“And when I’m back in Chicago, I feel It.” Those lyrics are embedded in nearly every TikTok video that pays homage to Chicago. However, what may be surprising is that the man behind the wistful song is none other than Joe Keery, also known for his iconic role as Steve Harrington from Stranger Things.
The viral song is Joe Keery’s love letter to Chicago. As Keery spent his early twenties in Chicago attending Depaul University, “End of Beginning” is an introspection song about his time there.
It’s also where he cultivated his music career—as a member of the psych-rock Chicago group Post Animal, indie music fans and Chicagoans have already held a special place in their hearts for him. Nearly a decade later, the DePaul Alum gained renewed fame with his band, Djo, and album DECIDE. The most notable song of the album, “End of Beginning,” has racked up nearly 300 million streams on Spotify.
Keery told Yahoo News, that it’s heartwarming while also a bit surreal that the one song from his solo music project as Djo went viral and broke into the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 is “End of Beginning,” his reflection track about his early 20s spent in Chicago.
“It’s about going back to a place and then, in Chicago, breathing in the air there — the lake smell and downtown, the chocolate smell that happens every once in a while, and it’s a very visceral thing,” Keery says. “When you’re back there, you’re like, ‘Wow, oh, my gosh, I feel like I am that age.’ … You kind of appreciate how far you’ve come.” He told the Chicago Sun-Times.
Even though treasuring Chicago is a prominent part of “End of Beginning,” he has no plans for a concert here soon. The last time he was in Chicago was in 2022 when he performed at Lollapalooza—premiering the viral song before its release.