The song “Pumped Up Kicks” by the American indie pop band Foster the People is an interesting song, and a song full of contradictions. The song’s instrumental accompaniment and vocals could be described as being towards the bright, cheery end of the emotional spectrum, while the lyrics are dark and slightly threatening. Well, extremely threatening, depending on how you look at it. The lyrics are written with the intention of showing us the inner workings of a kid deeply involved within his own psychosis, a person named early in the song as “Robert”. “Robert” has just located a gun and intends to shoot some of the children at his school. While we hear these lyrics, the tone in which they are sung and the instrumental background offsets the darkness behind them, and before we know we’re singing along without fully understanding what it is we are saying. The song gets into your head, and as you sit and think about it, you finally understand what it is the song is about, and the message it is trying to get across. The writer of the song Mark Foster wrote the song while working as a commercial jingle writer, so the song’s addictiveness and easiness to learn shows.
I believe the band did a great job in writing/producing the song. It addresses a real life and serious issue in a way you would never expect. Most of the people who know what this song is about don’t even realize it until after they know every single word. "I was so engrossed with the cheery melody of its chorus that it took me a few listens to discover that the lyrics suggest dark, Columbine revenge,” said Jeffrey Burg of Frontier Psychiatrist. The song provides an easy outlet to bring up the topic of school/teen violence. I mean, look at us; we’re talking about it now! The song is easy to learn and fun to sing, and because of that it has quickly become widespread. The song writers understood their audience: a nation of people who hide the issues under the rug and pretend they’re not there, while focusing on the cheery, happy things in life. Well, in this case, you can’t get one without the other. I think this song did a great job of conveying a serious issue in an easily understandable way, and in a way that no one would expect.
Kaleb Smith (400)
I couldn't agree more with you. Did you notice that the melody of the song was very dark sounding notes but the rhythm behind it was upbeat? That really caught my attention when I first heard the song. But actually, when I first heard it (before I read the lyrics) I took it to be a prejudice/racist message. It sounded like they were bashing the kids who wore the Nike shoes, Air Jordans, etc. However after reading the lyrics and analyzing them, I realized I was totally in the wrong direction. I, too, think that Mark Foster did an excellent job as a jingle writer with almost hypnotizing the audience into knowing this song. However, I didn't interpret the audience as you had. I believe you make a very valid point there. We do tend to put on this sort of "mask" and act like it is all fine while behind the mask, we are up close with our personal issues. Taking that into consideration, I definitely agree that the band did an excellent job in captivating their audience. I also agree that the song marks as an outlet to discuss teen violence and suicide. It is a very tricky thing to discuss, because you don't know if the issue has affected someone's life personally or even at all. It's very skeptical to say the least. If you listen to the lyrics and analyze them, you can absolutely tell that "Robert" is the one who has constantly been bullied and then went home to an abusive and neglecting father. I also said in my analysis that this is a very unfamiliar way to convey a message like this, in a song that is. Generally, when you hear a song like this, it's typically from an outside perspective and often times, inconspicuous. However, Foster took this into the young boy's perspective, and still managed to captivate an audience. It's very fascinating.
ReplyDeleteAmanda W.
(320)
Kaleb, I agree that it is weird that a song with cheerful music and have the words be about killing people. I just don't see how that combination can work and be a successful song. Well I guess since Mr. Foster was a jingle writer he can make any words go with a catchy rhythm and make the song sound great. The band in my opinion should win some kind of award for their acting because just by watching them and what they do you would never guess what the message they are trying to send is. I would say that the audience you say they are trying to reach is accurate because today that is what most people do with their problems and that just makes things worse until the person snaps when they can't take it anymore. I'm glad that Foster the People wrote this song so that the issue we have here with violence is horrible and pointless honestly. I still can't figure out who "Robert" is because in the beginning they call him Robert but after that they only say I or he, referring to the dad which could be Robert.
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