew said. "It's got my verse/chorus/verse/chorus, and then Dave's end part."
"I love that that song was so popular because it really was a collaborative thing," he added. "Dave and I depended on each other to make that song work. Growing up as I did in the shadow of Lennon and McCartney, I thought it was cool that we had that collaboration."
The Presidents Of The United States Of America were one of the many Seattle bands signed to a major label when grunge hit. Unlike most of these bands, they panned out, selling over 3 million copies of their debut album on Columbia Records.
Their first single was "Lump," which got a lot of airplay and some spins on MTV. "Kitty" followed, then "Peaches." The album was released in July 1995, and the band promoted it relentlessly, making the rounds on radio stations in the mornings while they toured. "Peaches" reached its chart peak in April 1996; they put out their next album, II, in November.
That album didn't produce any substantial hits but still sold 500,000 copies. By this time, the band was burned out, and in early 1998, they called it quits. They reunited from time to time, and lead singer Chris Ballew found an audience as Caspar Babypants, a maker of music for kids. From 1997–2004, their cover of "Cleveland Rocks" was the theme song to The Drew Carey Show.
The band name is ironic, meant to contrast their lo-fi sound with the gravitas of the highest political office in their home country. It ended up being a great marketing tool, especially on Presidents' Day. On that holiday in 1996 (February 19, 1996) MTV aired a 30-minute concert of the band performing from Mount Rushmore.
The music video of Peaches was directed by Roman Coppola, son of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. Most of it is just the band performing in an orchard, but it takes a hard turn when a group of ninjas show up and attack them. According to Ballew, Coppola had been watching ninja movies and was keen to shoot a fight sequence.
The peach was a symbol of immortality to the ancient Chinese. They placed bowls of peaches in the tombs of close family members to prevent the bodies from decaying. Giving the fruit as a gift was a sign of friendship. (From the book Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World by Ed Pearce)
Lump follows the story of a woman named (or nicknamed) Lump who lives in a boggy marsh. She's not too bright, but has managed to attract a mate ("Lump slipped on a kiss and tumbled into love").
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