Envy is a tough emotion to put across as a songwriter. How do you manage to do it and still have the person within the song who’s consumed by the green-eyed monster come across as sympathetic?
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Nick Lowe manages to pull off that tricky feat on his just-right 1990 song “What’s Shakin’ On The Hill”. He does so by imbuing the narrator with heart-tugging melancholy. We root for him to one day rid himself of his jealousy and achieve the object of his desires.
“Shakin’” It Up
Nick Lowe once stood at the precipice of rock stardom. His 1978 debut album Jesus Of Cool was praised in the same hallowed tones used for his New Wave partner-in-crime Elvis Costello. A year later, Lowe made his big move to the pop charts with the single “Cruel To Be Kind”.
But brilliant as he is as a writer, his sensibilities have always been a bit askew compared to the mainstream. His tastes also tend towards much more antiquated styles of roots music, meaning he quickly strayed from the sounds of the day. All that made him a tough commercial sell in the 80s.
Lowe struggled to find his footing for a while as an artist in that decade. He seemed to get rolling again once he accepted his status as a songwriter out of time. On his 1990 album Party Of One, he began to write songs that showed the sure-footed elegance and eloquence of the Great American Songbook
“What’s Shakin’ On The Hill” epitomizes this style. It trips along so lightly in a musical sense that it sounds as if Lowe’s trying to keep from disturbing anyone. Perhaps that’s fitting, because the lyrics tell the tale of someone on the outside looking in at a party to which he couldn’t gain an invite.
Examining the Lyrics to “What’s Shakin’ On The Hill”
Lowe sets the scene by describing this get-together for the “gay and debonair”. He only knows about it via the music from this soiree wafting in on the breeze, signifying people dancing up a storm. But not for the narrator: “But I ain’t ever gonna see/What’s shakin’ on the hill.”
He’s not kidding himself that he’ll one day be in the mix with the hoi polloi at the party. “That I someday may be joining in is just wishful thinking,” Lowe shrugs. “’Cause admission’s only guaranteed to a chosen few.”
Up to this point, we’re not sure why this poor sap isn’t on the guest list (or even the waiting list, for that matter). He reveals the reason in the middle eight. “It isn’t allowed,” Lowe sings. “In that carefree crowd/To be seen with tears in your eyes.”
It’s at that point that we start to realize that this party might just be a metaphorical gathering, a way for this guy to describe his acute loneliness. “Though I long so strong to be inside,” Lowe sighs. “With the blues is where I do reside/So I’ll forever be denied/What’s shakin’ on the hill.”
Even though this guy is letting his desire for what others have get the best of him, we can sympathize with his plight. Nick Lowe’s sure songwriting touch on “What’s Shakin’ On The Hill” makes sure of it.
Photo by Martyn Goodacre/Redferns
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