Learning to Love Train: "Drops of Jupiter" is back in the atmosphere
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What is the significance of 'Drops of Jupiter' 25 years later?
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Charlie, I'm going to name some things, and you tell me what they make you think of, okay? Okay, okay. Mozart, Taibo, fried chicken, and the best soy latte that you've ever had. Powdered wigs, kickboxing, gross. You're not a fan of fried chicken? Oh, fried chicken. No, no, I forgot the fried chicken. Scrumptious and disgusting. Soy latte. Okay, well. I'm an almond guy. So you have an individual reaction to all the scenes, but when you put them together, what does it make, Charles? Drops of Jupiter.
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze-dried romance, five-hour phone conversation, the best soy latte that you ever had?
And today on the pod, we're going to talk to Train's lead singer and songwriter, Pat Monaghan, about why we can't stop listening to this song 25 years after its release.
Welcome to Switch on Pop. I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding. And before we dive into my conversation with Pat, I want to give a quick crash course on this band, okay? Train. They form in San Francisco in 1993, and their first hit comes five years later, 1998. It's a song called Meet Virginia. Very good. Oh, yeah.
Hey.
She never compromises, loves babies and surprises, wears high heels when she exercises.
Some great specific lyric writing. Wears high heels while she exercises. If that doesn't give you 90s nostalgia, I don't know what will. It's good. That's why Gen Z yearns for the 90s, honestly, is everything contained in this song. But it was drops of Jupiter that really put this band on the map when it came out in 2001.
Did you sail across the sun?
How did Pat Monahan come to write 'Drops of Jupiter'?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all fading? And that heaven is overrated. Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? One without a permanent scar. And then you missed me while you were looking for yourself.
It's a timeless classic. If I could play piano just like that and have strings support me... I'd be set for life. That pianist is none other than Chuck Lavelle, who's played with everyone from John Mayer to the Rolling Stones. We'll get into that a little later in the show. But yeah, this song was massive. It went diamond certified. But things weren't all Milky Ways and shooting stars after the song for Train. The band actually had a period of commercial and critical decline after this. And it wasn't until... Eight years later, in 2009, that they reclaimed some kind of foothold in the music industry when they released a little song called Hey Soul Sister.
Hey Soul Sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio? Stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know. Hey Soul Sister, I don't want to miss a single thing.
That song single-handedly responsible for more ukulele sales in the 2010s than any other. Maybe except for Zooey Deschanel. You might throw Jason Mraz in there as well. There was a little moment where the ukulele was a thing again. And Hey Soul Sister was definitely a part of that. This became another massive hit for the band. And since then, 2009, they've released a string of albums. They've had additional hits, including Drive By, Play That Song. And right now they have a new single out.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the significance of 'Drops of Jupiter' 25 years later?
0:00–3:13
2
How did Pat Monahan come to write 'Drops of Jupiter'?
3:13–8:10
3
What challenges did Train face after the success of 'Drops of Jupiter'?
8:10–11:40
4
Why is 'Drops of Jupiter' considered a timeless classic?
11:40–16:07
5
How does the song's musical structure contribute to its popularity?
16:07–20:24
6
What are the lyrical themes present in 'Drops of Jupiter'?
20:24–24:33
7
How has 'Drops of Jupiter' influenced other artists?
24:33–29:09
8
What insights does Pat Monahan share about fame and songwriting?
29:09–46:01