‘Evil’ by Interpol was introduced to me by my roommate Zander today–Sandy, why can’t we just look the other way? I thought, what better way to start my blog than to take a song from my cool ass roommate and dedicate the entire post to him. 

Released in 2005, the song starts off with the low strumming of a bass guitar, hooking my early 2000s song-lover self. With lyrics referencing a Rosemary in the beginning–Rosemary, Heaven restores you in life–it’s unclear whether this song locks-in with a specific story or if this was more of a stream of thought from Interpol. Rosemary can be seen as a person, but also an herb–which can change or shift the perspective of the song. Does Rosemary have a backstory with the speaker? Maybe, as the speaker seems to be fond of the idea of Rosemary, claiming that he essentially loves Rosemary–You’re coming with me, through the aging, the fearing, the strife. The speaker seems to want to carry Rosemary with him throughout life. The singer goes on to talk about how, rest-assured, the pleasure of Rosemary is set upon release to her friends, and the chorus takes over. This chorus, after reading through the first verse of lyrics, seems melancholy. Almost like Rosemary is Sandy, and maybe Sandy is his long-time lover whom he struggles to get back. After some research, it appears the true meaning of the song was never released; stated in this Reddit post, there was speculation of it having some connection to serial killers Rosemary and Fred West or possibly JFK’s sister Rosemary–but no leading direct link has been made as of March 2025, 15 years after its release.

 I found this song one I could sway to, and bop my head–the vocals barely peeking over the chorus made for a bit of  an interesting listen. After the analysis of some of the lyrics, I would love to hear others perspectives’ of this song. Do you think it’s more of a stream of thought? Does this song mean anything more unique to you? 

Thanks to Zander for the song recommendation, and thanks for reading! Song you’d like to see on my blog? Comment below!