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Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under your breath
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under my window
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under your breath
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under my window
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
Lyrics submitted by fallacies, edited by krosm, sarahnorthway
Track duration: 04:36
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To me, this is what your teenage self would say about you when they would see you later in life. Before you settled, but after you sold out and became part of "the system" I think it's both in first person and second person. First part is in first person, the rest in second (from the POV of your teenage self)
"Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back"
The first person part. You miss being crazy, principled, fun, "yourself" and non-comformist. But you've grown out of that because you got more responsible with age and pressured to be part of society.
And then your teenage you says:
"Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under your breath
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under my window"
Criticizing your older self about what it has become. I think the "under my window" refers to how "the 17 year old girl" is still there and can hear everything that you're saying and doing.
"Park that car, drop that phone"
Sleep on the floor, dream about me"
Be less "responsible/serious/grown-up" sometimes, let go ("sleep on the floor") and remember your old self ("dream about me").
It sounds really mournful to me too.
I think it's about your "17 year old self" because you're still technically a kid then, but you've already developed emotionally and intellectually. This is the most evolved "you" there is before you become an adult (turn 18).
"Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that."
But now she's older she's lost her quirky seventeen year old self. She has accept that she's grown up.
"Now you're all gone, got your make up on and you're not coming back."
She's trying to tell herself to drop everything and just try to find her old self, lose all the responsibilities of being an adult.
"Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me."
Truthfully, I think this is a very sad song, she's saying goodbye to her teen years and her childhood.
I will say that the live version from This Movie is Broken is the best rendition that I have heard as the song is being sung some 8 years after it was written and the last time with the entire collective on stage together. It ends with Emily in near tears saying "I miss my friends" while looking at Leslie and then Amy.
In the speaker's opinion: the other party is growing for the worse--they've become materialistic and shallow; they hide their real self from the world ("make up on" and "bleaching [their] teeth").
The stanza about the car, phone, and floor: it's symbolic for the other party's materialism--by jettisoning a car, phone, and bed, the other party would be losing objects that now define their life. And by doing that, the party could "dream about" the speaker again (and a simpler time before that materialism).
And I think that the title is a little tongue-and-cheek in that regard--I think that the "anthem" part of the title suggests how it's supposed to be almost cliche. High School Aged kids lose close friends all of the time as they near adulthood, and a common statement will be "oh, so-and-so was once a really close friend, but they have changed so much!"
This song is about wanting that other person to miss your lost-friendship too ("dream about me").
Also, there is nothing in the song to suggest it is about a romantic-relationship; it might be, but I almost believe it is about a platonic friendship (two girls, maybe). We are just conditioned to think of songs as being about romance before we really look at them closely.
Love the song, by the way.
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
Can't you come back?
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under your breath
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under your breath
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under your breath
Bleachin' your teeth, smiling flash
Talking trash, under my window
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone,
Sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone
Used to be the one of the rotten ones
And I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on
And you're not coming back
When I listen to this song, I think of a seventeen-year-old teenage girl in high school, finally growing out of her awkward stage of life. Now is the time that girls are beginning to bleach their teeth, get cell phones, drive, and bully other girls. Essentially, they are becoming the typical teenage girls.
This girl is attracted to this type of behavior and starts to experiment, metaphorically dipping her toes in the cold water. But deep inside, she still hasn’t grown up. Inside she’s asking herself not to grow up, because she knows she will never come back.
She has committed, spending the rest of her life trying to be everyone else. She talks trash about her old self (talking trash under my window), bleaches her teeth (bleachin’ your teeth, smiling flash), and does as everyone else does.
The song starts off with her warning herself to remember that she won’t come back once she grows up. Eventually by the end of the song, she is begging herself to go back to what she used to think of as her rotten self (used to be one of the rotten ones, and I liked you for that). But now she’s all gone, with her make up on, and she’s not coming back.
i'm 15 and i can DEFINITELY relate to this song. I understand this song for myself.
For me, this song tells the truths about teenage girls--how they change, and how their friends notice those changes.
whenever i hear the lyrics:
"used to be one of the rotten ones and i liked you for that"
---i automatically think about two UNfabulous girl friends. they're being complete nobodies together but they're happy to have their friendship.
and then: "Now you're all gone, got your make-up on And you're not coming back"
---one of the friends bloomed and discovered make-up and cosmetics and the perks of being pretty and left her friend behind. I think this now fabulous-outside friend is shaping a fake self to fit in the IN crowd and just got in SOOO deep beneath her fakeness that she can't come back that easily to her true self anymore, and is now struggling--and the left-behind friend sees it all.