The Story and Meaning Behind “Under the Milky Way” by The Church, a Hit Even Its Creator Doubted Would Amount to Much

If you were listening to pop or rock radio circa 1988, chances are you heard a lot of stuff that kind of hit you over the head with obvious lyrics and obnoxious production. And in the middle of it all, up would pop “Under the Milky Way” by The Church, a cool, mysterious breath of fresh air.

The song is as enchanting now as it was then, a timeless combination of elusive but intriguing songwriting and counterintuitively brilliant production choices. Here’s how “Under the Milky Way: happened for The Church, who went from Australian rock stalwarts to alternative music success story in one fell swoop.

An Unloved Song Breaks Through

Just about every aspect of the tale of “Under the Milky Way” is rife with irony. Start with the fact that the 1988 Church album Starfish was indeed intended to be an American breakthrough of sorts for the group, whose success with their four previous albums was mostly contained to their native Australia and perhaps the most ambitious college radio enthusiasts. But this record was made in Los Angeles and featured production from well-known American knob-twiddlers Greg Ladanyi and Waddy Wachtel.

But nobody thought that “Under the Milky Way” would be the song to give them that US push, least of all Steve Kilbey. Kilbey, the band’s bassist and main vocalist and lyricist, wrote the song with his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson. He came up with chords on piano, and then the two set about writing lyrics to it, before he eventually transposed it all to acoustic guitar.

But he thought it was an odd song, somewhat elusive and not something that would grab people. On top of that, he and the rest of the band had decided beforehand that they’d be composing the material on Starfish as a group effort. As a result, some of the other members looked askance at this song that they had no part in writing. In continuing with the irony of it all, drummer Richard Ploog was the long group member encouraging Kilbey about the song. But Ploog wouldn’t even play on the track, replaced instead by American studio legend Russ Kunkel.

Because Kilbey was still somewhat ambivalent about the track, he took a laissez-faire approach to its arrangement. On his original demo, he left an open space with just a drum beat in between the verses. With a synclavier synth at his disposal, Kilbey was given a range of options for what he wanted as an instrumental solo. He chose African bagpipes played backwards as the most random thing he could imagine.

It was only when the album was played for record executives at Arista, the American distributor for The Church, that the tide began to turn for “Under the Milky Way.” That’s when the legendary Clive Davis dubbed the song a hit the moment he heard it. And he was right: Chosen as the first single, the song went to the US Top 25.

Asked for an explanation as to why so many relate to the song, Kilbey told this interviewer the following for the book Playing Back the ’80s: A Decade of Unstoppable Hits:

“It’s universal. It’s ambiguous. It’s so ambiguous, it’s almost meaningless. People find meaning in it because it’s a portal, like all my songs. It’s a portal for you to enter into the song and do whatever you like with it. Imagine whatever you like.”

What is the Meaning of “Under the Milky Way”?

I think about the loveless fascination/Under the Milky Way tonight, sings Kilbey. Loveless fascination is just one of those phrases in the song that suggests so much, even if you can’t quite put a finger on its exact meaning. It certainly seems to suggest a melancholy reckoning, something that’s accentuated by the moody acoustic guitars that permeate the song.

Kilbey seems to be hinting at the unseen, perhaps even primal, urges within us that cause us to do what we do, often in the absence of reason or rhyme: And it’s something quite peculiar/Something shimmering and white/It leads you here, despite your destination. The refrain frames the song as a relationship lament of sorts: Wish I knew what you were looking for/Might have known what you would find.

Then again, it’s possible that we all find something a little different when listening to “Under the Milky Way.” Considering that the song overcame all manner of obstacles and odds to get to its revered status as alternative anthem, we probably shouldn’t question its strange power, but simply just enjoy it.