The Timeless Meaning Behind “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger

There is a lot to dig through on the surface of Harvey Danger’s 1998 hit, “Flagpole Sitta” before one even gets to its lyrics. Why did the band call the song “Flagpole Sitta” when the phrase doesn’t appear in the song? Why did they spell it “sitta”? And what’s a Harvey Danger? 

Members of Harvey Danger have addressed these questions in interviews, and they have also dissected their own lyrics. Harvey Danger isn’t a real thing—it was a phrase graffitied on the office walls at the University of Washington student newspaper where band members Aaron Huffman and Jeff Lin worked. But flagpole sitters were a real phenomenon in the 1920s. The band spelled it “sitta” as a nod to Pavement (“Fame Throwa”) and N.W.A. (Straight Outta Compton). “Flagpole Sitta” makes a parallel between a trend from an earlier era and the trends that defined the ‘90s music scene in Seattle.

“Flagpole Sitta” references several ‘90s trends, but the song isn’t really about them. Its central theme is the psychic dissonance that Harvey Danger had about enjoying being part of the Seattle scene while simultaneously finding it problematic. It’s also about the uneasy feeling that the band’s members had due to this contradiction.

“I’m Not Sick, But I’m Not Well”

The refrain of “Flagpole Sitta” may be the song’s most recognizable lyric, but it was also among the last words to be written for the tune. Lead singer Sean Nelson told Stereogum that the song had been recorded without any lyrics for the chorus, except for the “bah bah bah” part that was ultimately relegated to a backing vocal. He felt the chorus should have actual words for lyrics, so he borrowed “I’m not sick, but I’m not well” from another song he had written.

While the theme of “Flagpole Sitta” is present in the verse lyrics, the chorus crystallizes the song’s meaning.

I’m not sick, but I’m not well

And I’m so hot, ‘cause I’m in hell

I’m not sick, but I’m not well

And it’s a sin to live this well

“I’m not sick, but I’m not well” captures the liminal experience of willingly—at times even happily—being part of a scene that you want to reject. So do the chorus’ other lines. “Hot” takes on the double meaning of being both trendy and tragic (“in hell”). Nelson recognizes the benefits of being part of a cool scene, but its commodification makes it a “sin.”

Self-Loathing, Isolation, and Paranoia

Each of the song’s three verses deals with a different feeling that the members of Harvey Danger encountered as a result of their psychic dissonance. In the first verse, Nelson sings of the self-loathing he feels when he takes a close look at who he had become.

I had visions, I was in them

I was looking into the mirror

To see a little bit clearer

The rottenness and evil in me

In the second verse, Nelson begins by outlining how he is at odds with mainstream culture. Then in dramatic fashion, he expresses how he feels misunderstood and viewed as insane.

Been around the world and found

That only stupid people are breeding

The cretins cloning and feeding

And I don’t even own a TV

Put me in the hospital for nerves

And then they had to commit me

You told them all I was crazy

They cut off my legs

Now I’m an amputee, god damn you

However, by the third verse, Nelson is not sure of his own mental soundness. He starts it off with Paranoia, paranoia / Everybody’s comin’ to get me, though it’s not immediately clear why he is feeling targeted. A few lines later, Nelson explains that it’s the never-ending argument that is his internal dialogue that is making him feel embattled.

Hear the voices in my head

I swear to God it sounds like they’re snoring

But if you’re bored then you’re boring

The agony and the irony

They’re killing me, whoa!

Some Listeners Missed the Point

While the bulk of “Flagpole Sitta” deals with the emotional fallout of being part of a trendy scene, it briefly engages with the particulars of that scene in the bridge. Some fans focused on the first four lines of this section and heard it as a celebration of trendiness, rather than a condemnation.

I wanna publish ‘zines

And rage against machines

I wanna pierce my tongue

It doesn’t hurt, it feels fine

In an interview with AV Club, Nelson recounted that “literally hundreds of kids came up to me and said, ‘I got my tongue pierced because of that song.’ And they would show me and I sort of thought, ‘Well, that was not my intention.’”

The Impact of “Flagpole Sitta”

While not everybody “got” the meaning of “Flagpole Sitta,” enough people listened to the song to make it a bona fide hit. The song went to No. 3 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart, and it crossed over to the Radio Songs chart, peaking at No. 38. “Flagpole Sitta” has maintained its popularity into the digital era, gaining more than 113 million streams on Spotify. As its lead single, “Flagpole Sitta” helped make Harvey Danger’s debut album Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone? the band’s only entry on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at No. 70.

The song was used as the theme to a British sitcom called Peep Show. It has been featured in Superstore and Dawson’s Creek, as well as in other U.S. TV shows. “Flagpole Sitta” has also been used in several movies, including American Pie and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. 

“Flagpole Sitta” was Included in Weird Al Yankovic’s “Polka Power!” medley from his 1999 album Running with Scissors. It has been covered by several other artists, with the 2013 version by Venice Sunlight being among the most popular.

Harvey Danger’s best-known song is very much a reflection of its time. The fact that it is still present in the culture attests to how timeless its central themes are. Somewhere right now, there’s a band that’s hot, but its members are in hell.

(Image via YouTube/No Sleep Records)