Chorus:
"And she/he/they say/s,
I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
'Cause all the cool kids they seem to get it.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids."
It makes me sad to see that many of my peers fall into one of two categories: 1) Kids who think they're it and all that matters. 2) Kids who don't think they're it, but are obsessed with those who are.
There are, however, obvious "secrets" that are often overlooked and I do have sympathy for.
1) A large percentage of the "it" kids suffer from the same insecurities and self-hate the "not-it" kids suffer from and feel like they are walking on a tight-rope, always on the brink of falling out of the "in" crowd.
2) Both the "it" crowd and the "not-it" crowd are being lied to. They're whole world revolves around their social lives and status, so naturally, it seems to them to be everything that matters. That's their world! People - children and adults alike - are notorious for being simple thinkers and having terrible foresight. It always feels like life is a destination and now is it, rather than a journey and every place is transitory. They don't realize that in a couple years, no one is going to give two cents about it.
Verse 1:
"She sees them walking in a straight line, that's not really her style.
And they all got the same heartbeat, but hers is falling behind.
Nothing in this world could ever bring them down.
Yeah, they're invincible, and she's just in the background."
From this verse I learn several things. One, this verse could mean a thousand things. Two, from what I gather, "she" sees a contrast between her style and the "cool kids" style. Because their style is not her style, naturally she is dying on the inside when she tries to be like them, which is why her heartbeat is falling behind, because she's not being who she's supposed to be. I'll get back to the last two lines.
Verse 2:
"He sees them talking with a big smile, but they haven't got a clue.
Yeah, they're living the good life, can't see what he is going through.
They're driving fast cars, but they don't know where they're going.
In the fast lane, living life without knowing."
Just take "they haven't got a clue" completely out of context and Boom! A little bit of truth! Truth that the "not-in" kids don't see and that many of the "in" kids feel acutely, but don't understand. They do not have a clue. Take the last two lines, and Ba-bang, some more truth! They may just be in the fast lane, but if they don't know where they are going life's going to take them places they don't want to go. Tough luck.
This verse demonstrates a very prominent lie that has partial roots in wrong perspective. "Not-in" kids think that the "in" kids have it great. "They're living the good life." From the stories I've heard to my own life to my friend's lives, this is not true! I have a friend, she is an extreme extrovert and comes across as happy and secure. She seems to know everybody and have a great social life. She seems "in" in a nerdy, home-school way. When I got to know her a bit, I learned - to my shock - that she suffered from a lot of insecurity and belief that she was not "in" at all and that she was being rejected.
I think a lot of kids suffer from this. She was comparing herself to the other "cool kids" who I am sure from indirect observation and stories I've heard suffer from insecurities as bad, perhaps worse, than her's including self-harm, self-hate, vanity, materialism, and trivialism.
A personal example. In the past, I came across as the girl who's got everything together, totally secure, and blah-blah-blah. I still come across so much like I've got it all going, that when I fall apart and tell my sisters how broken I've been feeling, they are stunned and tell me they thought I had it all together. I think that a lot of other kids who appear to have it going don't really and they know it.
"Nothing in this world could ever bring them down.
Yeah, they're invincible, and she's just in the background."
About that... no one in the real world is going to care if you were popular for the first seventeen/eighteen years of your life. Let me clarify, for the next 50,60,70 years of your life, no one cares if you were a "cool kid," an "in" kid, or a "not in" kid. They do however care about the education more than half put on the line to be "in" - successfully or not - for the first twenty years of their life, after which it's obsolete. They do care if you can work hard, work as a team, and have life skills. And, believe it or not, they care if you know yourself, because if you know yourself, it's easier to give the best you can give. If the first seventeen years of your life were spent pushing who you are away so you could be somebody "acceptable" for the "in" crowd, then you will be struggling during the very important years of your young-adult life trying to figure that out and what you will do in the future.
The kids who took their education seriously and cared more about becoming who God wanted them to be and learning how to be secure in their identity and not be swayed by everyone else will be legions ahead! And most likely, they'll be successful. I can't tell you how many adults have told me they wish they had realized this and had foresight when they were young and how different their lives would have been.
Before I close, I want to say that I don't hate "in" kids nor do I hate kids "looking in". In fact, some kids are "in" on accident or just happen to be good at it. And it's natural to want to be what seems to be the "thing" the "it". It is human nature, but it does have a cost whether it's normal or not!
That's what bothers me; the cost. Don't sell your youth, your self-esteem, and your identity to be "in"! Be yourself. "In" is constantly changing and in the next few years, no one is going to care, and you'll be left with the scars of everything you did to be "in". The obsession of being "in" from "in" kids or "not in" kids is what is my big pet peeve, because it's such a waste of oneself and the scars and hurt never go away from believing the lies. People are taught to invest in now only forgetting that now only last for now and they have a long future coming.
It is quite a bit of a bummer, because I really do like her voice and I love the beat of the song and the instrumental just doesn't cut it. Even the lyrics were done with talent. It sincerely captures the emotions of many youth today. Oh well.
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