Mullet Head

Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down wrote this song in math class when he was 15! So it’s probably not about drugs, growing old, or a complicated relationship with a girlfriend. Brad says:

‘It's not just asking, “If I fall down, will you be there for me?” Because it's easy to be there for someone when they're down. But it's not always easy to be there for somebody when they're doing good. It's asking, “If I'm down, will you still be there for me?” But at the same time … [it’s] kind of asking, “If I'm doing good, will you be there for me? Will you not be jealous of me? That song is so little about Superman.’

A 15 year old guy is worrying about how he fits in with his buddies and about being tight and loyal with his buds. The music video was made in 2000, seven years after the song was written. The video has overly influenced people’s interpretation of the song, but the video doesn’t reflect the original inspiration. Brad said, “Maybe throughout the years of singing that song, I might have come up with more meanings for it than it actually might have originally had.”

I think the song is about worrying that as things change (“the sands of time”), as life goes up and down (“I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon”), will we still be there for each other as friends (“as long as you'll be my friend at the end”)? Adolescent friendships are so intense (“your secrets I will keep,” “if not for me then you'd be dead”), but then when we grow and move on, will we still mean the same thing to each other?

The singer is determined to stay loyal and steadfast (“I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might”), but he’s worried that his friend might not (“Will you be there holding my hand?”), especially if the singer is more successful than his buddy (“If I’m alive and well”).

The meaning of the “Kryptonite!” refrain has bothered people. The singer’s loyalty and need for his friend makes him vulnerable to being disappointed by his friend. So in a way, his friend could be his Kryptonite: our loved ones have the power to hurt us in ways our enemies never could. Worrying (“my troubled mind “) about his friendship is what has him going “to the dark side” (“I knew it had to be something to do with you”). He realizes that he can’t control what life throws at them (the dark side of the moon is unknown) and that things will always change (“I feel there is nothing I can do”). But even though they may argue or have ups and downs (“You call me strong, you call me weak”), the overall message is uplifting:

“I really don't mind what happens now and then / As long as you'll be my friend at the end.”

[Edit: 01/01/1967]

This song fuckin rocks! A) it's the Beastie Boys and B) it's about MULLETS! And mullets are fuckin hilarious (and very populous at Wal-Mart stores nationwide).

dude this song reminds me of a teacher i had... mullets. they ARE hilarious, especially when on "authoritive figures" ha ha

When listening to disc 2 of the 2009 remaster of Ill Communication, I wonder why the Beasties didn't make this a double album to start with. Not to say that Ill Comm needed more, but all the B-Sides are amazing! Especially Mullet Head. It did turn up in the movie Clueless & on it's soundtrack. You gotta love the reference to Joey Buttafooco & Amy Fisher. There is also an instrumental version in the Sabotage VHS from 1994 that featured footage of Yauch snowboarding.