“She Keeps Me Up” by Nickelback

For us adults in the audience, upon first reading the title of this song (“She Keeps Me Up”) our minds will likely go to a certain place. We might likely presume that Chad Kroeger and co. are singing about sex. 

And the lyrics also do a sound job of perpetuating that perception. For instance, the addressee is identified as a female and romantic interest. The singer even goes on to refer to their relationship as an “evil romance”.

Relatedly, on the surface, the lyrics give the impression that this is one of those tracks in which the vocalist is smitten by the desirable addressee. However, he is also able to perceive that giving his heart to her has a toxic effect on his life.

But letting the cat out of the bag, said addressee is actually a personification of coke. There is one semi-solid clue pointing to this idea in the lyrics, where in the pre-chorus Chad likens their relationship to a “Coca-Cola rollercoaster”. 

Again, that’s not the type of metaphor a child is likely to pick up on. But as for us grownups, some of us are aware that the world’s favorite soft drink did at a time literally contain “coca”, i.e. coc*ine, thus explaining the first half of its namesake. 

But that acknowledgement can easily fly over the head of some listeners, adult or otherwise, considering that a reference to Coca-Cola can itself be taken as a metaphor for exuberance, if you will, in general.

“She Keeps Me Up”

So as far as the title goes, what we are actually met with, as expounded in the chorus, is the idea of the singer relying on coc*ine to ‘keep him up all night’. Why he has such a strong desire to “stay awake somehow” is not specified. However, all lyrics (of the bridge) considered, it probably has something to do with Chad’s desire to party. 

But going back to the track’s romance-inspired storyline, the thesis sentiment can be ascertained as one in which he wants to quit snorting. He understands that the practice is not good for him. Despite this knowledge, as it currently stands, he lacks the wherewithal to do so.

Release Date of “She Keeps Me Up”

On 17 February 2015, Republic Records officially released this song. They released it as the fourth single from “No Fixed Address”. To date, “No Fixed Address” stands as Nickelback’s most-recent album that can really be considered a commercial success. 

This track contributed its meager share to that achievement, in that it managed a humble showing on Nickleback’s native Canadian Hot 100. It also sports its own visual, as assembled by accomplished music video director Nigel Dick.

As fate would have it, the reason why we’re now writing about this nearly-decade old single with an unimpressive chart history and no certifications is because more recently, in late 2022, it managed to go viral on TikTok. 

Despite the fact that by this point we all know that said app has the power to breathe new life into old songs, even Nickelback was surprised. According to Nickelback , this “one was pretty unexpected”. 

And to note, said trend specifically revolves around the first line of the pre-chorus. The line in question is: “funky little monkey, she’s a twisted trickster”. This line doesn’t specifically allude to coc*ine use. It is rather used by TikTokers within the context of edifying one’s look.

Credits

Chad Kroeger, the lead singer of Nickelback, wrote this song. He composed it in partnership with the following writers:

• Josh Ramsay
• Jacob Kasher

The entire Nickelback crew produced “She Keeps Me Up”. They produced it alongside regular collaborator Chris Baseford.