Closing Time - Semisonic

A relatively unknown band, the one (or few) hit wonder Semisonic broke out with their song Closing Time. This 1998 tune is a nightlife staple - for decades now it has been a universal message - get the f- out of here, party’s over. One message still resonates with me from the first time I heard this song out and about when I was freshly 21: “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here”. Even thinking about the lyrics, it feels like every word in that song is about the last call, the lights turning up, and figuring out how you’re getting home in one piece. As a host as well, making it to the point in the night where you can play this song is pure relief: you made it through the night without any disasters occurring and the house is still in one piece. Success, let’s do it again, same time next week. Such a cut and dry song, simple lyrics, iconic sound, universal meaning. Closing Time couldn’t mean any more than that, right? Wrong. As revealed in an interview in 2010, the songwriter Dan Wilson intended for the lyrics to have a double meaning. Apparently it draws inspiration from the birth of his daughter and the miracle that is childbirth, but as Wilson puts it, “nobody got the joke and [he] didn’t bother to explain. [He] thought everyone would get it.” I think it’s safe to say that this meaning went both under the radar AND over everyone’s head, as I for one have heard the song easily a few dozen times and have not once heard this meaning mentioned. Might be due to the lack of diehard Semisonic fans in today’s day and age. Even looking at the lyrics, I can hardly tell where this meaning was supposed to be. The lyrics literally reference last call, finishing drinks, going home, and grabbing jackets. Not a whole lot to go off of in regards to birth, except for (maybe) the line about brothers and sister, but that’s still a stretch. Can you tell where this double meaning was supposed to be found?

By Evan