Drive Shaft -- You All Everybody
A "Lost" song from a fictional TV band is this week's earworm
The very first TV series I ever watched with my wife was Lost.
The two of us would curl up together on my futon couch, drinking Two Buck Chuck, eating Orville Reddenbacher microwave popcorn, and gazing at my 19” Mitsubishi SD television screen. We were transfixed with each other, but even more so by the mysterious and dramatic storylines that creators Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse came up with for the myriad characters in Lost.
And we were certainly not alone, with the ABC drama becoming the most talked about network TV series of its time. As this was 2004 — pre-streaming, pre-binging, pre-iPhone — getting one episode per week was the only option. TiVo DVRs existed back then, so we weren’t required to stay in on Friday nights to watch Lost, but if we didn’t get to it by Monday, avoiding spoilers at the inevitable water cooler/break-room discussion would be near impossible.
“Did you see the look Sawyer gave Kate?” “Isn’t it wild how the code to the hatch uses the same numbers as Hurley’s winning lottery ticket!”
If what was happening on the TV screen made no sense, if the meandering plot lines left us “lost,” it didn’t matter. There were websites devoted to examining every detail of every scene theorizing what it all meant. Did I frequent those sites? I guess that all depends on your definition of “frequent.”😀
The main characters in Lost are vivid and well-drawn. Each episode focuses on one of them, revealing bits of their history via flashbacks.
It didn’t take long to pick favorites, and, for both me and my wife, the character of Charlie, played by Dominic Monaghan, was near the top of the list.
His backstory in the show’s seventh episode revealed that Charlie played bass and sang for a popular rock band named Drive Shaft. In flashback scenes, we see — and hear — Drive Shaft performing together. In the clip, Charlie’s brother Liam (clearly a nod to Liam Gallagher of Britpopsters Oasis) starts singing lead on the band’s big hit single, “You All Everybody.” This really pisses Charlie off as it is his song, and he normally is the lead vocalist. A later flashback scene in the episode shows when Charlie first starts using heroin, which becomes a major plot point in the present-day island story.
Having Drive Shaft’s biggest hit song be the ridiculously titled “You All Everybody,” brings a moment of humor to an otherwise pretty serious show.
Silly name aside, the song is undeniably catchy and finds that sweet spot between stupid and clever.
Though the title comprises about 80 percent of the lyrics, the other 20 percent are even dumber than the title (if that is possible). In fact, I didn’t realize there even were lyrics other than “You all everybody" until I looked them up for this piece.
You all, everybody
You all, everybody
Acting like you're stupid people
Wearing expensive clothes
That’s it. Plus about 50 more “you all everybody”s.
Here are the origins of this song, according to Lostpedia:
The song’s melody began with Dominic Monaghan’s improvised humming while filming “Pilot, Part 1”. Songwriters Jude Christodal and Chris Seefried combined the lyrics and melody. The final song bears a striking resemblance to the song “Rock n’ Roll Star” by Oasis, the real band that served as a model for Drive Shaft.
Years earlier, on an episode of The Phil Donahue Show, a female audience member said, "You all everybody is acting like it's the stupid people wearing the expensive clothes. And they not!" Producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof often repeated this line while editing videos, laughing at how nonsensical it was. Eventually, in a "delirious stupor," they decided to make the line into the Drive Shaft song's lyrics.
The article goes on to say that the chorus of the song also strongly resembles the melody of the chorus heard in Bob Welch's "Ebony Eyes.”
I guess I hear the resemblance. It’s easy enough to replace Bob singing “Your eyes got me dreamin’ / Your eyes got me blind” with Drive Shaft’s “You all everybody,” but the Drive Shaft tune has a different vibe than the Bob Welch classic— anthemic rather than slinky and sexy.
You All Everybody - The Band
When I went on Spotify to try and find the Driveshaft song to stream (no luck), I did discover a band with the name You All Everybody.
You All Everybody, as far as I can tell, released one album, Lockedown, in 2010. I played it, and it friggin’ rocks. The clever, witty lyrics might only be clever and witty to those who watched the show, but what do I know? Maybe some people who never saw Lost will still love the album.
The songs are catchy and do work on their own — but they work even better in the context of the show.
I couldn’t find much information about the band, but You All Everybody does have a Bandcamp page, which has a link to their website. However, when I clicked it, I was greeted with a: “This site can no longer be reached.” So I will offer the only info I can find on their Bandcamp page:
You All Everybody is:
Erik Martinez - vocals
Jeff Moehle - drums, rhythm guitar, background vocals
Mark Ziegler - bass, background vocals
Brett Farkas - guitar, guitar solo
Oh, and they apparently were based in Chicago, IL.
I’m sharing “I Am The Smoke” below as it has a distinct Lenny Kravitz vibe. It’s the rockingest song on the album. The others are more melodic and remind me of alt-pop bands Guster or The Mommyheads. There’s plenty of power-poppy goodness here, and as much joy as I’ve derived pursuing all things Drive Shaft and Lost this week, discovering You All Everybody has been the best part.
Spotify playlist of the full album is below.
The reason the fictional Drive Shaft song “You All Everybody” appeared as an earworm for me is because my friend Michelle told me that she had just begun watching the series for the first time.
Hearing this, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy, wishing I could experience Lost again for the first time.
If I were able to build a time machine, I would send myself back to September 2004 so I could not only relive the early days of falling in love with my wife but also relive falling in love with Lost.
And, most of all, relive the moment I first heard Drive Shaft perform “You All Everybody.”
Are you one of the human unicorns who has never seen Lost?
I love the theme of inclusivity inherent in this song. Everyone, every living creature with a body, is part of ‘‘You All." It’s a song about loving all people everywhere. Agree?
Do you miss the days of Lost? What is another TV show that you loved that had a similar exploring of lore and myth, with audiences trying to figure out what “it all means?”
And what are your favorite fictional bands? No, The Monkees don’t count.
Be well, and see you next time!
Steve
Today, I learned that I'm a unicorn. I've never seen an episode of 'Lost." Maybe a clip or two along the way (?) but that's it.
You are right about that song being catchy. I find myself from time to time, every few years, singing it. It's usually when I hear someone say something similar to that "you all everybody" phrase. It was such a stupid song, but I guess brilliant, if it stayed in my head nearly 20 years later.
I loved Lost. We watched it all the way through two times. Once when it was originally on, and years later with my kids.
Thanks Steve... now this song is going to be stuck in my head all day long!