Music
‘Trying to Sleep’: Wolfie’s Just Fine Pays Tribute to ‘Tremors’ With New Song from the Graboid’s Perspective
Jon Lajoie (aka Wolfie’s Just Fine) first came onto my radar back in 2016 with the release of the video A New Beginning, a surprisingly touching tribute to Friday the 13th: A New Beginning that perfectly taps into that feeling of discovering horror movies as a kid. The excitement, the terror, the lack of sleep after seeing a scary movie for the first time. Ah, such sweet memories.
In any event, Wolfie’s Just Fine is back with a brand new – and once again, surprisingly touching – tribute to horror, this time paying homage to 90s monster movie Tremors.
Taking a unique approach to the Kevin Bacon-starring classic, Wolfie’s Just Fine recounts the events of the film from the Graboid’s perspective with his new song/video, “Trying to Sleep.”
Lajoie explains, “This is my love letter to the 1990 B-Horror movie Tremors, which, for many reasons, had a big impact on me as a 10 year old (and subsequently, for the rest of my life). A little backstory. The songs I write as Wolfie’s Just Fine often take place in the worlds of pop culture from my youth. Without saying too much about it, the Wolfie’s Just Fine EP “Perfection, Nevada” thematically lives in the world of the movie Tremors, and the song “Trying to Sleep” is written from the point of view of one of the Graboids. I’ve always wanted to shoot a music video for this song, but in the end, the visuals I saw were so intertwined with the movie that it kind of felt like sacrilege to attempt to superimpose other images onto it. And since I’m social distancing, and have A LOT of time on my hands, I made this.”
“Breaking it down shot by shot was an absolute joy, and made me love and appreciate the movie even more than I already did,” he continues. “I’m forever grateful that the director, Ron Underwood, screenwriters Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson, and the entire cast and crew came together 30 years ago to make a strange and unique piece of timeless pop culture, that, not only entertained me, but provided a world for me to explore and get lost in 30 years later.”
With lyrics that include “I don’t know how I got underneath the sand” and “I tried to sleep for you,” the song just may have you looking at the Graboids in a whole new light. Lajoie sure does have a way of bringing beauty and fresh perspective to horror movies we’ve all seen countless times, and “Trying to Sleep” hits on something we can probably all relate to: sympathy for the monster. No matter how destructive they are, it’s always a bit sad when they go, isn’t it?
Take a few minutes out of your day and give “Trying to Sleep” a listen below.
It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.
Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.
Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.
“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.
“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”
You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…
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