Say Anything, then called Sayanything, began their career when the band was still in high school. They self-released two EP's and one LP entitled Baseball. Baseball and the band's first EP, Junior Varsity, are both out of print and are no longer available. The band's second EP entitled Menora/Mejorah was released online. All of these early albums have a pop punk sound reminiscent of blink-182 and of Max's favorite band, Saves the Day.
In August 2004 they released ...Is a Real Boy on Doghouse Records. The album was produced by Tim O'Heir (Sebadoh, All-American Rejects, Superdrag) with arrangements by Stephen Trask (Grammy nominated for Hedwig & the Angry Inch). While recording the album Max Bemis had a nervous breakdown during which he took to the streets of New York until his girlfriend found him and ended up in a mental hospital for a few weeks. He attributes the breakdown to stress and bipolar disorder.
Some time after ...Is a Real Boy was released, a set of 8 songs entitled Vs. AIDS Demos were leaked onto the internet by an unknown source. Soon the band told fans that the demos were part of an AIDS benefit album that had been scrapped, and told anyone who had attained them not to distribute them to anyone else (Max Bemis later stated on his website, "that shit sucks," in regard to the demos).
Say Anything signed with J Records (Maroon 5, Alicia Keys), owned by BMG Entertainment, one of the "big four" record labels. Under J Records they re-released ...Is a Real Boy with a bonus disc entitled ...Was a Real Boy containing seven of the eight Vs. AIDS Demos. This album, originally scheduled to be released on October 25th, 2005, was delayed over 4 months to February 28th, 2006. Some copies ended up leaking out through various retailers, notably Tower Records' website. Most leaks occurred due to retailers shipping pre-orders before J-Records had a chance to stop them. Soon copies of the album were selling for over $50 on eBay.
Say Anything released their third album, In Defense of the Genre, under J Records in 2007. Produced by Brad Wood, the album had two discs containing 27 songs, many of them featuring guest appearances by high-profile musicians such as Gerard Way and Hayley Williams.
In November 2009, Say Anything released their fourth full-length studio album, Say Anything. This is the band's first album under RCA Records. It contains 13 tracks, including "Hate Everyone," which was the album's first single.
On August 19, 2010 it was confirmed that Say Anything and RCA Records had parted ways. Soon after (September 29) it was announced via Say Anything's official website that Alex Kent would be leaving the band, and that Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line would be temporarily taking over as bassist for their upcoming tour. As of so far no permanent bassist has been selected to replace Kent.
In December 2012, Bemis announced that drummer Coby Linder, the only other remaining original member of the band, had left Say Anything on amicable terms to pursue other projects.
Admit It!!!
Say Anything Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Despite your pseudo-bohemian appearance
And vaguely leftist doctrine of beliefs
You know nothing about art or sex
That you couldn't read in any trendy New York underground fashion magazine
Prototypical non-conformist
You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store Gestapo
You adhere to a set of standards and tastes
Giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to incoming and outgoing trends and styles of music and art
Go analog baby, you're so post-modern
You're diving face forward into a antiquated path
It's disgusting, its offensive, don't stick your nose up at me
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
You spend your time sitting in circles with your friends
Pontificating to each other
Forever competing for that one moment of self-aggrandizing glory
In which you hog the intellectual spotlight
Holding dominion over the entire shallow pointless conversation
Oh, we're not worthy
When you walk by a group of quote-unquote normal people
You chuckle to yourself patting yourself on the back as you scoff
It's the same superiority complex
Shared by the high school jocks who made your life a living hell
And makes you a slave to the competitive capitalist dogma
You spend every moment of your waking life bitching about
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
And I say yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
'Cause I'm proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I've become
You're free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my guitar
Proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I've become
You're free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my guitar, yeah
Well let me tell you this, I am shamelessly self-involved
I spend hours in front of the mirror, making my hair elegantly disheveled
I worry about how this album will sell
Because I believe it will determine the amount of sex I will have in the future
I self medicate with drugs and alcohol to treat my extreme social anxiety
You are a faker (admit it)
You are a fraud (admit it)
Yeah, you're living a lie (hey) living a lie (hey) you're life is living a lie
You don't impress me (admit it)
You don't intimidate me (admit it)
Why don't you bow down, get on the ground, walk this fucking plank (yeah!)
Yeah, what do you have to say for yourself
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
And I say yeah (what do you..)
Proud of my life and the things that I have done
Proud of myself and the loner I've become
You're free to whine, it will not get you far
I do just fine, my car and my..
Guitar, guitar go!
I drift drift drift drift drift yeah
I drift drift drift drift drift yeah oh
And I am done with this
I want to taste the breeze of every great city
My car and my guitar
My car and my guitar
So you'll come to be, made of these, urgent unfulfilled
Oh no no no no no
When I'm dead I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest way still
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
The song "Admit It!!!" by Say Anything critiques the hypocrisy of the pseudo-bohemian subculture found in some circles of young people in trendy urban areas. The lyrics accuse these people of having vacuous, conformist tastes and adhering to an unseen panel of hipster judges who determine what is cool in music and art. The singer also takes issue with the vanity and self-obsession of these people, and accuses them of being no better than high school jocks who made others' lives a living hell.
The song is meant to provoke and push back against the smugness and superiority of trendy hipster culture, and to encourage listeners to be proud of their own individuality and accomplishments. The repeated refrain of "Proud of my life and the things that I have done / Proud of myself and the loner I've become" celebrates the singer's own distinctiveness and independence, and encourages listeners to do the same.
Overall, "Admit It!!!" is a biting, angry critique of a particular subculture and its pretensions, but it is also an anthem of individualism and self-pride, encouraging listeners to be unapologetically themselves.
Line by Line Meaning
Despite your pseudo-bohemian appearance
You try to look like a bohemian, but you're not really one.
And vaguely leftist doctrine of beliefs
You have some left-leaning beliefs, but you don't know much about them.
You know nothing about art or sex
You don't really understand art or sex, except for what you've read in magazines.
That you couldn't read in any trendy New York underground fashion magazine
You get all your knowledge about art and sex from trendy New York magazines.
Prototypical non-conformist
You're the typical non-conformist.
You are a vacuous soldier of the thrift store Gestapo
You follow the thrift store fashion trends like a mindless soldier.
You adhere to a set of standards and tastes
You follow a specific set of standards and tastes in music and fashion.
That appear to be determined by an unseen panel of hipster judges (bullshit)
These standards and tastes seem to be set by hipster judges, but that's not really true.
Giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to incoming and outgoing trends and styles of music and art
You judge new music and art trends and decide whether they're cool or not.
Go analog baby, you're so post-modern
You think that going back to older technologies is post-modern and cool.
You're diving face forward into a antiquated path
You're going back to older technologies even though there's no real reason for it.
It's disgusting, its offensive, don't stick your nose up at me
This behavior is annoying and offensive, so don't act like you're better than me.
You spend your time sitting in circles with your friends
You spend a lot of time in circles of friends talking about yourself and your interests.
Pontificating to each other
You and your friends talk in a way that shows off your knowledge and opinions.
Forever competing for that one moment of self-aggrandizing glory
You and your friends compete to show off your knowledge and opinions, trying to be the center of attention.
In which you hog the intellectual spotlight
You try to be the smartest one in the group so you can get all the attention.
Holding dominion over the entire shallow pointless conversation
You dominate conversations with shallow and pointless comments.
Oh, we're not worthy
Your friends praise your comments even though they're not really that great.
When you walk by a group of quote-unquote normal people
When you pass by non-hipster people, who you consider 'normal.'
You chuckle to yourself patting yourself on the back as you scoff
You laugh to yourself, feeling superior to these 'normal' people.
It's the same superiority complex
Your attitude is the same as the high school jocks who used to bully you.
Shared by the high school jocks who made your life a living hell
These high school jocks made your life miserable with their bullying and superiority.
And makes you a slave to the competitive capitalist dogma
Your desire to be superior and cool makes you a slave to the capitalist system.
You spend every moment of your waking life bitching about
All you do all day is complain about the things you don't like.
I do just fine, my car and my guitar
I don't need all this hipster nonsense to be happy - I'm happy with my car and my guitar.
Well let me tell you this, I am shamelessly self-involved
I admit that I'm self-centered and focus on myself a lot.
I spend hours in front of the mirror, making my hair elegantly disheveled
I spend a lot of time styling my hair to look messy but stylish.
I worry about how this album will sell
I'm anxious about how my music will be received and whether I'll make money from it.
Because I believe it will determine the amount of sex I will have in the future
I think that if my music is popular, I'll be more attractive to partners.
I self medicate with drugs and alcohol to treat my extreme social anxiety
I use drugs and alcohol to deal with my social anxiety and nervousness around people.
You are a faker (admit it)
You pretend to be something you're not.
You are a fraud (admit it)
You're deceiving people into thinking you're something you're not.
Yeah, you're living a lie (hey) living a lie (hey) you're life is living a lie
You're not being true to yourself and are living a fake life.
You don't impress me (admit it)
Your behavior doesn't impress me.
You don't intimidate me (admit it)
I'm not afraid of you or your behavior.
Why don't you bow down, get on the ground, walk this fucking plank (yeah!)
You should stop acting superior and come back to reality.
I want to taste the breeze of every great city
I want to travel to different cities and experience their unique qualities.
My car and my guitar
I only need my car and guitar to explore and enjoy life.
So you'll come to be, made of these, urgent unfulfilled
Through all my experiences, I'll become someone who wants more and more.
When I'm dead I'll rest
I'll stop worrying about everything when I'm dead.
When I'm dead I'll rest way still
I'll be completely at peace and quiet when I'm dead.
When I'm dead I'll rest, I'll rest
I'll finally be able to have rest and peace when I'm dead.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MAX BEMIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind