The True Meaning Behind PUMPED UP KICKS

[Music] [Applause] if you've taken the time to truly listen to foster the people's Pumped Up Kicks you'd soon realize that the ten-year-old tropical tune is saying something rather sinister but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't notice the laid-back instrumental is pure ear camp lyrically the track speaks of a troubled teen who plans to shoot his classmates at school it's not very subtle I mean the chorus tells us about seven times despite it's questionable subject matter it became the group's breakthrough hit assuring in a new wave of commercially viable indie pop sitting at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight straight weeks and claiming Spotify his most streamed song of 2011 how can such a cheerful track put such a dark and depressing twist on its lyrics more surprisingly why did we continue to enjoy it even after we knew of the grim details let's take a look at the true meaning behind Pumped Up Kicks [Music] looking to grow his musical network mark foster moved to LA when he was 18 years old working odd jobs he eventually found work as a commercial jingle writer when he wasn't writing melodies for TV ads he was creating punchy hooks for his own project foster the people on a day off rather than heading to the beach he opted to hunker down and write what would become Pumped Up Kicks the chorus came to him first and at this point the gun in the track was just a metaphor it was meant to be a song about self-confidence and excelling past the other kids that changed when he ad-libbed the first verse journey of recording session Foster tells us a bit about the quick handed Robert referencing the speed of drawing a gun from his holster like in cowboy duels and why not he's a cowboy kid after all maybe he likes westerns things take a turn as the verse clearly becomes about a kid who finds his dad's gun giving the weapon its literal meaning but the terrifying part is he plans to use it [Music] the chorus changes perspectives and the singer is now in Roberts mind the Pumped Up Kicks are in reference to Reeboks classic basketball shoe the ones you could pump up at the tongue for some extra lift while jumping they were also twice the price of regular sneakers which only secures the idea of our protagonists isolation they were unaffordable to the average kid who without them might have felt detached from the rest of his classmates Roberts plan is to take out his revenge on the rich kids while there's no actual violence in the song it's become a theme for revenge that many teens can relate to Foster ran with the concept trying to imagine what it would be like to be inside of the head of a teen who was losing his mind we learned more about Robert and that he'd most likely never be able to afford those Pumped Up Kicks his father works long hours to make ends meet leaving the two of them to eat microwave dinners from there things get a little cryptic you can argue that that songs cheeriness is a symbol of just how far gone this kid is but lyrics really come second to melody foster got to recording all of the instruments and arranged the track into a demo in doing so he managed to blend a number of eras styles and formats to create a hit that works on so many levels a drum beat straight out of Fleetwood Mac's dreams it has an irresistible base hook which is always key and carrying a hit the spaced out synths of the 80s a single on chorus featuring the sunny harmonies of the 60s and even a whistling section [Music] he finished the demo in 8 hours and it's the same version of the song you hear today which explains why it ends on a number of repeated courses but foster couldn't have anticipated the demo to blow up after posting it to his website it became foster the people's debut single and with the song taking off foster knew he'd have to explain the reason for the tracks ominous plot the problem some had was that they felt the song was treating school shootings with the same gravity as bubblegum pop many wrote letters to Foster's label and radio stations complaining that the song was glorifying school shootings but pop music has always had its fair share of murder and songs [Applause] [Music] gets the same I'm gonna zoom out there in another [Music] but what does it say about the public who continue to enjoy these tracks we've been watching westerns and rooting for clint eastwood to gun down the bad guy for nearly a century we're desensitized to it until it comes in a different form murder is one of society's major taboos but also perhaps its most basic human impulse I mean we'd never actually commit murder but what could have possibly driven a person to such an extreme act it's part of a reason for our love of true crime stories are curious nature when we read watch or hear about these acts we're engaged on a number of levels we're curious about the mind and the psychology of the bad guy but we also want some insight so that we can learn to better protect ourselves and our families in interviews Foster has said that the song was not about condoning violence that it was an observation of youth culture and mental illness looking at the internal dialog of a teen with nowhere to turn nice save he became an anti-bullying message that imagined the worst and a platform to have the conversation about something that's worth talking about because the worst still happens all the time he was also mark Foster's big cue to hipsters he knew you'd losers would be dancing to the without a care in the world until you bothered to listen to what the he's actually Pumped Up Kicks is a tribute to what foster the people have always done really well pair infectious melodies with some worthwhile lyricism you just need to take the time to truly listen we all have the power to transform our future take the first step to a creative life you love with this week's sponsor Skillshare in her class creative transformation 9 exercises to draw write and discover your future Marty Andrew acts as your Northstar in guiding you to self-reflect discover and achieve your dreams you can get full access to the class using the first link below skill shares an online learning community for creatives where millions come together to take the next step in their creative journey they offer thousands of inspiring classes and productivity photography music making and whatever else you might be interested in learning skill share is also incredibly affordable an annual subscription is less than 10 bucks a month but the first 500 of my viewers to click the link in the description we get to three months of premium membership so push your creativity develop personal goals and reach for your dreams with skill shares online classes thanks for watching ladies and gents if you enjoyed this video give it a like rating subscribe to hear more stories behind the music you love and be sure to hit that Bell so you never miss an episode if you can support the channel on patreon everything helps keep the channel going middle late merch is up and running you can find a link to that in the description below as well I've heard Foster the People plan on retiring pumped up kicks' for their live shows their most popular song what do you think about that let me know in the comments below but that's it for me again thanks for watching and keep listening

Channel: Middle 8

Views: 4,280,830

Keywords: Foster The People, Pumped Up Kicks, pumped up kicks meaning, pumped up kicks lyrics, pumped up kicks chords, pumped up kicks meme, pumped up kicks analysis, is pumped up kicks about a school shooting, is pumped up kicks about columbine, is pumped up kicks about a shooting, is pumped up kicks banned, is pumped up kicks a bad song, pumped up kicks remix

Id: LDFMmZ4IvX4

Length: 8min 15sec (495 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 13 2020