Like most people, I loved Train’s song “Drops of Jupiter” when it came out in 2001. I ran out and bought the CD of the same name, playing the CD over and over again, but especially repeating the title track. And then, like most people, I got a little tired of hearing it played everywhere.
But recently, I heard an interview with Train’s Pat Monahan, explaining how he came to write the song. It may have been that I had missed his earlier interviews about the meaning of the song. Or maybe I had heard the explanation but had not connected with the explanation as I did now around a time when I had lost two people very close to me. But hearing his explanation made the song make a lot of sense to me.
Now that she’s back in the atmosphere,
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey, hey.
Monahan wrote “Drops of Jupiter” soon after his mom had passed away following a battle with cancer. In the song, he imagines that after dying his mom’s spirit could go anywhere, and so a person would be likely to go explore the universe.
As Monahan explained in a Buzzfeed News interview, “It’s a story about my mother coming back after like swimming through the planets and finding her way through the universe, and coming back to tell me that heaven was overrated and [to] love this life, you know?”
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there’s a time to change, hey, hey, hey
Thus, his mother returned to visit him with “drops of Jupiter” in her hair. Pretty cool.
Monahan wrote the song in less than an hour. The song came to him in a dream, and after he woke up, the song was in his head. When he woke up, he took about thirty minutes to write it down and sing the words into a Dictaphone. The next night before bed he finished it up, and the song that was a conversation with his late mom was complete.
And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?
And did you miss me
While you were looking for yourself out there?
After the song was recorded, it propelled the band’s popularity into the universe. “Drops of Jupiter” went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Song. Monahan thanked his mom when he accepted the award.
Of course, the great thing about songs is that you can always interpret them in your own way to find something for your own life. So if you hear something else or another thing in the song, that is cool too. But it is also great to know the story behind the song. (For a short video about the story, check out this video on YouTube.)
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
Just heard george jetson use the words drops of Jupiter
My best friend Joey who was a girl dedicated this song to me after she died.I thought I new what she was trying to tell 6years ago when she passed but just now learning what the song means and why it was written I believe I’ve discovered exactly what she was trying to tell me . Thank you to the writer of this song thank you for your mom and of course thank you Joey …i will never forget you xoxoxo
Nice to hear how much the song means to you. Sorry for your loss. Take care.
This is so scary. I chose flowers in my hair when I got married and they were called “drops of jupiter”. I always liked the song and thought it was a good fit. Ten years of marriage later and I randomly read about the meaning behind this song. A few years before I got married, I lost my grandmother to cancer, she was virtually my mother and I was so close to her. One of her favourite songs was Drops of Jupiter, hence another reason why I chose the particular flowers for my hair, but I had no idea at the time what the connection was. It feels like my nan was there that day
Fascinating and beautiful connection. Thanks for sharing. Take care.
Only certain parts were inspired by his mother… unless his mom also doubled as his lover.
I always thought the song was about a lover who left him to explorer the world, and she finally came back.
Same – someone saying, “I need my space.” That makes the phrase – “And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?” really poignant…