hop. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Jenkins said that the concept of the song was developed through his observations of friends using crystal meth at a Primus concert. The juxtaposition of the music and lyrical content was intentional, as Jenkins intended to illustrate the "bright, shiny feeling" one gets when using crystal meth. Jenkins, however, maintains that the meaning of the song more broadly relates to changing periods in one's life. He further explained the meaning of the song: It's about living in the Lower Haight [in San Francisco] and all the machinations that were going on at a time where my friend group was finally out of the [educational] institutions that we'd been in our whole lives – because we’d all been in school since kindergarten and everybody now was in their early 20s and out of college. And then probably underneath that, also the weight of coming to terms with the kind of agony that your life is always about to change and never be reliable. The song was written well before Third Eye Blind was formed. During his time as a struggling musician in San Francisco, Jenkins recalled sitting in a room with future 4 Non Blondes singer and songwriter Linda Perry, who worked as a waitress down the street, performing their original compositions to one another. The two played each other early versions of "Semi-Charmed Life" and "What's Up?", both of which would later become massive hits for their respective bands. It would be decades later that Jenkins realized the songs performed in that private session would sell a combined 17 million records. Jenkins was initially against the decision to release "Semi-Charmed Life" as the lead single from Third Eye Blind, as he did not believe that it was representative of the work as a whole. Guitarist Kevin Cadogan was concerned with the explicit lyrical content of the song, as he feared that radio stations would refuse to play the song. Elektra Records suggested that the band release "Semi-Charmed Life" as their debut single as opposed to "Losing a Whole Year", prompting the release of several radio edits of the song. Upon the song's success, Jenkins claimed that he believed most listeners misinterpreted the song to simply be a "happy summertime jam." Songwriting claims Prior to the formation of Third Eye Blind, Jenkins was part of the rap duo Puck and Zen, alongside Detroit rapper