Why Malignant Has A Cover Of Where Is My Mind

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Malignant.

That pumping synth-driven theme of Malignant is, in fact, a cover of “Where Is My Mind?” by legendary alternative rock band the Pixies. Director James Wan’s latest horror movie marks the latest in a long line of appearances of the iconic song in film and television. However, this is the first time that this particular cover, performed by the music development firm Safari Riot, has been featured on screen.

“Where is My Mind?” debuted in 1988 on the Pixies’ debut album Surfer Rosa, though the song wouldn’t reach its soaring heights of popularity until it was featured in the final scene of Fight Club more than ten years later in 1999. Since then, the song and its numerous covers have a storied history of being featured in cinema, appearing in everything from the cult arthouse sci-fi film Mr. Nobody to the campy creature feature Big Ass Spider!. A piano cover by Maxence Cyrin has become particularly popular in recent years and has been featured prominently in the critically acclaimed tv shows The Leftovers and Mr. Robot.

At first, the casual listener might not even recognize that one of the main musical themes in Malignant – which has enjoyed a mixed critical reception – is “Where is My Mind?”, as Wan inserts the hit as if it’s one of composer Joseph Bishara’s pieces. The lyrics aren’t included, and the verse section repeats several times throughout the film as if it’s a slasher’s theme song instead of a single moment a la Fight Club.  However, there’s no denying that highly recognizable verse riff, which started off on a phantasmic guitar but morphed into an anxious synth in Malignant, accompanied by bassist and co-vocalist Kim Deal’s ghostly wailing that sounds more like frightened howling in this particular version.

It’s not just for cool kicks that Wan uses this tune, either. Although the song may initially seem random, it’s a clever bit of foreshadowing of the big twist that’s dependent on the viewer’s knowledge of the track’s cinematic history. Sure, on a surface level, “Where is My Mind?” might be literally referring to how the main character seems to be losing her grip on reality as Gabriel takes over Madison’s brain and makes her see his murders. However, the driving synth cover is also a callback to the original song’s Fight Club appearance, in which it’s revealed that the anarchic Tyler Durden and the demure unnamed Narrator are the same person. Likewise, in Malignant, Madison is unaware that Gabriel is an extension of herself that manifests when she becomes unconscious.

Whereas the guitar-driven alt-rock original used in Fight Club was a perfect way to capture the disillusioned Gen X mentality trying to chaotically enter a new era of uncertainty (the song was released in 1988 but is often associated with the nineties), Safari Riot’s dramatic synth cover captures Malignant‘s (arguably intentionally) campy, violent, seventies and eighties-tinged tone. The double identity twist in Wan’s film is a lot more tongue-in-cheek than David Fincher’s look at the destructive id, but in both cases, “Where is My Mind?” serves to highlight the mental fragility of the point-of-view characters and the audience’s expectations of the films’ protagonists.

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