Lyrical Rhetoric

Before listening to the song “Pumped Up Kicks” by the Foster People, I was never really aware of the words and the whole meaning of the song; it was always on the radio and I just thought that it was a very upbeat, fun and enjoyable song. After looking through the lyrics and figuring out what the band is really trying to say from them, it changed my whole perspective on the song. After realizing what the song was truly about, the message completely shocked me. The message that they are trying to get out of this song is that shootings are becoming a growing problem in today’s society, especially with teenagers in schools and other places. Mark Foster, who is the author of this song “Pumped Up Kicks”, is a jingle writer and he does this to get his audience to think about what it is like for the children who are thinking about attempting a shooting or something just as severe. Since Mark Foster is such a great jingle writer, this allows him to get the rhythm stuck in his audiences head, leading this song to its huge popularity. I believe that Foster is trying to address just about anybody in this song. He is mainly addressing bullies and the children who are troubled in school, home, etc.

The main message of this song is that bullying is a huge problem in today’s society, and it only seems to be getting worse. “Pumped Up Kicks” is a very popular song because it is so easy to listen to for just about anybody, and this is exactly what the author, Mark Foster, wanted to do here. Although the lyrics are not very straight forward, it was still quite easy to understand what they are trying to address because there are many different perspectives that you could get from this song. It is not only addressing one specific thing, since there are so many different bullying problems around today. I believe that Mark Foster addressed this song to the public to state that just because you may seem happy on the outside, does not mean that you are feeling the same on the inside. The catchy beat and rhythms from this song represent how a bullied child may put on a front for people to make them think that he is okay, but on the inside he is really hurting and just wants to be understood by others; which is what the lyrics represent.

Brooke Kinney (417)