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Album: Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King (2009)
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Songfacts®:

  • Dave Matthews told Billboard magazine about this track: "It's a really dark song. To me, it's about the end of the world. The chorus itself:

    Wake up sleepy head, I think the sun's a little brighter today
    Smile and watch the icicles melt away
    And see the waters rising. Summer's here to stay and all the summer dreams will last forever
    Let's go down to the shore and kick off our shoes and dive in the empty ocean


    It's really about, whether you believe it or not, the possible end of everything. I did it in this way of trying to disguise it as an 'everything's going to be fine' kind of song. It's a sneaky song.

    I hope as people listen to it they'll go 'wait a minute, it's not happy, what the hell's going on here?' When you hear what the lyrics are actually talking about, it becomes really sad. But it's got that happy feeling to it, which makes it become more of an ache, the ache that comes with happiness in it when you think of all the beautiful things in our lives. And the idea of all that going away doesn't take away from the fact that there are all these beautiful things in our lives. [It is] the sweetness that comes with a heavy does of sobering bitterness."
  • Dave Matthews played lead guitar on this track. He told Relix magazine: "Unlike the solo in 'Funny the Way it Is,' this one I sort of sat down and put together with Rob [Cavallo, the producer], so that's different. It's a guitar 'piece.' I guess it's a solo."
  • Matthews told Relix about drummer Carter Beauford's contribution to this track: "Carter approached the song with such just this incredible urgency, and there's such an aggressive drum track. If you were just to hear the drum track by itself, you could not believe the song that it supports. It's almost a ballad, but he's just attacking the drums the whole time. And that's really how he played the whole record."

Comments: 2

  • Damon from Landing, NjIf you wait for someone else to fix the problem, it'll never get fixed.
  • Michael from Garden City, NyThis song really hits you. I listened to it the first time and had to start again from the beginning about two minutes in to make sure I was hearing the lyrics right. The contrast between the tone of the song and what he is saying really hits you. One of my favorites on Big Whiskey, it is a song about the environment, personal responsibility and what may be the end of the world the way we know it. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day challenges of life, it can be hard to step back and see what is happening, but this was a big wake up call for me.
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