"Volvo Driving Soccer Mom" | ||||
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Single by Everclear | ||||
from the album Slow Motion Daydream | ||||
Released | January 14, 2003 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, pop rock, grunge | |||
Length | 3:13 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Art Alexakis, Greg Eklund, Craig Montoya | |||
Producer(s) | Art Alexakis, Lars Fox | |||
Everclear singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Volvo Driving Soccer Mom" on YouTube |
"Volvo-Driving Soccer Mom" is a song by the alternative rock band Everclear, from their album Slow Motion Daydream (2003). The song was performed by Everclear lead singer Art Alexakis during his solo tour and was made the first single off Slow Motion Daydream.
The song is about girls who use drugs and are sexually promiscuous in high school and college, but later grow up to be more conservative, suburban housewives when they decide it will be to their advantage. The lyrics allude to having a threesome and being busted for possession in the earlier part of the song, and describes the subjects' lives later on as "blonde, bland, middle-class Republican lives".
In an October 2003 interview with Songfacts, Alexakis explained the inspiration for "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom":
This is a song about definitions, about being defined by people, allowing yourself to be defined by other people's standards. It's very junior-high to be able to say 'that person's this, that person's a slut, that person's that.' It's understandable in junior high school, it's just unacceptable in your 20s, 30s, and 40s. People doing it is not right, so it's kind of poking fun at them and people who allow it to happen to them. Who cares if you're a porn star? Who cares if you're a stripper. Who cares if you have a bunch of tattoos? What matters is, are you a good person? Do you pay your taxes? Are you good to your kids? Are you a good neighbor? Nothing else should matter to anybody else. What people do in their own life, if it doesn't hurt other people, should not matter. [1]
The video for the song features the story of a blonde wild child and former stripper who grows up to become a Volvo-driving soccer mom just like the song describes. In the video, scenes from her "checkered" past are intercut with scenes from her present life as a housewife to highlight the differences between the two. Some of the final scenes subvert the implied message of the song, portraying the present day housewife engaged in sex while her past stripper self falls asleep alone watching financial reports. The video also features scenes of Everclear performing the song at a house party.
Chart (2003) | Peak position |
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US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [2] | 30 |
Everclear is an American rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1991. The band was formed by Art Alexakis, the band's lead songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, and for most of the band's height of popularity, consisted of Craig Montoya on bass guitar and Greg Eklund on drums. After the limited release of their independently released debut album, World of Noise, the band found success with their first three albums on Capitol Records: Sparkle and Fade, So Much for the Afterglow, and Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile, which were all certified platinum in sales. However, the following two albums Songs from an American Movie Vol. Two: Good Time for a Bad Attitude and Slow Motion Daydream, were not as well received, and as sales suffered, Montoya and Eklund left the band shortly after in 2003.
Slow Motion Daydream is the sixth studio album by Everclear. It was released in the U.S. in 2003 on Capitol Records and recorded in 2002.
Arthur Paul Alexakis is an American musician best known as the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the rock band Everclear. He has been a member of several other bands in addition to his own work as a songwriter for other artists. Alexakis has founded several record labels throughout his career and worked as an A&R representative for major record labels between and during his own musical projects. Later he became a political activist and lobbied for special concerns which include drug awareness policies and support for the families of the military.
So Much for the Afterglow is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Everclear, released on October 7, 1997, through Capital Records. It contained the singles "Everything to Everyone", "I Will Buy You a New Life", "Father of Mine", "So Much for the Afterglow", and "One Hit Wonder". "Everything to Everyone", "I Will Buy You A New Life", and "Father of Mine" received heavy rotation on MTV's Total Request Live and launched Everclear into mainstream popularity in the late-90s. So Much for the Afterglow provided Everclear with their only Grammy nomination to date, a Best Rock Instrumental nod in 1998 for "El Distorto de Melodica." The album is considered a departure from the band's earlier punk rock and grunge sound for a more pop-oriented sound.
Ten Years Gone: The Best of Everclear 1994–2004 is a 'Best of' album by Everclear. It was released on October 5, 2004. It includes tracks from all of their albums up to 2003, as well as two tracks not previously released on any album. "The New Disease" was previously released on a "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom" CD single, and "Sex With a Movie Star " did not appear anywhere else.
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"Father of Mine" is a rock song by American rock band Everclear from their 1997 album So Much for the Afterglow. This song is autobiographical, as lead singer Art Alexakis's father left his family when he was a young boy. "Father of Mine" was the third top-five Modern Rock Tracks single from So Much for the Afterglow, peaking at number four. It also hit number 23 and 24 on the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40 charts, respectively. This song is also recorded in a radio mix, which can be heard on Ten Years Gone: The Best of Everclear 1994-2004.
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"I Will Buy You a New Life" is a rock song by American rock band Everclear from their third studio album, So Much for the Afterglow (1997). The song peaked at number three on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, number 20 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, and number 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 chart. In Canada, it reached number 49 on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart and number one on the RPM Alternative 30 chart.
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