Those of you who have been following me since my Xanga days (www.xanga.com/asad123) know that from time to time I like to apply my literary analysis skills to contemporary music. Today I’d like to analyze Smash Mouth’s “All Star” from 1999. No particular reason why, I just heard it on the radio today and thought it would make a good entry. The lyrics, courtesy of lyrics.astraweb.com, follow and my comments are in parentheses.

 

 

Artist: Smash Mouth Album: All Star Smash Hits Title: All Star

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me
I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed
She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb
In the shape of an “L” on her forehead
(When he says that world is going to “roll” him, I think he means that the world is going to run him over, like a steamroller. The phrase, “not the sharpest tool in the shed,” like “not the ripest banana in the bunch,” implies that the singer is no genius. And it is his lack of mental prowess that makes him fear the world will chew him up and spit him out. The same person who says the world will roll him also makes a gesture to him indicating that he is a loser. Those of us who grew up in the 90’s remember people doing this all the time, particularly after the movie Clueless came out.)

 

Well the years start coming and they don’t stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn’t make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do so much to see
So what’s wrong with taking the back streets
You’ll never know if you don’t go
You’ll never shine if you don’t glow
(I don’t understand what it means to be “fed to the rules.” An alternate version of the lyrics says, “fed you the rules” which makes a little more sense to me. But it’s quite vague and I don’t know what rules he’s talking about, maybe some general wisdom for life. He’s advocating a hedonistic way of life when he says it “didn’t make sense not to live for fun.” While I’m not opposed to people having fun, I don’t think one should live for fun alone. People who work hard in school may become smarter, but they may not get street smarts, which seem to be what he means when he says, “your head gets dumb.” In life, there are many things to do and see. Here “taking the back streets” strikes me as a metaphor for having a different perspective on life than the common man. But one will never get a fresh perspective, if one does not get out, travel, and have significant experiences.)

 

Chorus:

Hey now you’re an All Star get your game on, go play
Hey now you’re a Rock Star get the show on get paid
And all that glitters is gold
Only shooting stars break the mold
(An All Star in sports is an outstanding athlete. I think the singer here is trying to boost the self-esteem of his audience by telling everyone that they can all excel in their own way. He’s telling them to find something they’re good at it and give it their all. By calling people “Rock Stars,” I think he is saying that everyone can be creative or artistic. When he says, “all that glitters is gold,” he’s intentionally misquoting Shakespeare who said in The Merchant of Venice, “all that glitters is not gold.” Shakespeare was trying to say that appearances can be deceiving. But Smash Mouth is claiming that now, image is everything. He’s saying if something looks valuable, it is valuable. So if one puts on a confident face, one will eventually acquire self-confidence. The last line of the chorus is quite intriguing to me. Shooting star is the common name for what scientists call a meteor, a descending piece of space dust. Shooting stars all eventually fall to Earth. He’s saying that to be an individual, to “break the mold,” one has to risk failure. People who don’t risk failure lead boring, unproductive lives.)

 

It’s a cool place and they say it gets colder
You’re bundled up now but wait ’til you get older
But the meteor men beg to differ
Judging by the hole in the satellite picture
The ice we skate is getting pretty thin
The waters getting warm so you might as well swim
My world’s on fire how about yours
That’s the way I like it and I never get bored
Chorus
Chorus
(He seems to be talking about climate change, but instead of global warming, he’s suggesting a coming Ice Age. It is possible that the phenomenon called “global warming” would actually lead to colder temps in some places, but that’s a discussion for another day. The “meteor men” are probably meteorologists, or weathermen. The hole in the satellite picture might be the hole in the ozone layer. Now the singer does a 180 and instead of cooling temperatures, things are getting warmer. When he says, “the waters getting warm,” he may be talking about El Nino, the global weather phenomenon that starts as a warming of the South Pacific. The El Nino of 1997-1998 was especially strong, and for many of us, it was the first time we heard about it. But I could be reading too much into these lyrics. I’m not sure how all this talk about climate fits it with the rest of the lyrics. If I were to venture a guess, I would say the singer is saying that one might as well have as much fun as one can now, because the future looks bleak.)

 

 

Somebody once asked could you spare some change for gas
I need to get myself away from this place
I said yep what a concept
I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change

(People thought gas was getting expensive in 1999 and then it was only $2 a gallon http://www.pensitoreview.com/2008/03/08/in-2000-gop-trashed-dems-over-gas-prices/. Many of us have been approached by a needy person, asking for help with gas. I like his response which has an almost Zen quality. He says “we could all use a little change.”  There’s an obvious double meaning here as “change” in English can refer both to loose coins and reform. Yes, we could all use a little more money, but what’s more we could all benefit from a better world. This is essentially the end of the song as the rest is just a refrain. And it’s a nice note to leave on. Indeed, we could all use a little change.)

 

Well the years start coming and they don’t stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn’t make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do so much to see
So what’s wrong with taking the back streets
You’ll never know if you don’t go
You’ll never shine if you don’t glow
Chorus