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What is the message of "The Big Surprise" by The Elms? I don't get that song but I love it.
Well, you’ve discovered how The Elms try to make their music: draw you in with the joy of it first, then give the meaning. Sometimes the purpose is hard to get. Mostly the lyrical intent is the same throughout, but for your benefit here’s the much-ballyhooed line-by-line analysis (note: only my interpretation).
I am back ~ This time, I'm the big surprise
And I'm hiding behind your sofa
Motives like, “Where’s my recognition for all this?” recur in “The Big Surprise,” exaggerated by this scene of putting on a big bash and never getting any thanks in return.
I'm the culture shock.
Temporary block.
And I'll love you for the next five minutes.
“Love suffers long and is kind,” says I Cor. 13:4. “Love does not envy; love does not parade itself.” Our narrator in the song is wrapped up into himself at this point, looking only at the “return” he can get on the “investment” he’s made.
I'm your magazine ~ 'cause you read me clean,
Without taking any time for pictures.
A work of everyday modern verse, this phrase alone shows The Elms’ knack for exhibiting wonder. Straightforward in his first-person sentiment, the narrator feels ignored and mistreated; made a piece of information instead of a feeling human.
I'm your hand grenade and your lemonade,
'Cause I'll blow up and leave you soured.
Find somebody with a working car and drive them crazy, too.
Revenge will be had, it seems. The speaker says he can and will break out of this sterile relationship. Unchecked resentment will have consequences. Beyond general annoyance, the last line hints at a departing or break-up.
The big surprise is...
The big surprise is me!
This short and out-of-the-blue title line has a meaning that is continually changing. Here it is phrased as a taunt from the under-appreciated protagonist, like “I’m doing all this--it’s all me!--why can’t you see it and show thanks?”
I worked extra hard to pick your birthday card,
You just threw it out and kept my money.
Very amusing line, often true for all of us. Again, conveying a self-consumed attitude.
I got up at six to make your favorite dish,
So I sank when you said you weren't hungry.
More works (i.e. actions, deeds) over communication. This individual never thinks to talk out whatever problem or issue they have, only assume and vindicate themselves.
Filed your tax return ~ let some candles burn,
Played Mozart to make your plants grow.
”I took great lengths to please you!” The point just keeps getting hammered home, though the band keeps it a hilarious, musically pleasing experience.
Then I clipped the trees ~ got down on my knees,
Not to work, just to pray ~ you'd see me.
Find somebody who will paint your house ~ and gloss them over, too.
Here’s where, I believe, a change occurs. Finally taking their bitterness to God (“…pray ~ you’d see me”), this person can be released into a certain measure of optimism. No longer is it hate, but amazement that he utters, as The Elms’s Thom Daugherty says, “God sees all that we do in secret, and He honors it, and will reward us openly for the things we do in secret.” Though somewhat sarcastic, the last line gets a little lighter than past ones, almost pitying the guy who’s been ignoring him because selfishness is an empty way to live.
The big surprise is me.
We have come full circle. Sans sarcasm, the line takes on a whole other meaning. Mainly that God sees me as “all that,” as His kid, so why seek acceptance anywhere else? Giving my life for others can be done out of sheer joy, just to please Dad. Sounds like a party lifestyle if ever there was one.
- Josh M. Shepherd
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