Riptide
Producers
I was scared of dentists and the dark
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations
Oh, all my friends are turnin' green
You're the magician's assistant in their dream
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh-ooh, oh-oh
And they come unstuck
[Chorus]
Lady, runnin' down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singin' that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong
[Verse 2]
There's this movie that I think you'll like
This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City
This cowboy's runnin' from himself
And she's been livin' on the highest shelf
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh-ooh, oh-oh
And they come unstuck
Lady, runnin' down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singin' that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong
[Bridge]
I just wanna, I just wanna know
If you're gonna, if you're gonna stay
I just gotta, I just gotta know
I can't have it, I can't have it any other way
I swear she's destined for the screen
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen, oh
[Pre-Chorus]
Lady, runnin' down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you, when you're singin' that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong
[Chorus]
Oh lady, runnin' down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singin' that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong
Oh lady, runnin' down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singin' that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong, yeah
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong
About
The intro and first single to Vance Joy’s debut EP God Loves You When You’re Dancing was a critical and commercial success. Critics praised its clever lyrics filled with pop culture references. It peaked at 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
It is a weird mish-mash of ideas. Sometimes, you know, I will try to write and stick a bunch of different ideas and images together and it won’t work and I’ll think, “oh, that doesn’t sound right” or “it sounds too weird and it all conflicts with each other,” but for some reason that all came together well for “Riptide,” and when things happen like that it is a bit beyond your control. I had a bunch of different ideas and words, it wasn’t even a general story line like I was referring to an experience or anything. It is more like a stream of consciousness. – Vance Joy
According to an interview with American Songwriter, the song remained untouched and unfinished for four years from when Vance started writing it in 2008 until 2012. During long afternoons while his roommate was at work, he would work on it bit by bit. One day after a brief trip to the store, he returned home and played the melody on the ukulele, which he built on to finish the song a few days later.
On June 11, 2020, the RIAA certified ‘Riptide’ as 6x platinum, Vance Joy’s highest certification to date.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Vance Joy via TheMusic.com.au:
This song started in 2008 with a couple of lines that I didn’t think much of, the first two lines of the verse – the one about dentists in the dark – and then in 2012 I wrote a melody on the ukulele which ended up being the chorus melody. It’s a real patchwork, this song, of images and ideas. I met a magician’s assistant around the time I was writing the song and so she kind of found her way into the song. Michelle Pfeiffer, I don’t know where that came from – I was kind of envisaging a character that had ambitions of stardom or something like that. That’s the kind of character Michelle Pfeiffer was in The Fabulous Baker Boys and that’s what came to mind, so I used that reference to set it up. Once it all came together, it somehow made sense given it’s such an eclectic mix of bits.
- 2.Mess Is Mine
- 3.Wasted Time
- 4.Riptide
- 5.Who Am I
- 6.From Afar
- 8.Georgia
- 9.Red Eye
- 10.First Time
- 12.Best That I Can
- 13.My Kind of Man