BEESWAX

Album: Maybe in Another Life... (2022)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • To mind your own beeswax is a slang version of the retort "mind your own business." This angsty song finds Easy Life frontman Murray Matravers warning people about being too nosy in a post-lockdown universe. "It's definitely got an attitude to it," he told Apple Music. "Everybody's so excited about being out in the world and being able to socialize and see their friends and go back to work that it's very easy to overshare without even realizing it."
  • This marks Easy Life's first fresh material since the release of their debut album Life's a Beach. The menacing track is also the first time the band has used capital letters in a song title. "'BEESWAX' is definitely the rowdiest it gets; we haven't made a punk record, but the uppercase thing felt like it mimics the sound of the music," said Matravers. "It's like, 'Pay attention, Easy Life are coming!' rather than 'Hey guys, we've got a new song, it's all lowercase, it's all really chill.'"
  • Matravers wrote the song with Fraser T Smith. The English songwriter and producer has also worked with the likes of Adele ("Set Fire To The Rain"), Stormzy ("Blinded By Your Grace, Pt. 2"), and Dave ("Black" ). He also contributed to three Life's A Beach tracks.
  • Matravers and Smith also co-produced the track. "We were trying to get something quite spooky," said the Easy Life singer. "There's only two chords and they definitely put you on edge - kind of like 'Ghost Town' by The Specials."
  • There are several theories about the origins of the phrase "mind your own beeswax." Most widely held is it started as a retort in the 1700s when women would sit by the fireplace making wax candles together.
  • The only other example we could find of a song where the singer tells someone to mind their beeswax is They Might Be Giants' "Cloisonne." Their 2011 track is about someone who keeps going on about a monster called a sleestack from the TV program Land of the Lost. The singer hasn't a clue what they're on about and repeatedly tells them to mind their own business, before exclaiming:

    I'm sick of this beeswax
    I'm sick of these second-story sleestaks

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Prince

PrinceFact or Fiction

Prince is shrouded in mystery, making him an excellent candidate for Fact or Fiction. Is he really a Scientologist? Does he own an exotic animal?

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)

Graham Bonnet (Alcatrazz, Rainbow)Songwriter Interviews

Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai were two of Graham's co-writers for some '80s rock classics.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

Def Leppard Quiz

Def Leppard QuizMusic Quiz

Can you name Def Leppard's only #1 hit in America? Get rocked with this adrenalized quiz.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."