“Pushin’ Too Hard” is a 1965 garage rock song by The Seeds. Founding member Sky Saxon said the song was written in protest after the closing of one of his favorite clubs: “I wrote ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’ because they tore down Pandora’s Box on Sunset Boulevard. Everyone used to come there and drink coffee. People even used to bring their dogs. It was a groovy place for people to meet. Someone decided to tear it down, and it sits there today as a parking lot. The song was a reaction against the establishment for tearing down things they no longer consider works of art or what the people liked. It was a protest song.”
While it initially failed to chart, the song found success after being reissued, as well as being included on the compilation Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968. This compilation proved to be a huge inspiration for King Gizzard; in a Nardwuar interview, Eric said “I guess we all just started listening to Nuggets and everything. That’s how we started Gizzard. It’s just so easy to play. Makes you want to, like, pick up an instrument and have a bash and start a band. That’s rock and roll.”
In that same interview, Narduwar gave Stu a 7” of the song, which led to Stu talking about the track: “We covered this, I want to say once but maybe more than once. We jammed with The Babe Rainbow, who are buddies of ours, in Perth at the Mojos Bar, on this. That's the only time I remember doing this.” Lucas adds that they may have done it in a “uni band.”
Stu explains that while the band forgets songs all of the time, they can’t forget this one because it's only two chords.