3 Strange Days

Album: School Of Fish (1991)
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Songfacts®:

  • "3 Strange Days" was the lone hit by School Of Fish, reaching #6 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. Many critics and fans feel that the band's talent was much greater than that of a "one-hit wonder."

    In "3 Strange Days," Josh Clayton-Felt sings about three days spent wandering around the city feeling dazed and depressed. In the second verse, a mysterious "they" dress him up in their clothes and take him "somewhere else."

    Then, in the song's strangest verse, "Johnny Clueless was there" with "simulated wood grain," and Clayton-Felt starts drinking alone. The JC initials of Johnny Clueless also happen to be the initials of Jesus Christ, and the "simulated wood grain" calls to mind the cross, but whether or not that was Clayton-Felt's intention is unknown. Of course, JC are also Josh Clayton-Felt's own initials.

    In the end of the song, Clayton-Felt wakes up floating on the ocean staring "at the gray" and coming back to life, which seems like imagery of rebirth, a theme also consistent with Christianity (but again it's not known if this was Clayton-Felt's intended meaning). Christ was also resurrected three days after his crucifixion, so it adds another possible suggestion that there was something of that in this song.

    Unfortunately, Clayton-Felt died in 2000, so we'll never know for sure his intention.
  • KROQ radio pitted School Of Fish against the Rolling Stones in a band battle. School of Fish won the battle, and from there "3 Strange Days" was launched into national success. Clayton-Felt happened to be driving down Hollywood Boulevard and listening to the radio when the battle went down.

Comments: 4

  • Iapetus from EarthThanks for the breakdown of the lyrics, Captain Literal. This is a great song, despite the lyrics being a bit watery (thin). The extended Intro is truly fantastic, though is rarely heard in most video/audio playbacks. Pretty damn sad about the singers tragic death - it's a hard world.
  • Brian G Raymond from MichiganJohnny Clueless = Johnny Law
    Simulated woodgrain = the grip on his gun
  • Tom W. from Nashua, NhThere was so much talent in this band. I saw them live in '92 in Providence, RI. Their first album remains one of my favorite albums of all time. Almost 30 years later, I'm still listening. (LOL, Just listening now, "Somewhere in the world, it's 3 AM", as I write this at 3:09 AM)
  • Chuck Tplatt from Johnstown PaGreat song, unfortunately lead singer died of testicular cancer in 2000
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