While Pumped Up Kicks references a shooter named Robert, the track is actually hinting heavily to the Columbine Massacre. Although it's never directly confirmed, there are lyrics in the song that directly point to the notorious 1999 high school shooting. Read on to learn more about Foster the People's track, and the deadly shooting it
And say your hair's on fire, you must have lost your wits, yeah. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks. You'd better run, better run, outrun my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks. You'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks.
Musical Composition and Production Musically, "Pumped Up Kicks" features a catchy, alt-pop dance sound, characterized by distinctive bass lines and rhythmic percussion. The production of the track was completed in Los Angeles, with Foster handling much of this aspect himself.
The songwriter and band's frontman Mark Foster say that the song is about Robert's psyche and the teenage mental illness epidemic. Robert feels isolated and the outcast seeks revenge for the children who bully him. Foster noticed a growing trend in mental illness in teens over the last decade and wanted to explore the psychology behind it.
"Pumped Up Kicks" is a bubbly, mellow song that launched Foster the People to fame. The song was a radio hit, dubbed the second-best song of 2011 by Entertainment Weekly and 11th-best by the writers at Rolling Stone, and it might've been played at your high school dance.
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what is the song pumped up kicks really about
