Spoonboy (born 1983) is a member of Washington, D.C.-based punk-pop band, T… Read Full Bio ↴Spoonboy (born 1983) is a member of Washington, D.C.-based punk-pop band, The Max Levine Ensemble for which he plays guitar and sings. He has released two solo albums on Plan-It-X Records, first in 2005 entitled, "I Love You, This Is A Robbery" and "The Papas" in 2011. Spoonboy was born in Takoma Park, Maryland.

My Generation
Spoonboy Lyrics

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Well, the authorities called me up
said you may well end up in prison
I said I may well but you know I'll run away before then
Said you know we'll catch you
I said naw you wouldn't know where to start
You may well put in prison but you'll won't ever touch my heart

Say that kids my age think they're invincible

Well that seems foolish but I still know I'll never die
And it seems to be invincible all you gotta do is stay alive
And I can do that on my own just stay out of the conversation

Cause your laws mean shit to me
They're just arbitrary guidelines and absouloutless ideology
And it seems to me when your the ones that kill in the street
You got no right to tell me what to do if i want to be free
Cause I'm not your property
Now I belong to me

They say my generation don't stand up for what we believe in
I think its all cause we've been told just what to do right from the start

Don't break the guidelines given believe in television
Well we still know what we believe when it comes pouring out our hearts

Overall Meaning

The first verse of Spoonboy’s “My Generation” is a conversation between the authorities and the singer. The authorities fear that the singer might end up in prison given his rebellious tendencies. The singer retorts and tells them that he will run away before that happens. He is convinced that they will not be able to catch him since they don’t even know where to start. Even if they eventually do catch him and imprison him, they will never be able to touch his heart.

In the second verse, Spoonboy addresses the stereotype that kids of his age think they are invincible. Although he admits that it might seem foolish, he knows that he will never die. He goes on to say that to be invincible, all he has to do is stay alive, and he can do that on his own, staying out of conversations that might incriminate him. He then goes on to criticize the authorities and their laws by asserting that they mean nothing to him. They are merely arbitrary guidelines and absolute ideologies that hold no weight in his life. He notes the irony that the ones who enforce these laws and kill people on the streets have no right to tell him what to do if he wants to be free. The singer affirms his autonomy by declaring that he is not anyone’s property and that he belongs to himself.

Line by Line Meaning

Well, the authorities called me up
I received a call from the authorities

said you may well end up in prison
They warned me that I might go to jail

I said I may well but you know I'll run away before then
I admitted that it's possible, but I also claimed that I would escape before that happens

Said you know we'll catch you
They insisted that they would catch me

I said naw you wouldn't know where to start
I confidently replied that they wouldn't even know where to begin looking for me

You may well put in prison but you'll won't ever touch my heart
I acknowledged that they might put me in jail, but I declared that they wouldn't be able to affect my spirit

Say that kids my age think they're invincible
It's often claimed that people my age feel indestructible

Well that seems foolish but I still know I'll never die
I admitted that it's foolish to believe you can't be harmed, but I still feel like I'm going to live forever

And it seems to be invincible all you gotta do is stay alive
It appears that the only requirement for being invincible is staying alive

And I can do that on my own just stay out of the conversation
I asserted that I can take care of myself as long as I don't get involved in certain talks

Cause your laws mean shit to me
I don't care about your laws at all

They're just arbitrary guidelines and absouloutless ideology
I believe that laws are arbitrary rules and meaningless principles

And it seems to me when your the ones that kill in the street
It appears to me that the ones who commit murders in public are often the authorities themselves

You got no right to tell me what to do if i want to be free
I don't think you have the authority to restrict my actions if I want to live freely

Cause I'm not your property
I declared that I'm not someone else's possession

Now I belong to me
I now belong to myself

They say my generation don't stand up for what we believe in
Some say that people my age don't fight for our convictions

I think its all cause we've been told just what to do right from the start
I believe that the cause of this is that we've always been instructed what to do

Don't break the guidelines given believe in television
The advice we're given boils down to following instructions and buying into what we see on TV

Well we still know what we believe when it comes pouring out our hearts
Despite all that, we still know what we truly believe, and it shows in our emotional expressions

Contributed by David F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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