Rock band Skillet recently released a new video for their song “Unpopular.” Performing in an empty stadium kind of makes sense, emphasizing the idea of not being popular. No one’s there to watch them shred, rock, tear it all down. The video was filmed The Celebration, a stadium for walking horses in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Say what you will about the complexity of the lyrics, but the band is surely presenting a perspective many outsiders can relate to; The counterculture, outcast aspect of the song will resonate with a lot of listeners. Since Skillet has been historically known as a band under the Christian music umbrella, a friend of mine to whom I sent the video brought up another iconic song from the late 1990s– DC Talk’s “Jesus Freak.” That’s another song about being on the outside of what culture says is popular but not only existing there, embracing it and holding it up as a banner. That idea also reminds me of Needtobreathe’s “Outsiders.” It’s the sentiment of thriving where you are without getting caught up in society’s game of chase.
Of course, this idea of blooming where you’re planted (as the saying goes) and loving yourself in spite of what society says about it is a main– if the not the central– theme of the movie The Greatest Showman. The song “This Is Me” is the fight song of outcasts everywhere. Sorry if this song reminds you of the new drug commercial Wegovy. 🤪
After I heard “Unpopular” I wondered which personality type was behind the lyrics so I went to that friend of mine (the one who brought up DC Talk). I wanted his opinion because he’s the newest hip insider on all things Enneagram. You know, the personality test? Nick Shell is the author of the book The Guy’s Guide to the Enneagram (click link to order on Amazon) and in our conversation we talked a lot about music, personalities, and Taylor Swift, of course. But Swifty-status aside, he said the lyrics of “Unpopular” most likely identify with the Enneagram 6. I’m in the middle of reading Nick’s book and I would’ve guessed the song was more fitting for a 4 or 8. But as we chatted, it became more clear that it might be that the song was written for as broad of an audience as possible, Nick saying also that “being counter-culture shows up in many numbers: 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.”
The song lyrics embrace its unpopularity and even question why being popular is something to strive for? What is the cost of reaching that status, anyway?
Take a moment to listen to the song and watch the video. At the very least, maybe it’ll spark images of horses (remember it was filmed in a horse stadium 🙂 ) which are the coolest animals.
-Out of the Wilderness
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Out of the Wilderness 