The Juxe: Unhidden Meanings

I have a habit of listening to songs and getting lost in the music and the vibe to the point where I may listen to a song 10 times, even be singing along to it, and yet not realize what it’s about. Even when it’s obvious.

Here are three examples of songs that I enjoyed for a long time before the song’s meaning became apparent. I’ll start with the least obvious snd progress to the most.

Roy Sullivan by Upper Wilds (Brooklyn, NY)

I was really digging this guitar-heavy punk banger that came out a few years ago for quite a while before I knew what it was about. There’s a reason it took me a while to understand it. I thought the song was called Upper Wilds and it was a by a guy named Roy Sullivan. Then I realized it was the other way around. The song is called Roy Sullivan and the band is Upper Wilds.

Roy Sullivan is that guy you used to see in the Guinness Book of World Records.

He had the world record for being struck by lightning seven times. That’s what the song is referencing.

Count yourself lucky, one two three four five
Six seven times, the sky set my hair on fire
Made an enemy of Zeus long before your time
Standing in the open, far away from life

The Commander Thinks Aloud by The Long Winters (Seattle, Washington)

I think I knew it was a song about a space mission, but it took me way longer than necessary to realize that it’s told from the perspective of someone on board the Space Shuttle Columbia which broke up upon re-entry back in 2003. The refrain which is repeated over and over at the end, “The crew compartment’s breaking up,” probably should have been a clue.

This is a chill-inducing song. The optimism of the lyrics leading to that ending…it gets me every time. “Can you feel it we’re almost home…”

Song Exploder, a podcast that breaks down the makings of songs, had a good episode on this.

Ambivalence by Embellish (Denmark)

Embellish was a euro-pop band that released one really solid album 20 years ago. This song, Ambivalence, has a brilliant soaring chorus that demands to be sung along with. Which is exactly what I was doing one day while working with headphones on and my girlfriend at the time came up to me and said, “What the fuck are you listening to?” Somehow I managed to listen to this song for a long time and get wrapped up in the melodious pop enough to be singing along to it but never really realized what it was about. Even though it’s… not subtle.

I mean, the chorus is:

So get down on your knees
And let me penetrate you deep
From behind