My Sunday Song – “Joker & The Thief” by Wolfmother

For My Sunday Song #473, we are going to discuss the song “Joker & The Thief” by the band Wolfmother. The song is from their debut album, ‘Wolfmother’, which was released on October 31, 2005. The sixth single was “Joker & The Thief” and it was released on October 28, 2006, almost a year after the release of the album and was one of the highest charting singles from the album. The singles was certified Gold in both Australia and the UK selling over 400,000 copies. Not too bad.

The song was written by Wolfmother, but a majority I am sure was by lead singer and guitarist, Andrew Stockdale. He state he was shopping in a store and heard AC/DC’s song “Thunderstruck” and got the idea to do a rock anthem. From there, he has admittedly stole the characters The Joker and The Thief from Bob Dylan’s song “All Along the Watchtower”. The Joker and The Thief are a representation of rebellion as well as duality. The song references the dark & the light, there is good & evil, sweet & sour…always one contradicting the other. The Joker is always looking for the good, the light, searching for life’s desires while the Thief is a sign for corruption and loss of innocence.

There was one article where someone said the that the Joker was a man searching for love while the Thief was the woman that would steal his heart. He was going through life searching for the sweet in all the sour. He wasn’t going to go home with any woman, but the one that had his heart. He would search all day, flying around and sees her in a field of clover. He wonders what would happen if he took her away. You can make any song mean whatever you want it to mean, I liked this interpretation simply because it was sweet in all the sour interpretations I had read.

Musically, the song is a beast. A killer guitar riff that chugs forward like a freight train accompanied by a powerful, heart-pounding drum beat. When the song hits, the riff is a little crunchy and has some bite. The chorus hits, you get a guitar sound that seems to get higher the same time Andrew does with his vocals. The bass is the force behind it all keeping the song moving. Andrew’s vocals are all styled by the 70’s with his high, whiny and yet gritty vocal styling that fits the 70’s guitar sound you also get. It is anthemic, high energy and quite powerful. The song definitely grabs you and sticks with you like glue. You can’t get it out of your head. And that is always a good thing. My favorite parts are all the guitar parts. So many different sounds and styles. Quite impressive.

Give the song a listen and let me know what you think. Wolfmother was a band that started out with one of the best debut albums of all time and quickly faded which is a shame. Although they released a bunch of albums, none matched the quality and impact of the debut. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful and Happy Sunday!!

“Joker & The Thief”

I said the joker is a wanted man
He makes his way all across the land
I see him sifting through the sand
So I’ll tell you all the story
About the joker and the thief in the night

He’s always laughing in the midst of power
Are we living in the final hour
There is always sweet and sour
So we are not going home

Can you see the joker flying over
As she’s standing in the field of clover
Watching out everyday
I wonder what would happen if he took her away

What you see well you might not know
You get the feelin’ comin’ after the glow
The vagabond is moving slow
So I’ll tell you all the story
About the joker and the thief in the night

All the people that you see in the night
Hold their dreams up to the light
The wilderbeast is searching for sight
And we are not going home

Can you see the joker flying over
As she’s standing in the field of clover
Watching out everyday
I wonder what would happen if he took her away

I said the joker is a wanted man
He makes his way all across the land
See him sifting through the sand
So I’ll tell you all the story ’bout the joker and the thief
I said, I’ll tell you all the story ’bout the joker and the thief
I said, I’ll tell you all the story ’bout the joker and the thief
In the night

Writer(s): Andrew James Stockdale, Christopher James Ross, Myles Heskett