Top Shelf by Rising Appalachia

Album: The Lost Mystique Of Being In The Know (2021)

License This Song

Songfacts®:

"Top Shelf" is a deeply personal song on an album that was generally marked by the social conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest associated with police violence, and deeply divisive political perspectives. The period gave the band a lot of time to consider their musical and spiritual direction. Always associated with political activism both in the US and abroad, they took the events to heart. Their ninth studio album, The Lost Mystique Of Being In The Know, rose out of those tumultuous energies, but "Top Shelf" is actually a good old-fashioned lost-love song.
Shortly before the release of The Lost Mystique Of Being In The Know, Songfacts asked Rising Appalachia co-frontwoman (with sister Leah Song) what this song was about. She answered, "New Orleans love lost and the momentum you gain after heartbreak. It's a bit of jest in putting someone on a pedestal without seeing the real depth of who they are."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

Cinnamon GirlNeil Young

Neil Young was married when he wrote "Cinnamon Girl," which clearly was not about his wife. He had a hard time explaining it to her.

Run Through the JungleCreedence Clearwater Revival

The CCR song "Run Through the Jungle" is about gun control.

Boston leader Tom Scholz went back to his job at Polaroid after releasing the group's debut album. When his co-workers kept coming by to tell him "More Than A Feeling" was playing on the radio, he knew it was time to quit his day job.

Rock And Roll All NiteKiss

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of Kiss wrote "Rock And Roll All Nite" as a "rallying cry for all of our fans." In later years, members of Kiss wrote songs separately.

King TutSteve Martin

The comedian Steve Martin had a hit in 1978 with "King Tut." The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who Martin would open for on tour, were his backing band on the song.

The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)Betty Everett

After Cher revived "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" in 1990, Salt-N-Pepa released "Shoop" and Whitney Houston had a #1 hit with "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)."