“The Fall” by Lovejoy

The lead singer of Lovejoy, Wilbur Soot, is a musician who, let’s say tends to take an unconventional approach to songwriting. And that is the first thing that becomes evident upon being introduced to the lyrics of “The Fall”. So, that’s basically our fancy way of saying that we’re going to have to venture out on a few limbs in an attempt to make comprehensive sense of this piece.

“The Fall”

And our first postulation would be trying to ascertain what the title actually means. The titular phrase is only mentioned once in the lyrics. And it alludes to the concept of ‘falling’ as we generally understand it, i.e. pointing to an individual failing. And with that in mind, such seems to be the overall premise upon which this piece is based.

So for instance, the vocalist theoretically introduces the notion of suicide into the equation, in the pre-chorus. And what he seems to be saying in that regard, especially when you take the chorus proper and verse that respectively follow into consideration, is that sometimes a place or even people may appear cool on the outside. 

But internally there’s other stuff going on, such as drug abuse for instance, that may prove fatal. Or viewed from a different, more-complicated angle, being “calm” and serene in today’s world requires a certain amount of personally-induced mental subjugation as well as a fear of the unknown, if you will.

Romantic Undertone

Also pertinent to note is that there looks to be some type of romantic undertone to this story. For example, the second verse implies that the vocalist is chillin’ in “a country house” along with his spouse. And relatedly, the addressee of the first verse can be interpreted as a lady who is suffering from domestic violence from her boyfriend. And Wilbur is using the said abuse as a rationale to take her as his own. 

In other words, she would be the same addressee who he ends up settling with in the second verse. 

Thesis of “The Fall”

And the thesis of the song would be something like at the end of the day, there’s certain less-than-ideal aspects of life you simply can’t get away from. Indeed the very places that we may find beautiful or serene or idyllic all have their own personal messed up histories. And going back to the one mention of “the fall”, drugs obviously play the role of being one of the means by which the vocalist subjugates these perpetually depressing thoughts.

Some Quick Facts

Lovejoy is a band we recently became aware of due to the individual success of its lead singer, Wilbur Soot. In fact the crew just formed earlier in 2021. And whereas Soot may not currently be an A lister as far as the music scene is concerned, he is certainly an internet celebrity. He traces his social-media come-up to YouTube and subsequently Twitch. Soot is by all accounts one of the few internet celebrities who has also been able to carve out what appears to be a respectable and viable music career.

Lovejoy’s first EP, Are You Alright?, came out during May of 2021. To note, all four tracks featured on that album managed to chart. 

And this particular song we’re dealing with today is derived from the band’s second extended play, Pebble Brain. The said project was issued on 14 October 2021. And apparently the label behind this effort is an entity known as Anvil Cat Records, which may be one that Soot and co. founded themselves.

As it currently stands, Lovejoy consists of Soot alongside the following:

• drummer Mark Boardman
• guitarist Joe Goldsmith
• bassist Ash Kabosu

They are also the four individuals credited with writing “The Fall”. And that track was produced by one of their regular behind-the-scenes’ men, Sam Coveney.