“The DJ Is Crying for Help” by AJR

Perhaps the easiest way to describe AJR’s “The DJ Is Crying for Help” is as the vocalist being a man who is about to reach middle-age yet having realized that his inner disposition is more akin to a teenager. 

When Jack proclaims “the DJ is crying for help”, he would apparently be said DJ. And the reason he’s “crying for help” is because he figures that he must have some type of intrinsic flaw for being of such a youthful mind. Or something like that. 

This song concludes with the vocalist painting a worst-case scenario of himself, the disc jockey, throwing a party that no one else attends. So maybe, reading in-between the lines, what he’s saying is something like being eternally-young is good internally but less-than-ideal socially.

Interesting Lyrics

And please forgive us if that interpretation leaves something to be desired. This is because the lyrics of this song, when taken comprehensively, can be deemed confusing themselves. Even though the titular sentiment reads pessimistic, the more-discernible theme behind this song isn’t as straightforward. 

That goes back to the narrator, once again under his own estimation, being a big kid, which is made plainly known. But that mentality is also having some type of unstated or concealed negative effect on him – besides just denying Jack job opportunities, as throughout the years he hasn’t developed “any skills except getting high”.

Going a bit out on a limb, it seems the vocalist is taking on the role of someone who can no longer relate to his age group. Others, i.e. those who are “good at life”, have indeed “got(ten) older”, which we will take to mean now being more mature and responsible. 

But as for the vocalist, even at the stated age of 35, to this day he would rather party than make serious. And the fact that he is such an anomaly is, in the grand scheme of things, bothersome. But at the same time, he’s also understanding enough to empathize with himself, as his reluctance to age appears to be the DJ’s own way of raging against the machine.

AJR

AJR is a sibling group from New York City who specializes in independent pop music. They’ve released four studio LPs thus far. The latter two albums, “Neotheater” (2019) and “OK Orchestra” (2021), topped the US Indie Albums Chart and scored within the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Release of “The DJ Is Crying for Help”

“The DJ Is Crying for Help” was issued on 18 November 2022. It is a single from the group’s fifth studio album.

This track was supported by the band’s own AJR Productions label, in addition to Mercury, Republic and UMG.

AJR began teasing the existence of this track in June of 2022.

As of this dropping the members of AJR, Adam Met alongside his younger brothers, Ryan and Jack (whose initials make up the name of the band), are respectively 32, 28 and 25. 

Jack is the lead vocalist, with the others being background singers and multi-instrumentalists. 

Credits

All three members of AJR receive writing credits for this song. The production of “The DJ Is Crying for Help” was handled solely by Ryan Met.

According to Ryan, the first verse of this piece features his favorite lyrics on the entirety of the album in which this song appears.