"Pick Up the Phone" was the debut single from Brakes. It is a political rant bemoaning the failure of the world's leaders to sort out major issues. It implores the leaders of Israel, Palestine, America and the United Kingdom to simply "pick up the phone" and talk to each other. This version is distinguished from the album version by the changing of "Yasser" to "Abbas" in recognition of the death of the former Palestinian leader. The B-side, "Cheney", is blunter, simply telling Dick Cheney to "stop being such a dick". It is unique amongst singles, in that it is only 28 seconds long.
The video was directed by Hamilton of British Sea Power, at a cost of £70. All three tracks were later re-recorded and released as part of the band's debut album, Give Blood.
Famous quotes containing the words pick up the, pick up, pick and/or phone:
“There are no accidents, only nature throwing her weight around. Even the bomb merely releases energy that nature has put there. Nuclear war would be just a spark in the grandeur of space. Nor can radiation “alter” nature: she will absorb it all. After the bomb, nature will pick up the cards we have spilled, shuffle them, and begin her game again.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“If you pick up some paint with your brush and make somebody’s nose with it, this is rather ridiculous when you think of it, theoretically or philosophically. It’s really absurd to make an image, like a human image, with paint, today.”
—Willem De Kooning (b. 1904)
“Oh, yes, everything’s fine. I always stop by the police station in the middle of the night to pick up my daughter.”
—Theodore Simonson. Irvin S. Yeaworth, Jr.. Mr. Martin, The Blob, when he comes to pick up Jane (1958)
“Nobody wants to phone me,
Even collect.”
—Cole Porter (1893–1964)