Largely thought of as a one-hit wonder the band Semisonic, would be best known for the
song ‘Closing Time.’
To be fair, they would have some international success with several other songs.
While Closing Time was arguably one of the biggest hits of the late 90’s and appeared
numerous times in media and film, the song’s lyrics lead one to believe that it’s a song
about a last-call or late night song.
It has been somewhat misunderstood for a very long time.
While the song’s lyrics would lead one to think the track is written about being asked
to leave a bar, it actually has a double meaning.
You guys maybe shocked to learn that the song almost never made it onto radio.
Let’s discuss all of that in today’s video.
Semisonic would be formed in Minneapolis in 1995 and be made up of guitarist and vocalist
Dan Wilson, bassist and multi-instrumentalist John Munson and drummer Jacob Slicther.
Munson and Wilson had previously played together in a group Trip Shakespear which would break
up Semisonic would spend their early years playing gigs on the midwestern club circuit
and put out an EP before getting a major label deal with MCA, who would put out their debut
LP in 1996 titled “The Great Divide.: The release won the band much critical praise,
but it was a commercial failure.
As the band hit the studio to write what would be their breakout and second album Feeling
Strangely Fine, it proved to be a good creative time for the band while the members dealt
with professional and personal challenges.
MCA wanted a hit record this time around and it was during the making of the album Wilson’s
wife who was pregnant with their first daughter dealt with complications during her pregnancy
and went into labor two months early.
She would be in the hospital for several months and while his bandmembers and producer offered
to postpone recording sessions, Wilson continued working in the studio in between hospital
visits to see his wife and new child.
It would be the birth of his new child and the band’s live shows that served as the
inspiration for the song Closing Time.
Up until this point the band always ended their concerts with the same tune ‘If I
Run’, something that didn’t sit well with the group’s drummer and bassist.
So Wilson took on a challenge to write a new set closer revealing to American Songwriter
I set out to write a new closer for the set, and I just thought, “Oh, closing time.”
Because all the bars that I would frequent in Minneapolis, they would yell out “closing
time.”
There was one bar where a guy always would scream really loud, “You don’t have to
go home, but you can’t stay here,” and I guess that always stuck in my mind.
So I started writing this song and it’s just, “Okay, you’ve got to go out into
the light, make your way home, or wherever you’re going to be.”
Part way into the writing of the song, I realized it was also about being born.
My wife and I were expecting our first kid very soon after I wrote that song.
I He would add to mojo magazine It's all about being born and coming into the world, seeing
the bright lights, cutting the cord, opening up into something deeper and more universal.
Upon completing their second album and turning it into their label, MCA were disappointed
with what they heard because they didn’t hear a hit song.
However the band’s A&R man at the label Hans Haedelt would reveal to recoup.com When
they handed in Feeling Strangely Fine, it blew me away.
I just knew we had a massive, successful record on our hands, with a majority of the songs
worthy of being radio singles.
‘Closing Time’ would be a hit.
‘...Jay Boberg, the label president, didn’t have a discerning ear when it came to recognizing
hits; he’d misjudged The Great Divide, so we really weren’t surprised to hear the
label say that they didn’t hear any hits, and that we needed to go back into the studio
to record some more songs.
Jim Grant, their manager, held firm.
I held firm.
We weren’t going to do that.
The band’s luck would change when MCA brought in a woman named Nancy Levin who was the new
head of radio promotion.
She would go to the label’s president and would be quoted as saying “What the fuck
are you talking about?
There’s a hit here!
“Closing Time” will be a smash!’
On the eve of releasing Closing Time as the lead single from the album, wIlson would recall
to billboard a conversation he had with Levin revealing
The song
topped the alternative rock charts in America and had crossover success peaking at number
8 on the top 40 charts.The song also earned the band a grammy nomination for best rock
song.
The success of the single pushed their second record to go platinum selling over a million
copies.
Singing in my sleep and secret smile would also have some modest success in the US and
fair well overseas.
Despite the success of Feeling Strangely FineHadelt would reveal some at the group’s label were
openly hostile to Semisonic, badmouthed the group and chalked up their success to luck.
The band and their label clashed for their follow up record 2001’s All About Chemistry
which failed to produce a radio hit as big as Closing Time.
They were soon dropped by the label.
The band soon split up before reforming several more times in subsequent years.
The song would have a lasting legacy on alternative rock radio as many stations who would change
their formats would frequently play the song as a way of saying goodbye to their audiences.
As for the group’s second album, it would see a 20th anniversary reissue and Semisonic
most recently have put out a new ep in 2020 and released a few new singles.
As for Wilson he’s a pretty accomplished songwriter Instead, working with artists like
Taylor Swift, Dixie Chicks, Weezer, Keith Urban, Josh Groban, and The Bravery to name
a few.
Closing Time would make Rolling Stone’s list of the 20 most annoying songs ranking
at number 19.
Do you guys agree.
Let me know.