A Look Inside AJR’s Mind in ‘What No One’s Thinking’

It’s no secret to AJR fans that the band speaks their mind unapologetically in their music (see: “If you’re fucking racist, then don’t come to my show” from Three O’Clock Things, OK Orchestra). But with their new five-song EP, What No One’s Thinking, the brothers go even further, delivering less of a casual listen and more of a lyrical punch to the heart.

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The Plane That Never Lands

The opening track for this EP offers a nostalgic melody to listeners alongside themes of avoiding returning home. As the song progresses, we hear all of the ways that they’re planning to avoid going home, including delaying every mode of transportation possible. Though the reasons are unclear in the beginning, it seems that the narrator, Jack, is definitely avoiding something big waiting for him.

The final verse of the song reveals unexpectedly that they’re avoiding an inevitable conversation with their partner; the narrator knows their partner doesn’t want to marry them.

“You don’t really wanna marry me, do you, dear?”

In my first listen of this song, I didn’t know what to expect, but it genuinely wasn’t that. Hearing that line brought immediate tears to my eyes. Personally, I’ve been at the perfect age behind the band that I’m experiencing the things they’re writing about as they release them, and this song is no different. I know this is one of the songs that a lot of fans aren’t relating to as much, but for those who needed to hear it, and for the brothers, who needed to write it, it hits incredibly close to the heart.

A Dog Song

Through the teasers released by the band in the weeks prior to the EP’s release, as well as in answers to the masterclass questions on their most recent tour, it was obvious that this song was going to be the one to emotionally destroy the audience as they listened. It lived up to this expectation.

They revealed that this song was written through the eyes of Ryan’s dog, Olly as he reflects on the events of their last year. We see events like the death of the band’s father demonstrated through Olly’s eyes, comparing his disappearance to that of his toys lost in a move.

“And where did your Dad go? Did they also lose him?

This song confirms the constant fears of every pet owner. Does he know that I’m coming home when I leave for work every day? How do I tell him that this person he loves is never coming back? Can he tell how I’m feeling? Does he think that this bad thing that’s happening is his fault?

They created the perfectly soul-destroying tune for fans to scream-sing to their pets. I’m never going to see Olly, or my own pets, the same way ever again.

Betty

Betty, the single from this EP released a few months prior to the album’s release, offered a much needed melodic reprieve. The upbeat tune has fans bopping around, dried tears still staining their faces from the previous songs. That is… until they tune into the lyrics.

In Betty, the narrator is talking to a partner who seemingly is ready for their relationship to go to the next level. The song covers the internal battle of a person deciding if they’re ready for marriage, or ready for forever with someone. They cover a really common sentiment of anyone who has been in a relationship for a while. There’s no instruction manual for how you’re supposed to feel, but everyone says that you’ll know when you know. But what if you don’t?

“I know your friends say when you know, you know. I just don’t know right now”

There’s something so specific about this song that a lot of fans can relate to. Not being on the same page as your partner, not quite being ready to commit, but also not wanting to lose them. I think this song will be one that ages well with fans. While their fanbase is a true mix of ages, a lot of fans will grow up having this reassurance of their feelings. Giving their fans the exposure to feelings and situations that aren’t regularly talked about in the media and in music is such an important part of their impact.

I’m Sorry You Went Crazy

This song was the first one teased on their social media, before their most recent tour was even announced. Fans immediately began speculating what their seemingly accusatory and quite blunt song was about.

The lyrics begin catching an unknown person up on Ryan, the narrator’s, life over the last year. This includes references to a Ryan turning 29, as well as reference to their headlining weekend at Madison Square Garden, their hometown show on The Maybe Man Tour. He follows this up, letting the person know that they can call, but he doesn’t know what to say to them. As someone who personally had a really complicated relationship with my parents growing up, it feels like he’s speaking to a parent here, addressing a potential conflict of relationship with them.

The second verse has been a controversial one among the fans since its release. It features incredibly weird lyrics, with topics of aliens and saving the human race. While at first glance, it seems out of place in a song about calling out someone they used to have a relationship with for ruining the relationship by going crazy, stick with me here. It makes sense.

“Okay, you’re right, and we’re all evil aliens
and thank God you’re here to save the human race from us.
So shoot me in my weak spot with your subatomic laser gun.”

To me, this verse represents the spiral into delusion that someone who is narcissistic can go through to justify their actions. In combination with the lyric change in the next chorus, referring to the person choosing money over their relationship, it’s obvious that this person is acting in what they consider to be their best interest, at the expense of Ryan. Often times, narcissists will justify acting in their own interests at the expense of others with pointed and mirrored reflections to the person they’ve hurt. This is reflected in the “shoot me in my weak spot” lyric. They also tend to have a hero complex around their actions, as shown with the theme of saving the human race.

As well, especially when it comes to relationships with parents, we desperately want to believe that they wouldn’t intentionally hurt us. Sometimes that manifests as separating the good side of the parent from the bad by creating two different personas. This could also be the exaggeration of this verse, showing the bad side of the person as a much more exaggerated, fictional character.

The Big Goodbye

At long last, we get track 13. For those who don’t follow the band closely, they teased missing track on The Maybe Man album, saying that the previously announced 13th song didn’t quite fit and would be released at a later date. Once they started promoting their tour and this EP, it seemed to fans like they forgot about the missing track. That was, until a masterclass session of their tour when someone asked Ryan about the status of the track, where he revealed that the track was now called The Big Goodbye and would be featured on the new EP.

As the longest song, measuring in at 5:03, The Big Goodbye has a lot to say. I have a suspicion that a lot of non-fans tuned into the EP for this song, as it’s been trending on Tiktok in the weeks prior to the release. The catchy auctioneer introduction showed fans and non-fans alike dancing around like crazy (mimicking lead singer Jack’s normal stage presence). While everyone came for the introduction, they left with a deeper, more emotional song that they were prepared for with the teaser.

In the closing track, Jack talks about the flip side of blowing up and becoming famous, even referencing a previous hit from the band, Weak. He reflects on grappling with having to leave home, missing the things that you grew up around, including events like friends’ weddings. Diving even deeper into the complicated emotions not generally talked about in the music industry, the narrator understands that he should be feeling differently, that he should be happy about his success but can’t let go of all of the things he’s missing.

“And I should be so happy I could cry.
If this is what a happy end looks like,
someone tell me why, why I’m all in my head,
why it feels like my friends are leaving me behind”

I want to come full circle with a deeper metaphor and reference that I believe most fans will miss. The auctioneer that is present in the famous introduction, as well as appearing throughout the song as a comparison following “then my whole life can sound like this”. While most fans will look at this as an upbeat moment that brings excitement, I believe the use of this auctioneer is incredibly intentional.

The auctioneer is a sample from The Auctioneer by the Fortunairs Barbershop Quartet. The song tells the story of a boy who develops a dream of becoming an auctioneer after seeing one auctioning in his town. He works hard to achieve this dream, eventually becoming the most successful auctioneer. The song is a personification of the joy and excitement of successfully accomplishing a dream.

While The Big Goodbye does discuss the theme of achieving a dream, they approach it from the opposite viewpoint. They desperately want to be able to celebrate their success without having to consider the negative and upsetting emotions and thoughts, thus want their lives to sound like The Auctioneer. Yet, the Auctioneer from the sample is weaved into the doubts and missed experiences that are an unfortunate but necessary part of the cost of achieving fame and success.

To me, The Big Goodbye falls under one of the most thematically rich and emotionally complex songs that the band has ever written and immediately fell into my top 3 songs of theirs. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this song, given the virality of the intro, but I was pleasantly surprised with this final song.

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Overall, despite the EP only having five songs, the brothers pack in so many relevant topics to create an emotionally devastating, thematically rich look inside their minds. Their contributions to music, making a public acknowledgment of emotions and scenarios that so many people go through on a daily basis and giving them a place to experience that without judgement, continue to amaze new fans every day, adding to their ever-growing community of fans.

(They're selling out arenas! They're not my little band anymore!)

If you only choose to listen to one of this week’s releases, please make it this. They deserve all of the love in the world and you deserve to have the incredible experience that is this EP.

Let me know your thoughts below!