Metaphor of Jamiroquai song

October 2, 2012 11:01 AM

Deeper Underground: What's this song about?

Hi,

Could someone explain what the Jamiroquai song "Deeper Underground" is about? It strikes me it's to do with a life situation where someone finds panic following them everywhere they go.

How does such a situation happen to a person? Is it similar to the situation Michael Moore describes himself as being in when the things other people did seemed to be "like a weird work of fiction?"

Thanks for any info.

posted by Why did I buy a tin gorilla? to society & culture (9 answers total)

Totally serious answer: I was always under the impression that the protagonist was seeking to escape from Godzilla by hiding underground, as this song was from the godzilla soundtrack.
posted by Oktober at 12:13 PM on October 2, 2012

Wasn't Deeper Underground written for the late-90s Godzilla remake? I'd assume it was referencing the film, rather than providing an allegorical tale about modern life.
posted by ellF at 12:15 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's about Godzilla, but there's a tradition of dance records talking about being underground, so it's also referencing that. Underground being authentic, secret, out of the mainstream.
posted by empath at 12:29 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nthing it's from the soundtrack of Godzilla.
posted by smoke at 7:12 PM on October 2, 2012

The song is from the point of the view of the monster. Jamiroquai's early opuses featured many environmental themes. This song is perhaps a return to these themes. Their first album Emergency on Planet Earth and to some degree Virtual Insanity, yes, it's that video with the moving floors, both reference modern feelings of alienation and anomie (with a party flavor) due to environmental disintegration.

So IMO the song is sympathetic to the monster that has to go "deeper underground" because humanity has created it, in an attempt to mess with the environment, while it is not the poor monster's fault.

Also Jamiroquai's lead singer Jay Kay was briefly homeless as a teen and was involved in crime and was stabbed almost to death. IMO the song is informed by this. "I know I'm better off standing in the shadows far from humans with guns," may as well be an autobiographical statement.

Deeper Underground, when compared to the larger oeuvre of Jamiroquai, is somewhat filler. It was made for the 1999 Godzilla soundtrack, which I don't believe it's actually on... someone correct me if I'm wrong here. It was thrown out rather haphazardly in between albums, as bassist Stuart Zender left the band shortly after Travelling Without Moving and the subsequent Jamiroquai album, Synchronized, was released almost a year late after being recorded completely from scratch-- ultimately to be released on September 11th, 2001.

Ultimately, I would say the song is a pean to both mother nature and the forces of the market place.
posted by kettleoffish at 7:19 PM on October 2, 2012 [1 favorite]

OK, thanks for your answers. You've obviously put some thought into answering this. However, I think there might be another interpretation that's still intended.

Is the "panic" that the song mentions related to the same kind of panic that's referenced in the band names "Widespread Panic" and "Panic at the Disco"? The last one seems especially relevant as it's the name of a videogames music company. To me, the start of "Deeper Underground" sounds like something out of a Final Fantasy game.
posted by Why did I buy a tin gorilla? at 6:55 AM on October 14, 2012

It has to do with being attacked by Godzilla :)
posted by empath at 7:08 AM on October 14, 2012

Well, I think there might be a few different interpretations. On one level, it's about the film Godzilla. On another level, it's about someone "going underground" because of crime. The other interpretation which contrasts with this is about someone being socially cursed, having to hide because of all the signalling and sequencing conspiracies out there.

If you read Michael Moore's autobiography, Here Comes Trouble, it describes a similar situation.
posted by Why did I buy a tin gorilla? at 9:59 AM on October 14, 2012

With regard to Empath's comment, that gets me wondering: Who could possibly defeat Godzilla?

Captain America- that's who!

Hoor-rah!
posted by Why did I buy a tin gorilla? at 10:04 AM on October 14, 2012