What Ever Happened

The song 'What Ever Happened' by The Strokes, a band known for their role in the early 2000s garage rock revival, delves into themes of desire for obscurity, the complexity of relationships, and a critique of contemporary culture. The opening lines, 'I wanna be forgotten / And I don't wanna be reminded,' suggest a yearning to escape from the pressures of remembrance and possibly fame. This desire for anonymity can be seen as a reflection of the band's own experiences in the public eye and the burdens that come with it.

The repeated plea, 'Please, don't make this harder,' indicates a struggle within a relationship, where one party is seeking distance while the other seeks closeness. The song captures the tension between wanting to be close to someone who desires admiration and the personal need to withdraw. This push and pull could be a metaphor for the band's relationship with their audience or personal relationships that are strained by the demands of a public life.

Cultural commentary is woven into the lyrics with lines like 'Top ten ideas for countdown shows / Whose culture is this and does anybody know?' Here, The Strokes question the originality and ownership of modern culture, suggesting a sense of disillusionment with the entertainment industry's repetitive and unoriginal output. The song's title itself, 'What Ever Happened,' can be interpreted as a nostalgic look back, wondering where things went wrong or changed in both personal and cultural contexts. The Strokes, through this track, express a complex mix of emotions that resonate with the disaffection of their generation.