“Chesapeake” is the sixth track off of Better Oblivion Community Center’s 2019 self-titled debut album. The song tells the story of a child’s concert experience, reflecting on how the music they ended up falling in love with wasn’t the band everyone paid to see but rather an unknown artist busking in the parking lot.

In an interview with FaceCulture, Conor and Phoebe are asked about the meaning (the second verse in particular) and how the song Chesapeake came about (18:50 till the end of the interview).

Phoebe explains the song came about from a jam session she and her friend Chris were having. Playing with the melody that would become “Chesapeake” and ranting about how “the biz” is depressing – especially when “you see artists you think are great fall for no reason, and people you think suck get huge for no reason”. She tells how Conor then joined the conversation and “immediately began writing all those beautiful words”.

Conor chimes in and says “people can like what they like, but sometimes I’m shocked at what gets that treatment versus what I like”. Conor sums up their thoughts about the song by saying “the cream doesn’t always rise to the top” in reference to the music industry.