The DJ Is Crying For Help
by AJR

Album: The Maybe Man (2022)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "The DJ Is Crying For Help" is a song about getting older when you've still got a younger soul inside.

    I'm all 17 at 35
    Now I don't know if there's anything else
    The DJ is cryin' for help


    Despite being in his 30s, singer Jack Met has yet to integrate into the traditional roles of society. While all his peers are living grown-up lives with jobs that pay the bills, he's "got no skills except gettin' high." Met worries there's something wrong with him for still retaining a teenage spirit.
  • The song concludes with Jack Met picturing himself as a DJ, waiting in vain for other people to turn up to a party.

    And now I'm all alone
    Waitin' 'til the party starts
    Be kind to me, be kind and wait it out


    According to AJR, "The DJ is Crying For Help" is about the fear of having peaked already. "You set these huge expectations for your life early on, and the song is about the moment when you realize life is not turning out the way you planned," they explained.
  • AJR released "The DJ Is Crying For Help" as a promotional single from their fifth album. In an Instagram Story Q&A session, AJR's musical craftsman Ryan Met said his favorite lyric on the record is from this song's opening verse.

    Everyone's laughin' at me
    But not like they used to
    The room's spinnin' all around me
    But not like I'm used to


    For years, folks made fun of Jack Met for being a big kid. Now that AJR has found success in a profession where you're expected to act young, people are laughing with him, not at him.
  • Austin Roa, AJR's touring photographer, shot the video. He filmed it on a cloudy day in Paris during a day off from the band's tour dates.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Mike Scott of The Waterboys

Mike Scott of The WaterboysSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Whole Of The Moon" and "Red Army Blues," and why rock music has "outlived its era of innovation."

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)

Donnie Iris (Ah! Leah!, The Rapper)Songwriter Interviews

Before "Rap" was a form of music, it was something guys did to pick up girls in nightclubs. Donnie talks about "The Rapper" and reveals the identity of Leah.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.

George Clinton

George ClintonSongwriter Interviews

When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.