
Flagpole Sitta

"Flagpole Sitta" is a song by American rock band Harvey Danger from their 1997 debut album, "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" (1997). It was released as the band's debut single in July 1997 and was met with critical and commercial success, peaking at number 38 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 Airplay chart, number three on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart, and number nine on the Canadian "RPM" Alternative 30.
Composition.
The song was recorded during the 1996 sessions for "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" According to drummer Evan Sult, the song was written as a response to the Seattle music scene of the 1990s and its effect on mainstream culture.
The title of the song was inspired by the 1930 Marx Brothers film "Animal Crackers", which features a line of dialogue about the pole sitting fad of the 1920s. The band was inspired to spell "sitter" as "sitta" by the Pavement song "Fame Throwa" and the N.W.A album "Straight Outta Compton.
Release and reception.
It was released as a single in July 1997. The song gained popularity after Sean Nelson gave a copy of the album to a KNDD DJ. Shortly after this, it was picked up by KROQ-FM. It then appeared at number 38 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Airplay chart. A music video was produced to promote the single. The song is regarded as a power pop single by MTV and a post-grunge anthem by author Ericka Chickowski. PopMatters describes the single as "a hyper-literate Alternative rock dissection of the stupidity of the modern age". Music journalist Rob Sheffield also considers the song as "nineties pop-punk rage at its loudest".
Legacy.
"Flagpole Sitta" was used as the theme song for the British sitcom "Peep Show" for the second series onwards. In 2008, Harvey Danger singer Sean Nelson stated that "Peep Show" is "...the only pop culture item the song has been associated with that feels like a kindred spirit to the original attitude of the lyric." In 2016, he said: "It’s a joy to be affiliated with something that’s so smart and so funny and so kind of rude and weird." "Rolling Stone" ranked the song the 25th best of the 1990s. The song was used in the soundtrack of "American Pie" and "".