Song of the Week: The Different Bit

Considering I have no lyrics to go by, I almost feel like I should say a few words of blessing before I completely butcher this, but here goes nothing...

The Different Bit is kind of an anomaly in the sense that it's a song most people seem to know, everyone seems to like, and yet somehow it has only accumulated 600 views on YouTube in the two years since it has been released. Even among the almost 250,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, The Different Bit only has a modest 29k streams, as opposed to songs like Prawn Soup or Off My Nuttt, which boast a couple of million streams each. (And we won't even talk about some of the tracks from the Sick Sick Soul collaboration that almost double that!)

To be fair, The Different Bit doesn't have the same intensity as those songs, or even the same instantly identifiable hook that yanks you right in the moment it starts, but once it does get ahold of you it doesn't let go without a fight. This isn't a song that has something to prove to anyone, it's just solid and steady like the cornerstone of a good foundation. Those other songs might bring the roof down at a show, but songs like The Different Bit are what allow the building to remain standing after the dust settles.

It's songs like these that make me wonder about the events that inspired them. Assuming there were any at all, of course. In classic Skinner Brothers fashion, was this a case of a song that started with a melody and nonsensical lyrics being used as placeholders before eventually blossoming into the final product we hear today, or does The Different Bit have a more personal message hidden betwixt its verses? Yes, that is a word, take it up with Merriam-Webster.

Honestly, I could see it going either way with this one, and that’s what keeps the mystery alive. In a sense, it can mean whatever you want it to mean, even if what you want it to mean is nothing. That’s pretty deep… unless it isn’t. I don’t even know what is real anymore!

What I do know is that this song is very catchy, and it has an entire personality of its own apart from the rest of the catalog. As an individual track, The Different Bit even manages to stand apart on the very EP that shares its name. The soft, summery guitar is as gentle as a bird lighting on a branch, but still powerful enough to command your attention. Quite the contrast to the other songs on the EP, like the aforementioned Prawn Soup, or Death From Above that both carry a more raucous, punk rock vibe.

Comparatively, The Different Bit feels more like winding down after a night spent cheering and yelling at the barricade of a sold out show, and now it's finally time to use your inside voice for a while. Maybe that staggering difference is how it got its name? Something tells me probably not, but it had to have come from somewhere, and I do love to speculate.

The drums in this song keep the energy rolling from beginning to end, and next thing you know you’ve replayed it 5 or 6 times without even realizing it… No seriously, I’ve been watching the views go up since I started writing this. I can't be the only person here who starts a song, goes on a little mental vacation while tapping along to the beat and then has to start it all over again because I wasn’t appreciating it fully the first time around. (That’s another reason why I hate Spotify, for the record. They won’t let me do that. I swear it is discrimination against space cadets everywhere!)

I'm not entirely sure why I would need to restart The Different Bit at all, though—I know that song like the back of my hand… Except for the lyrics, that is. Sure, some parts are obvious, but I’m fairly certain he’s not actually saying “Are you smoking spice”, is he?

I Googled it, and apparently Spice (aka: synthetic marijuana) is a thing in the UK, so it's entirely possible that that is what is being said here. But if so, that paints a completely different picture of the song for anyone who is familiar with the potential side effects of Spice. I mean, it's basically one step removed from Bath Salts. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you can't trust your local Street Pharmacist, who can you trust?

Smoke packs so I croak my lines

Again, I have no idea if that's actually what's being said here. But all I can think about is Marge's sisters in the Simpsons, Patty and Selma, with their exaggerated smoker's voices. If you've ever been in the presence of a life-long smoker, you'll know that 'croaking' is a fitting description of the way they sound– they're the human equivalent of a car with a hole in its muffler.

And I don't think that's too much of a stretch considering the song goes on to say, “So much smoke it's hazy,” though at that point I feel like it's no longer cigarette smoke that's being referenced. Between the Spice and the weed smoke, it's no wonder the lyrics start to drift a little sideways, and next thing you know there's talk about “Bringing 'em down like Frankenstein.” But everyone knows that Frankenstein was a lover, not a fighter.

Anyway, before we get too into the weeds here, the important takeaway is that The Different Bit is a fun, playful track that you need to listen to immediately if you haven't already heard it. Hell, go check it out even if you HAVE heard it, and let's see if we can get those numbers up to a respectable level! I think I've clicked on videos more than 600 times accidentally, so this should be easy.

Warning: the following excerpt is definitely NOT the correct lyrics, but Grok tried it's best, poor little guy. I'm only including it here because the part where Zac very clearly says “Yeah I know I fuck up sometimes...” was somehow completely missed, and instead they threw a random “cunt” in there for absolutely no reason. It's like the AI recognized the British accent somehow and said “I may not know what the correct words are, but I know that this one must be in there somewhere.” Is that racist? Sorry, guys. I offer three “tsks” to a naughty, naughty Grok.

Shout on, it's a play
Tell a lot of them
Up, share me, show the ear off naturally
Baby, all the fellas singing definitely
Maybe I know a [cunt?]
Sometimes I smoke a pack so I quote my line

☘️🖤