The Runaway Success of a Deeply Personal Track
In early 2024, an unlikely song from the indie artist Djo (aka Joe Keery of Stranger Things fame) started gaining major traction online. Originally released in September 2022 on Djo’s sophomore album DECIDE, End of Beginning quickly became a viral phenomenon on TikTok. The melancholy synth-pop track’s poignant lyrics about reflecting on past selves and life transitions clearly struck a chord.
Chronicling a Major Life Shift
The inspiration behind End of Beginning is deeply rooted in Keery’s own journey. As he revealed in an interview, the song captures his experience of leaving his hometown of Chicago after college to pursue acting in Los Angeles following his breakout Stranger Things role in 2016.
“It’s about what it means to grow up and look back at a section of your life and kind of yearn for that, but then also to have a deep appreciation for what happened,” Keery explained.
Lyrical Excavation: Unpacking the Nostalgia
The lyrics vividly paint Keery’s wistful remembrance of his Chicago past while acknowledging the inevitability of moving forward.
“Just one more tear to cry, one teardrop from my eye
You better save it for
The middle of the night when things aren’t black and white”
Keery seems to advise holding onto the fleeting moments of melancholy over one’s former life before the complexities of adulthood make things less clear-cut.
The chorus then crystallises the central theme:
“And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it
Another version of me, I was in it
I wave goodbye to the end of beginning”
Keery’s poetic specificity in referencing Chicago and turning 24 years old paradoxically makes the song’s themes of emerging adulthood and embracing life changes feel universally resonant.
The Making of a Modern Anthem
Though originally released in September 2022 as part of Djo’s album DECIDE, it wasn’t until early 2024 that End of Beginning critically took off online, becoming an inescapable audio/video trend on TikTok.
This organic groundswell eventually led to an official visualizer, a stand-alone single release on March 1st, 2024, and chart dominance.
“I have literally no idea what’s going on,” Keery admitted with a smile about the song’s runaway success. “I’m probably more confused than ever, but it’s really, really cool to see something that you’ve written affect people and have them take it in as their own and into their own lives.“
In the streaming era’s increasingly insular cultural bubbles, the cross-demographic ubiquity of End of Beginning felt notably universal.
The melancholy yet uplifting track became a wistful summer anthem, a night-drive favourite, and the choose-your-own-vibe backdrop for an array of user-generated videos about relationships, personal growth, new beginnings, and formative memories.
Paring Down to Emotional Truth
Part of what made End of Beginning so adaptable was its conscious creative restraint and emotional directness.
While much of Djo’s output leans into lavish prog-rock tendencies (the artist cites his eclectic band Post Animal as a key influence), this track stripped things down to the core essence.
“I come from a band that’s really prog-y, and a lot of the music I like is like that too,” Keery told Zane Lowe. “I was questioning whether people would like this song, but now I have some distance from it, I realise that it encapsulates a specific feeling really well.“
With plainspoken intimacy, the song employs spacious synthesizer pads, spartan guitar riffs, and Keery’s plaintive vocals to crystallize the bittersweet transition of moving forward while still being shaped by one’s past.
It’s this undiluted emotional truth that made End of Beginning a natural generational mirror.
The Phenomenon Transcends
In the end, what transformed End of Beginning from a personal artistic statement into a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon was its ability to become a titular representation of life’s inescapable cycles of evolution and rebirth.
“You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man,” Keery repeats on the song’s bridge, acknowledging that one’s roots and formative experiences forever imprint our perspectives, no matter how much we thought we’d left them behind.
It’s a resonant emotional core that found End of Beginning providing the soundtrack for millions of life transitions big and small in 2024—new graduations, location changes, breakups, and any other growing pains that come with shedding one skin for the next.
The virality was ultimately a testament to Keery’s songwriting talent for transforming the hyper-specific into the relatable universal.
As he put it, “I love songs that are really specific. In the specificity, people can see themselves in the song. People substitute [my experience] for their own version in their own lives.“
With End of Beginning, Djo crafted a rare artistic anomaly—a deeply personal autobiography that became a generational spirit mirror—by honestly expressing the growing pains of moving forward while waving goodbye to your former self.
The song’s runaway popularity proved its poignant simplicity resonated far beyond any individual experience, becoming an evocative reflection for all those in the perpetual process of becoming.
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Djo Keery End of Beginning
Verse 1
Just one more tear to cry, one teardrop from my eye
You better save it for
The middle of the night when things aren’t black and white
Enter, Troubadour
“Remember twenty-four?”
Chorus
And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it
Another version of me, I was in it
I wave goodbye to the end of beginning
Verse 2
This song has started now, and you’re just finding out
Now isn’t that a laugh?
A major sacrifice, but clueless at the time
Enter, Caroline
“Just trust me, you’ll be fine”
Chorus
And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel it
Another version of me, I was in it
I wave goodbye to the end of beginning
(Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)
