During a recent interview with TikTok music influencer Jesea Lee, vocalist/guitarist Jaret Reddick shares an intriguing insight into why his band Bowling For Soup initially had reservations about their hit song “1985.” Reddick explains that SR-71 initially released the song in Japan, and after the band’s breakup, there seemed to be no reason for it to make its way to the US. However, fate had a different plan. Reddick recounts how their manager heard “1985” and found its sound more in line with Bowling For Soup‘s style than SR-71‘s.
“So essentially SR-71 had released [‘1985’] in Japan, and then they broke up,” Reddick explains. “There was no digital, there was no reason that it would ever come out here. We had just finished making A Hangover You Don’t Deserve. The first single was going to be ‘Almost,’ and we were done. At the same time, Mitch [Allan] from SR-71 was shopping for managers. He was shopping for labels, just trying to figure out what his next move was. Our manager heard [‘1985’ and] goes, ‘Man, that doesn’t sound like an SR-71 song that sounds like a Bowling For Soup song.’ And so I heard it, and I was just like, “Man, I don’t know. It’s pretty abrasive.’”
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He continues, “There’s the line, ‘Never knew George was gay.’ Cause SR-71 was really in your face. So anyway, we gave it another listen that night. So I was just like, ‘Listen, I just want to be able to change the lyrics and make it more what I would do.’ Just more subtle, you know, like I say, ‘Get a hand on a member of Duran Duran.’ And I mean obviously their penis but it doesn’t come across as blatant. That’s a little hidden gem, but lyrically I made some changes that the bridge is different, and the intro is different with it. We consider it a collaboration and a co-write because my version is different from theirs.”
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The lyrics that Reddick is referring to differ across each respective version. SR-71’s version of “1985” includes the lyrics, “Not a big Limp Bizkit fan/Never knew George was gay/Hoped they’d hook up one day/Where’s her fairy tale, where’s her dream?/Where’s the quarterback from her high school football team?/Where’s her fairy tale/Where’s her dream?/How many times will she ask herself what happened to me?/Ask herself what happened (the rubber broke).”
Whereas Bowling For Soup took a more comedic and much more tamed approach, which reads, “Not a big Limp Bizkit fan/Thought she’d get a hand on a member of Duran Duran/Where’s the mini-skirt made of snakeskin?/And who’s the other guy that’s singin’ in Van Halen?/When did reality become TV?/What ever happened to sitcoms, game shows? (On the radio was).”
Addressing any potential misconceptions, Reddick expresses his lack of concern about people viewing “1985” as a cover and the potential backlash. “This doesn’t bug me in any way, it’s just weird,” he shares. “People sort of hold it against the song. Like, ‘Oh, but that’s an SR-71.’ I never hid behind that. Mitch is in the video. Mitch walks across the [sidewalk] and looks at us in ‘1985.’ It was never a secret. So when people discover it, they’re just like, ‘Oh their biggest hit’s a cover.’ Again, it doesn’t bug me. I don’t really know why people want to use that to try and bring us down because it’s not an issue.”
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