The origins of the song trace back to a show that they were performing at in London, England. The day before the show, when AJR was in Dublin, Ireland, Ryan asked Jack if their manager Steve was coming to their London show. Jack answered in the exact melody that is heard in the final song. They improvised a chorus melody, which was then shelved. However, the melody was written into a demo called Somebody Pinch Me, where as Ryan said, they "lost the magic" of Steve's going to london.
This idea was later revisited when the album needed one more track, specifically, a song about nothing, as they believed that heavy themes in the other tracks might give people fatigue over the album. Right before they wrote the bridge, they realized that writing a song about nothing was a bad idea, so they made the bridge about writing a song in general.
Promotion[]
On 20 October 2023, AJR tweeted the chorus sheet music with lyrics for the track. On 30 October 2023, AJR released a studio snippet of the chorus of the song, including an upbeat guitar, some background vocals and an orchestral element at the end of the snippet.
Lyrics[]
[Intro]
Steve's going to London
Shaun's stuck in a suit
Tom sleeps on his best friend's lawn
Like every other afternoon (Every other afternoon)
Steve's going to London
Dan peed in the pool
Tom fell for his best friend's mom
But what the hell you gonna do?
[Verse 1]
Hey-hey, look around, look around
Wouldn't it be nice for someone to miss ya?
Hey-hey, funny how all the things
That you used to like, now they depress ya
[Pre-Chorus]
Well, you try to find some meaning in your life
Before you're gone
There's a song that don't mean anything at all
And it sounds like
[Chorus]
Steve's Going To London,
Shawn's stuck in a suit,
Tom sleeps on his best friend's lawn,
Like every other afternoon,
Steve's Going To London,
Dan peed in the pool,
Tom fell for his best friend's mom,
But, what the hell you gonna,
What the hell you gonna do?
[Verse 2]
Hey-hey, look around, look around
Wouldn't it be nice to see me on TV?
I'd dress to the nines with a smile
And you'd probably think that that was the real me
[Pre-Chorus]
Well you try to find some meaning in your life
Before you die
Here's a bunch of random shit to waste your time
And it sounds like
[Chorus]
Steve's going to London
Shaun's stuck in a suit
Tom sleeps on his best friend's lawn
Like every other afternoon
Steve's going to London
Dan peed in the pool
Tom fell for his best friend's mom
But what the hell you gonna
What the hell you gonna do?
[Post-Chorus]
What the hell you gonna do?
You, you make this rather snappy, won't you?
[Verse 3]
I try hard to write a cool song
So I start with something simple
Like trying to put my shoes on
Now something kinda clicked
'Cause you relate a bit
But no one's gonna care about a shoe song
I try hard to write a cool song
But I gotta make it matter
So maybe I'll throw the news on
Could I relate the shoes to 2022
Or maybe an election down in Tuson?
I try throwing something cool on
So I'm listening to Kendrick
And playing the swimming pool song
But why did I do that?
'Cause now I hate my track
I'm quite aware I'll never write a cool song
But who really needs a cool song?
There's so many better melodies
Why do you need a new one?
So stop writing a song about writing a song
You're losing their attention, buddy, move on
[Chorus]
Steve's going to London (What the hell?)
Shaun's stuck in a suit
Tom sleeps on his best friend's lawn
Like every other afternoon (Every other afternoon)
Steve's going to London (Ah-ah)
Dan peed in the pool (Ah-ah)
Tom fell for his best friend's mom
But what the hell you gonna
What the hell you gonna do?
[Post-Chorus]
What the hell you gonna do?
What the hell you gonna do?
[Outro]
Steve's going to London (Oh-oh-oh-oh)
Steve's going to London (Oh-oh-oh-oh)
Steve's going to London
Steve's going to London (Let's go, let's go)
Steve's going to London
Steve's going to London (I know, I know, I know)
Steve's going to London
Steve's going to London
Steve's going to London
Steve's going to London
Steve's going to London
