The Seeds released "(You're) Pushin' Too Hard" as a single in November 1965. Though the song did not chart initially, a Los Angeles disc jockey began playing it extensively following the release of the band's self-titled debut album in April 1966. With the title having been changed to "Pushin' Too Hard", a new single was issued in November and the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a month later. Some radio stations banned the song, believing that the title dealt with being a pusher of illegal drugs.
Sky Saxon wrote "Pushin' Too Hard" while sitting in the front seat of a car waiting for his girlfriend to finish grocery shopping at a supermarket. Daryl Hooper, the Seeds keyboardist, "You're always hoping 'maybe this is a good one.' When Sky actually wrote the lyric to that song it was about a girlfriend he was having trouble with. He initially called us 'flower rock music' 'cause the words are kind of flowery, and...the girls used to toss flowers at us on stage. So it became 'flower power'.“
The lyrics can be interpreted as the protagonist warning his girlfriend against controlling him, or as a rant against society as a whole. The song contains two chords which alternate throughout, as well as instrumental breaks featuring an electric piano solo—played by Daryl Hooper—and a guitar solo played by Jan Savage.
In 1994, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's curatorial staff, along with rock critics and historians, selected "Pushin' Too Hard" as part of a Hall of Fame exhibit featuring "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
The Seeds released "(You're) Pushin' Too Hard" as a single in November 1965. Though the song did not chart initially, a Los Angeles disc jockey began playing it extensively following the release of the band's self-titled debut album in April 1966. With the title having been changed to "Pushin' Too Hard", a new single was issued in November and the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a month later. Some radio stations banned the song, believing that the title dealt with being a pusher of illegal drugs.
Sky Saxon wrote "Pushin' Too Hard" while sitting in the front seat of a car waiting for his girlfriend to finish grocery shopping at a supermarket. Daryl Hooper, the Seeds keyboardist, "You're always hoping 'maybe this is a good one.' When Sky actually wrote the lyric to that song it was about a girlfriend he was having trouble with. He initially called us 'flower rock music' 'cause the words are kind of flowery, and...the girls used to toss flowers at us on stage. So it became 'flower power'.“
The lyrics can be interpreted as the protagonist warning his girlfriend against controlling him, or as a rant against society as a whole. The song contains two chords which alternate throughout, as well as instrumental breaks featuring an electric piano solo—played by Daryl Hooper—and a guitar solo played by Jan Savage.
In 1994, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's curatorial staff, along with rock critics and historians, selected "Pushin' Too Hard" as part of a Hall of Fame exhibit featuring "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
The Seeds released "(You're) Pushin' Too Hard" as a single in November 1965. Though the song did not chart initially, a Los Angeles disc jockey began playing it extensively following the release of the band's self-titled debut album in April 1966. With the title having been changed to "Pushin' Too Hard", a new single was issued in November and the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart a month later. Some radio stations banned the song, believing that the title dealt with being a pusher of illegal drugs.
Sky Saxon wrote "Pushin' Too Hard" while sitting in the front seat of a car waiting for his girlfriend to finish grocery shopping at a supermarket. Daryl Hooper, the Seeds keyboardist, "You're always hoping 'maybe this is a good one.' When Sky actually wrote the lyric to that song it was about a girlfriend he was having trouble with. He initially called us 'flower rock music' 'cause the words are kind of flowery, and...the girls used to toss flowers at us on stage. So it became 'flower power'.“
The lyrics can be interpreted as the protagonist warning his girlfriend against controlling him, or as a rant against society as a whole. The song contains two chords which alternate throughout, as well as instrumental breaks featuring an electric piano solo—played by Daryl Hooper—and a guitar solo played by Jan Savage.
In 1994, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's curatorial staff, along with rock critics and historians, selected "Pushin' Too Hard" as part of a Hall of Fame exhibit featuring "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".