Who is robert pumped up kicks lyrics

I'm not really sure about "your hair's on fire"--I like the idea that it's about the cigarette, and he's just a little nuts. I think the song is from the perspective of an outsider first and then from the character's perspective; I don't think it's the character putting himself in the third person I totally believe this song is about shooting up classmates, but I think the part about "Dinner is packed on ice" means that his father's "Dinner" is most likely a case of beer, packed in ice to stay nice and chilly fresh.

The rest of your interpretation I agree with dude! I think the line "I don't even know what" is just referring to the box of things he's found. Like, it's a box of fun things and I don't even know what, as in a lot of random stuff. SketchesAndLyrics on March 15, The line "and i dont even know what" might be trying to convey that the kid sees a box of his dads "fun things", like maybe drugs or condoms or other sexual things and of course the gun.

The kid is too young to know what the other stuff is used for but he does recognize what the gun is used for, killing. The cowboy thing is just the kid thinking is needs to bring justice to his situation. His going to right all the wrongs in his life just like in cowboy movie, with a shootout. This leads me to think the kid around 10, before puberty. SeahorseCapta1n on April 11, Agree lyricaljoy For me the box is Pandora's Box and the whatever is the not actually drugs or tactile things but the actions attached to the gun.

I agree you're pretty spot on. It's weird because I went to a school where this was a real problem but this song kind of makes it easier to deal with because it gives you both views; not just the victims families but the families of the shooters.

I know to those who dealt with this kind of situation this song can be very upsetting but at the same time I appreciate it. I don't agree. Totally about child abuse. That woul d explain the use of the name Robert because the shooter's name was Robert Hawkings bmullen on May 20, This kid is definitely disturbed and plotting revenge, imagining himself as a cowboy, I think we all mostly agree.

Cowboys not only tote six-shooters, they roll their own cigarettes, whistle, and wear dusters not mentioned in the song, but now inseperable from teenage outcasts. I don't think the cigarette is a joint; in this day and age they would probably just come out and say so.

Could be Robert's Dad abuses him, or just doesn't notice or care that his son is being victimized, so is just as bad. This kid could be mentally ill with no one taking the time to notice, could simply be a social outcast for one of the meaningless reasons kids torment each other.

Schizophrenia would cause someone to be paranoid and plot revenge against anyone for something real or imagined, it causes hallucinations and talking to oneself, and high school would be a typical time for it to first turn up. I think the dinner packed in ice is a very clever reference to revenge, a dish best served cold! I like this song because it provides some food for thought and some food for groovin'!

Malboro Man was a cowboy. Robert Duvall was Hollywood's last great cowboy. But the Academy Award-winner's most indelible contribution is to the Western. Early in his career, he appeared on TV series Shane and Cimarron Strip and during his nearly five decades onscreen, he's returned to those cowboy parts time and again.

I think, not only is the second verse saying his dad is abusive which is the "surprise" he has for the kid but the verse "Yeah, the slight of my hand is now a quick pull trigger I reason with my cigarette" is him waiting with his gun to turn it around on him and kill him.

One of the Columbine shooters killed his parents, I believe or one of those crazy school shooters did before he went to school and started killing other kids. Very intuitive of you to pick up on all this- I believe you're even right about the cigarette referring to his conscience or to his self-reflection the thing everyone tends to do when they smoke. I got the same exact interpretation from it the first time I heard the song.

CriticsAreRaving on August 13, Oh wait, my bad. You did pick up on the possibility that he might be planning to shoot his dad. I have this terrible habit of not being able to finish reading the very last bit of someone else's post, before I get so excited I have to reply.

Can never quite finish the last little bit. CriticsAreRaving on August 14, Awesome song, so disturbing in such a subtle way and lyrical your interpretation is chilling JDCooper1 on August 14, I don't know if someone already did this or not and if so, I sincerely apologize.

I don't have time to read ALL the posts but lyricaljoy you were rt on the money. He's an outcast. I feel like the youth in our culture are becoming more and more isolated. It's kind of an epidemic. Instead of writing about victims and some tragedy, I wanted to get into the killer's mind, like Truman Capote did in 'In Cold Blood. That's my style. I really like to get inside the heads of other people and try to walk in their shoes. I think you're right, lyricaljoy!

I also think that "Robert" is the name of the kid, and he starts off by telling the story in a kind of third-person view. AvaSketchBot on September 02, I thought it was a light-hearted song,with no meaning to bad things what so ever.

I don't like this song that much anymore. I didn't know much of the words,hence why I'm here. I had thought about singing it for a community thing. I most likely won't listen to it again. I thought it was just one of those kind of weird songs. But it reminds me of an 80's song called "i don't like mondays" Which is about a girl who went on a killing spree at her school when asked why she said she didn't like mondays,this made it more exciting.

In case you didn't guess,she was killing on a monday. I've changed my mind. It's too good of a song to not listen to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Daddy works a long day He be coming home late, yeah, he's coming home late And he's bringing me a surprise Because dinner's in the kitchen and it's packed in ice I've waited for a long time Maybe Dad's not there It shows how some kids without good, strong parenting and being brought up by TV will turn them loose.

Also bullying can push people to the breaking point, in ones mind or in other ways. Great song! The name Robert definitely draws a connection between this teenage killer and Robert A. Hawkins, a 19 year old who killed nine people in a mall shooting in in Nebraska. Interesting that Foster the People uses this comparison, a mall would likely be were all the pumped up kicks come from.

The allusion to a rolled cigarette hanging from his lips also draws comparisons to the on screen rebellions persona of James Dean, a similar persona with which another teenage killer, Charles Starkweather, was obsessed with. Now to tie the whole thing together for any conspiracy theorists, both of the killers I've related the song to came from Nebraska, and were some of the deadliest occasions in Nebraskan recent history, even thought they happened 50 years apart.

Nickvanosdol on September 22, It really was bothering me, and I was trying to figure out why that was happening more and more.

I wanted to tell that story and get inside the head of a kid going crazy," he said. It's not about him actually physically going and doing anything, it's about his mental state. I have to say, you're pretty much on the dot. The only thing is that I think you're wrong about the cowboy thing.

He has a revolver, and in many old cowboy movies they have guns. Maybe 'Robert' is at a costume party with a bunch of the 'trendy popular kids' mghorselover98 on September 26, I think the "I don't even know what" means he probably not only found his dad's gun but his stash of porn and the like. He took the gun but as for the rest of it This song is actually about the copycat killings of a young man that went into a mall and began shooting. Being a veteran from Iraq, the irony of most situations, you find humor that most people dont find.

Rhink06 on September 29, The name of the shooter in the song is Robert, which is the name of the boy who went on a shooting spree at the Westroads in Omaha, NE.

I agree with all that you said, and i think i might have an idea of who Robert is. Robert Blake is the actor that played Perry Smith, and Smith was a pretty messed up guy. His father abused his mother and all the children, including him. Perry's father was an alcoholic and then so was his mother. Then when his mother died when he was just 13, he was sent to an orphanage where the nuns would abuse him for chronic bed-wetting a common trait among serial killers.

Hope this helped, let me know your thoughts! Does anyone remember the song from the Boomtown Rats, "I don't like Mondays" Katfeemom on October 06, Could this song be about the kid killing his Dad? It's a hard one to figure out. Cool tune though! Love it! It seems this song has been pretty well analyzed. The one aspect I haven't seen explored is the possibility that this might have a darker edge to it than even the homicidal teen rampage.

This might have a hint of 'generational' serial killer phenomena. Could be one of the victims and either Robert has discovered something very disturbing about his father maybe some of the other "fun things" he found in the box with the gun - 'trophies' of his father's victims perhaps - or he has now completely broken with reality his Daddy is indeed back from home and is the one packed in ice.

Just sayin' Donteach on October 09, The line "and I don't even know what" would be a continuation of the previous line. I take it to read, yea, his dad has a box full of fun things and other things I couldn't even name.

Sounds like you have thought it through very intricately. Not sure how right on you are. But if I rated it on a scale of I'd give it an Hickoryou on October 15, Is it possible that robert refers to Robert Ford You would think for a sound that sounds so upbeat and catchy it would be about somthing diffrent and not about a homicidal teenager.

Binny on October 27, For the most part, I do believe you are spot on. Here's some of my take on it. This part This next part I find interesting I reason with my cigarette And say your hair's on fire You must have lost your wits, yeah I don't think it's a tobacco cigarette, but a cannabis cigarette, a. You definitely nailed it! Gave me chills reading your post and listening to the song. I was told by my friend who also likes this song that "dinner's packed in ice" referrs to Beer, liquior, wisky, etc.

But I do not know which is right. But the rest of the meanings really helped me understand the song and I thank you for that. Good Job. I completely agree with lyricaljoy. I just wanted to add that the band said in an interview that this song is spacifiacally about the Columbine shooting. It is a very good written song that keeps the tragity in our memory but I can't stand to listen to it anymore.

Im live in Colorado Springs Where Columbine High School is And I am constinly reminded of the event and even typing this right now is leaving me shaking, when I listen to this song I start to cry. This song is a good reminder to this event. MMCTrinity on November 10, Lyrical joy, the verse "dinner on ice" means that his hungry mans dinner is still in the freezer.

Its not an actual dinner. When adolescence do things like shooting ppl, they tend to identify with other people who have done things similar to what they are about to do. I think he may be referring to Robert Steinhauser who shot and killed 16 people in Erfurt. Its called the Erfurt Massacre. It is a perky pop ditty with just enough low-fi murkiness to make it hip.

And its bright carousel of a chorus gets in your head and spins merrily around. Maybe we're desensitized by the almost absurdly violent first-person-shooter video games so many kids spend their afternoons playing. Maybe naming the song after fancy sneakers instead of the weaponry creates enough emotional distance. Or maybe we figure — as I initially did — that it's just pop music, and its ear-candy qualities trump whatever the point of view might be.

But after looking closely at the song's lyrics and listening to it many extra times, I have come to agree that this song is more deserving of a push away than the warm embrace it has mostly received. I don't for a moment fear that my kids or yours are one ill-considered pop song away from going bad, but I'd just rather not have their environment include a school shooting treated with all the gravity of bubble-gum pop — with whistling!

From nowhere, they've gone to playing Lollapalooza this summer. They're on a mostly sold-out tour right now, scheduled to hit Chicago's Riviera Theatre Wednesday night. Kiwi the cat is a cute cat. Direct Bacon. Baines Liu. Robot Enterprises. Pauper Player's Brew. Dominic Valadez. Vance Turner. Savannah Hunter.

Shannen Canton. Rick JAmes. KJgang iPhone. Ecua- Potter Harry. Matheus Gutierre. Hannah Banana. Everton Paiva. Kevydude Inc. Whynter Halon. Boriana karamfilova-janeschitz. Sakri Klemola. Ryan mackay. Yoshikage kira. Leticia Correia. Alexis LopezAlcantara. Ileia Rezaei. Some Protogen. Vilmar Oliveira. Dolly Osorio Giraldo. Dave a Dan Games.