This song was written sometime before 1993 when "Spilt Milk" was released.
So what can we tell about the person in question? 1st are they alive or dead? The vast majority of the song suggests they are dead, and possibly they died of a heroin overdose, or at least were addicted to heroin. For example, there's lines like "Shoot up (bop bop)"
Not all of the lyrics are listed here, as in the finale of the song includes these:
(There's a party at the pearly gates of gold and platinum)
To be the only one
(For you, an invitation to the holy rock-n-rollers)
To be the only one that knows that you're right
(Standin' on the bandstand, you'll see the legends)
To be a so deep down underground
(Who'll tell you how it feels to be the only one who knows)
To be the only one who knows you've been buried alive
And yet... there's that last line: "you've been buried alive". So perhaps this person isn't dead?
We know that Sturmer and Manning were big Anglophiles and lovers of power pop, so the "Nappy superstar" could perhaps be about hair, but it also could just be "diapers", since that's what they're called in the Uk and Ireland.
It's easy to home in on the "Mrs. Lynn" reference. Some people think that this might be about Jeff Lynne, whose ELO was a big influence on Jellyfish, and perhaps might think that the "nappy superstar" lyric fits his hair, but Jeff Lynne is not from a mixed race background, and curly hair isn't "Nappy" hair.
After considering a lot of different possibilities, one other person comes to mind, and that is Irish musician Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. You can short Lynott to Lynn, and you have a slightly disguised version of the name, and Phil was mixed race, had the hair style and had died after the effects of years of heroin addiction. In subsequent years, Thin Lizzy would find an even larger audience on AOR.
Mrs. Lynn could be a hint, or it could just be a red herring, and the song could be about angry rock song writers who died and afterwards became more popular due to the music industry "death effect" where bands and musicians are promoted and exploited after they die.
Jim Morrison and the Doors would be a prototype, as a song writer who did a lot of drugs (including Heroin, although he didn't shoot it) and whose record sales increased, in particular for the L.A. Woman album, which had been driven by Morrison's desire to make a blues record received some extremely negative reviews upon release. It would go on to produce several hits, and ultimately would sell 24 million records.
Last but not least, some people think that the song could be about Brian Wilson, and there is some reason to believe this, as just prior to the making of Spilt Milk, Sturmer and Manning had worked on Ringo Starr's solo record, and also were booked to write songs with the legendary Wilson, which ultimately was a failure after only one session. At the time Wilson was emerging from a long period where he had been virtually controlled by his Doctor, and had been battling with drug addiction and mental illness. It is possible that this left Sturmer and Manning disillusioned, although in totality, while Wilson's musicality was certainly an influence on Jellyfish and a power-pop influence, his songs are not known for their acerbic lyrical content. Musically however, the "Mrs. Lynn" bridge is a clear musical homage to Wilson's Beach Boys compositions particularly in the "Pet Sounds". When reviewing the song recently on "Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro" channel on youtube, Manning went into a long discussion of his reflection that many of the song writers who connected with him, had some history of heartbreak and sadness, and this was a way for men in western society to process negative emotion through art, so perhaps there are also elements of this in the song.
You could also make the argument that there are elements of Phil Spector's descent into seclusion and madness and his many years of drug abuse.
Probably the song isn't about any one individual, but takes elements from many different stories, as Manning has suggested. Andy Sturmer has persistently resisted interviews or any projects involving reformation or performance, so if there are secrets to the song he imbued into it, we are unlikely to get them from him.
This song was written sometime before 1993 when "Spilt Milk" was released.
So what can we tell about the person in question? 1st are they alive or dead? The vast majority of the song suggests they are dead, and possibly they died of a heroin overdose, or at least were addicted to heroin. For example, there's lines like "Shoot up (bop bop)"
Not all of the lyrics are listed here, as in the finale of the song includes these:
(There's a party at the pearly gates of gold and platinum) To be the only one (For you, an invitation to the holy rock-n-rollers) To be the only one that knows that you're right (Standin' on the bandstand, you'll see the legends) To be a so deep down underground (Who'll tell you how it feels to be the only one who knows) To be the only one who knows you've been buried alive
And yet... there's that last line: "you've been buried alive". So perhaps this person isn't dead?
We know that Sturmer and Manning were big Anglophiles and lovers of power pop, so the "Nappy superstar" could perhaps be about hair, but it also could just be "diapers", since that's what they're called in the Uk and Ireland.
It's easy to home in on the "Mrs. Lynn" reference. Some people think that this might be about Jeff Lynne, whose ELO was a big influence on Jellyfish, and perhaps might think that the "nappy superstar" lyric fits his hair, but Jeff Lynne is not from a mixed race background, and curly hair isn't "Nappy" hair.
After considering a lot of different possibilities, one other person comes to mind, and that is Irish musician Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. You can short Lynott to Lynn, and you have a slightly disguised version of the name, and Phil was mixed race, had the hair style and had died after the effects of years of heroin addiction. In subsequent years, Thin Lizzy would find an even larger audience on AOR.
Mrs. Lynn could be a hint, or it could just be a red herring, and the song could be about angry rock song writers who died and afterwards became more popular due to the music industry "death effect" where bands and musicians are promoted and exploited after they die.
Jim Morrison and the Doors would be a prototype, as a song writer who did a lot of drugs (including Heroin, although he didn't shoot it) and whose record sales increased, in particular for the L.A. Woman album, which had been driven by Morrison's desire to make a blues record received some extremely negative reviews upon release. It would go on to produce several hits, and ultimately would sell 24 million records.
Last but not least, some people think that the song could be about Brian Wilson, and there is some reason to believe this, as just prior to the making of Spilt Milk, Sturmer and Manning had worked on Ringo Starr's solo record, and also were booked to write songs with the legendary Wilson, which ultimately was a failure after only one session. At the time Wilson was emerging from a long period where he had been virtually controlled by his Doctor, and had been battling with drug addiction and mental illness. It is possible that this left Sturmer and Manning disillusioned, although in totality, while Wilson's musicality was certainly an influence on Jellyfish and a power-pop influence, his songs are not known for their acerbic lyrical content. Musically however, the "Mrs. Lynn" bridge is a clear musical homage to Wilson's Beach Boys compositions particularly in the "Pet Sounds". When reviewing the song recently on "Warren Huart: Produce Like A Pro" channel on youtube, Manning went into a long discussion of his reflection that many of the song writers who connected with him, had some history of heartbreak and sadness, and this was a way for men in western society to process negative emotion through art, so perhaps there are also elements of this in the song.
You could also make the argument that there are elements of Phil Spector's descent into seclusion and madness and his many years of drug abuse.
Probably the song isn't about any one individual, but takes elements from many different stories, as Manning has suggested. Andy Sturmer has persistently resisted interviews or any projects involving reformation or performance, so if there are secrets to the song he imbued into it, we are unlikely to get them from him.