According to Songfacts, Bonnette, who is also the lyricist of the band (with upright bass player Ben Gallant handling most of the production and some vocals as well) volunteered at a suicide prevention hotline for teenagers for eight years, and worked with homeless men and women in the Phoenix, Arizona area. These experiences gave him a sometimes bleak, but at moments, hopeful outlook on life, often reflected in the band's lyrics.
On Halloween 2005, Andrew Jackson Jihad covered Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea album in its entirety at CounterCulture Cafe.
Their biggest performance to date has been in their hometown with Flogging Molly and Authority Zero on St. Patrick's Day 2006.
On April 15, 2006, the band played as part of the 2006 New Times Music Showcase, nominated for Best Americana Band, and won a 2006 Best of Phoenix later that year.
Besides their local shows, where they have become arguably the most prominent representative in Arizona of the DIY ethic, they have also toured in clubs and basements across the Western United States, appearing at such venues as the Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, CA. One show in Kimberly, Idaho saw the band in a cowboy bar and leaving the premises as soon as possible after the show.
Andrew Jackson Jihad also performed at St. Augustine, Florida's second annual Harvest of Hope Festival in 2010. They played a dual set with Bomb the Music Industry!
In 2016, the band officially changed their name from "Andrew Jackson Jihad" to AJJ (a moniker that many of their fanbase had been using to refer to them for several years). In a statement on the band's website, Bonnette wrote "1.) We are not Muslims, and as such, it is disrespectful and irresponsible for us to use the word jihad in our band’s name. 2.) We no longer wish to be a living reminder of president Andrew Jackson. Interesting historical figure as he was, he was an odious person and our fascination with him has grown stale."
Back Pack
ajj Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
By the time that I had found you
Your blood was spilled
On the couch where we had
First kissed
So I carried you West
To the sea
So I could wash you
And I don't know
What they did to your face
And I don't like it
You lived large
Til the day they finally caught you
They cut out your tongue
So you would not scream
When you came to
And you pissed blood
And then they chained you up
When you turned blue
Your body felt just like a T-shirt
And I wanna build a tower
To all the nicer things you could've been
But I don't like it
You were dead
By the time that I had found you
The song "Back Pack" by AJJ is a vividly somber and dark narrative of a person finding their partner with her blood spilled on the couch where they first kissed. The person carries her to the sea to wash her blood away, expressing the feeling of her body feeling like a backpack. The singer then mourns the brutal death of his partner, explaining that he was too late to save her. This tragic loss compels him to wish for a better world that she could have lived in, but in the end, he is left with his grief and a sense of helplessness.
The lyrics and narrative structure of the song are incredibly poetic and imaginative, with the singer painting images of death and mourning. It touches upon themes of love, loss, and the terrible actions that humans can commit. The song is an ode to disturbing and unsettling realities, and it highlights the dark side of human existence.
Line by Line Meaning
You were dead
When I found you, you were already deceased.
By the time that I had found you
Only after some time had passed did I come across you.
Your blood was spilled
Your blood had been shed.
On the couch where we had First kissed
The couch where we had our first kiss was stained with your blood.
So I carried you West To the sea So I could wash you
I took you to the sea in the west so I could clean you.
Your body felt just like a backpack
When I carried you, your body felt weightless.
And I don't know What they did to your face And I don't like it
I am not aware of what was done to your face, and I am disturbed by it.
You lived large Til the day they finally caught you
You lived a free and bold life until the day they finally caught you.
They cut out your tongue
They excised your tongue.
So you would not scream When you came to
So that you won't scream when you come to consciousness.
And you pissed blood And then they chained you up When you turned blue
You urinated blood, and they shackled you when you turned blue.
Your body felt just like a T-shirt
Your body felt lifeless and limp when I touched it.
And I wanna build a tower To all the nicer things you could've been
I have a desire to create a monument for all the wonderful things you were capable of being.
But I don't like it
However, the present circumstance unrelated to your potential, makes me uncomfortable.
Writer(s): BONNETTE SEAN-CLAUDE VINCENT
Contributed by Andrew N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@turnsout689
To me this song is about falling in love with someone who has been severely mistreated in their past, and how the trauma of that affected this later relationship.
The phrase "you were dead by the time that i had found you", used twice to bookend this song, to me first means that this partner was already irreparably harmed by their trauma by the time they met the author, and in the second instance, its a literal phrase where the author couldnt get to this person before they died.
"I carried you west to the sea where i could wash you" to me implies wanting to care for them. "Going west" in the american canon implies seeking wealth in reference to the california gold rush, and to wash someone is an act of love and care. The author wanted to fix the harm that the person they love had inflicted on them, and to elevate them to something better. They want to fix them.
"You went large until the day they finally found you. They cut out your tongue so you could not scream when you came to", the abused person was vulnerable their whole life, as if they were a fugitive that would inevitibly be caught, using a cold irony in how, in the case of the fugitive, they would deserve to be "caught", while in the case of the abused, the opposite is true. They didnt deserve any of it. This expresses the spite and hatred that the author has for those who abused the person they love. The abuser then figuratively cut out the persons tongue so they could not scream when they came to, meaning that the abused person kept quiet about what happened to them in a way that abuse victims often do. "When you came to" also to me implies that the abuse victim may have not realised the extent of their abuse until later on, perhaps implying child abuse.
"You pissed blood, and then they chained you up when you turned blue", in my interpretation, is about how the abused person suffered terrible trauma, and was further mistreated for how they reacted to this trauma, as if being punished for it, deepening their trauma. The image of pissing blood may, if taking the previous lines as implying child abuse, imply something more literal. Again, this could imply something that is also common in victims of abuse in how they are further blamed and mistreated for their trauma.
The lines "your body felt just like a backpack/t shirt" to me mean an image of how the author, in this idea of trying to "carry" their loved one to a better life, felt them withering away over time.
The song ends on the more literal statement of the abused person being dead, in a remorseful realisation of inevitability when compared to the more figurative expression of the line at the start, leading me to assume that they died by their own hand.
So to me, this song is about falling in love with someone who has been harmed so deeply in their past that the author is helpless in preventing a tragic end for them. Which is heartbreaking.
@house_of_tears
You were dead
By the time that I had found you
Your blood was spilled
On the couch where we had first kissed
So I carried you west
To the sea so I could wash you
Your body felt just like a backpack
And I don't know
What they did to your face
And I don't like it
You lived large
'Till the day they finally caught you
They cut out your tongue
So you would not scream
When you came to
And you pissed blood
And then they chained you up
When you turned blue
Your body felt just like a t-shirt
And I wanna build a tower
To all the nicer things
You could've been
But I don't like it
You were dead
By the time that I had found you
<3
@seacrystal6189
This is genuinely one of the most beautiful works of art I've ever heard
@TEKASHI-de1qt
It's a song
@magpie8249
this gives off post-apocalyptic sunset vibes and i love it
@LateNightRewrites
💯
@TEKASHI-de1qt
What are you actually talking about
@picklefortheknowingones
this song ripped out my heart and threw it on the ground and stomped it into mush
@SholRon101
this song has always made me sad. but today it makes me special sad
@turnsout689
To me this song is about falling in love with someone who has been severely mistreated in their past, and how the trauma of that affected this later relationship.
The phrase "you were dead by the time that i had found you", used twice to bookend this song, to me first means that this partner was already irreparably harmed by their trauma by the time they met the author, and in the second instance, its a literal phrase where the author couldnt get to this person before they died.
"I carried you west to the sea where i could wash you" to me implies wanting to care for them. "Going west" in the american canon implies seeking wealth in reference to the california gold rush, and to wash someone is an act of love and care. The author wanted to fix the harm that the person they love had inflicted on them, and to elevate them to something better. They want to fix them.
"You went large until the day they finally found you. They cut out your tongue so you could not scream when you came to", the abused person was vulnerable their whole life, as if they were a fugitive that would inevitibly be caught, using a cold irony in how, in the case of the fugitive, they would deserve to be "caught", while in the case of the abused, the opposite is true. They didnt deserve any of it. This expresses the spite and hatred that the author has for those who abused the person they love. The abuser then figuratively cut out the persons tongue so they could not scream when they came to, meaning that the abused person kept quiet about what happened to them in a way that abuse victims often do. "When you came to" also to me implies that the abuse victim may have not realised the extent of their abuse until later on, perhaps implying child abuse.
"You pissed blood, and then they chained you up when you turned blue", in my interpretation, is about how the abused person suffered terrible trauma, and was further mistreated for how they reacted to this trauma, as if being punished for it, deepening their trauma. The image of pissing blood may, if taking the previous lines as implying child abuse, imply something more literal. Again, this could imply something that is also common in victims of abuse in how they are further blamed and mistreated for their trauma.
The lines "your body felt just like a backpack/t shirt" to me mean an image of how the author, in this idea of trying to "carry" their loved one to a better life, felt them withering away over time.
The song ends on the more literal statement of the abused person being dead, in a remorseful realisation of inevitability when compared to the more figurative expression of the line at the start, leading me to assume that they died by their own hand.
So to me, this song is about falling in love with someone who has been harmed so deeply in their past that the author is helpless in preventing a tragic end for them. Which is heartbreaking.
@sessyllama7548
how have i gone so long without knowing about this band holy fuck
@house_of_tears
You were dead
By the time that I had found you
Your blood was spilled
On the couch where we had first kissed
So I carried you west
To the sea so I could wash you
Your body felt just like a backpack
And I don't know
What they did to your face
And I don't like it
You lived large
'Till the day they finally caught you
They cut out your tongue
So you would not scream
When you came to
And you pissed blood
And then they chained you up
When you turned blue
Your body felt just like a t-shirt
And I wanna build a tower
To all the nicer things
You could've been
But I don't like it
You were dead
By the time that I had found you
<3