Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is filled with clever Easter eggs, but one of the most subtle is the choice of closing credits song used on the movie’s soundtrack. Released to critical acclaim in 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a rare superhero sequel that many critics and fans alike agree lived up to the high bar set by the impressive original movie.

Funny, action-packed, and surprisingly heartfelt, former Troma director James Gunn’s superhero sequel saw the return of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, and Bradley Cooper as the titular Guardians of the Galaxy,. New additions to the cast included '80s icon, Kurt Russell as Star-Lord's father, a god-like alien being called Ego who at first appears to be everything Peter is looking for in a father figure.

Related: Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Every Easter Egg You Missed

Where a lot of comic book movie directors use Easter eggs solely to reference their source material, Gunn’s movie is full of details that deepen and further color the themes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, including the movie’s soundtrack. Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" is widely remembered as the song on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's soundtrack that captures its themes of parenthood (and the song that makes fans cry). But Cheap Trick’s "Surrender," which plays near the end of the movie, also has lyrics that powerfully resonate with the story. "Surrender" is about the awkward generational gap between parents and kids (specifically the Greatest Generation and Boomers, whom the song is about).

The lyrics of Cheap Trick’s "Surrender" urge the listener to ignore their parent’s shortcomings, learn from their quirks, and forge an identity of their own - to give up on trying to fight every battle with parents who don’t understand (“surrender, surrender”) but still stay true to and hold onto the things that they share with the older generation (“but don’t give yourself away”). It’s an apt choice for the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 closing credits, as the movie's plot centers around Peter’s attempts to connect with his biological father, before Ego reveals himself to be an uncaring villain who gave Peter's mother the brain tumor that killed her. Quill’s initial embarrassed rejection of his former father figure Yondu, and their eventual reconciliation when Yondu sacrifices himself to save Quill reflects the song’s lyrical focus on accepting the generational gap and establishing an identity of one’s own without rejecting your roots.

Of course, not all of the song’s significance is so emotionally grounded. One early lyric is also clearly an influence Gunn’s earlier movie, 2006’s gross-out body horror Slither, also starring Rooker—but for a far less meaningful reason. The Cheap Trick line about a gruesome rumored venereal disease (“I heard a soldier’s fallen off” due to contracting “some Indonesian junk that’s going ‘round") got another nod from Gunn when a minor character noted that Michael Rooker’s monstrous Slither character “looks like something that fell off my dick in the war.” It looks like Gunn was a Cheap Trick fan well before his Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Easter egg.

More: Rob Zombie's Guardians of the Galaxy Cameos Explained

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