“Palace of the Brine” by Pixies
“Palace of the Brine” has been interpreted by some analysts in very colorful ways. But on the metaphorical surface, it does seem unanimously apparent that the “palace of the brine” is a reference to the Great Salt Lake.
Said locality, which is located in the state of Utah, is actually an exceptional waterbody in many ways. And the reason it is referred to as the Great Salt Lake is because it is in fact filled with saltwater. In fact the salinity is so high that it is not suitable for most forms of marine life,. The most notable species present in that regard is what is known as brine shrimp.
And while this lake is also home to a very large population of brine flies, it has been generally concluded that what the Pixies are referring to is indeed the shrimp. This is considering for instance that in the last verse they are referred to as “swimming happily”.
And overall, once again judging by the lyrics on the surface, it can be said that the vocalist is admiring the natural beauty of the Great Salt Lake environs, including its abundance of brine shrimp (which by the way are not commonly eaten).
The Osmonds
That said, the second verse is a lot more cryptic than the rest of the song. Therein, first of all the vocalist refers to “the cloning of the famous family”. Some have interpreted this as being a reference to Donny and Marie Osmond, a couple of famous siblings from Ogden. The Osmonds are amongst the most notable people to ever come from Utah and belong to a family of musical celebrities of the 1970s.
However, others have taken this as being an allusion to inc*st, which is apparently, according to some, a major issue amongst the traditionally polygamous Mormons. FYI, the Mormons are the religious group that founded and still dominate Utah.
And such is a reasonable postulation considering that Black Francis, the leader of Pixies, is known to regularly confront the subject of inc*st (in conjunction with religion) in his lyrics. So with that understanding in mind, it’s as if the Mormons themselves are being compared to the brine shrimp.
The “Sea Monkeys”
Then concerning the vocalist’s mentioning of “sea monkeys”, well anyone who read comic books back in the 1970s would be familiar with those animals, as they were regularly advertised therein.
In actuality though, “sea monkeys” don’t exist, and what naive children were really being sold were brine shrimp eggs. So it would seem that the term “droning in the shrine of the sea monkey” is a roundabout way of acknowledging the Great Salt Lake as the true source of said animals.
In Conclusion
So conclusively, overall this piece reads like an ode to the Great Salt Lake. But being that the said lake is in fact found in the Mormon State, Frank Black, being who he is, also apparently uses the opportunity to momentarily criticize Mormonism for its controversial sexual practices.
And for whatever reason, perhaps once having been a comic book fan himself, he also decides to indirectly blow up the spot that sea monkeys are actually brine shrimp.
But that would be how the lyrics read on the surface. And it is possible that the entire piece, in terms of references to brine or what have you, actually serves as a shrouded criticism of Mormon polygamy which sometimes leads to incestuous relationship.
The Pixies and “Palace of the Brine”
The Pixies are a band from the mid-1980s. The band went defunct for approximately a decade leading into the 21st century but are still active to this day.
“Palace of the Brine” is from their fourth album, 1991’s “Trompe le Monde”. This album was the last project they dropped before disbanding in 1993 (though reuniting in 2004).
To note, this song is officially listed as being only 1 minute and 35 seconds in length.
It was written by Pixies’ frontman Frank Black (aka Black Francis). The production duties of “Palace of the Brine” were handled by English musician Gil Norton.
“Palace of the Brine” was never released as a single. However, it helped make its album (“Trompe le Monde”) very successful. The album ended up peaking at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
