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No Such Thing Lyrics
"welcome to the real world"
she said to me condescendingly "take a seat, take your life plot it out in black and white" well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings and the drama queens I'd like to think the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve they love to tell you "stay inside the lines" but something's better on the other side I want to run through the halls of my high school I want to scream at the top of my lungs I just found out there's no such thing as the real world just a lie you've got to rise above so the good boys and girls take the so-called right track faded white hats grabbing credits, maybe transfers they read all the books but they can't find the answers all of our parents, they're getting older I wonder if they've wished for anything better while in their memories, tiny tragedies they love to tell you "stay inside the lines" but something's better on the other side I want to run through the halls of my high school I want to scream at the top of my lungs I just found out there's no such thing as the real world just a lie you've got to rise above I am invincible I am invincible I am invincible as long as I'm alive I want to run through the halls of my high school I want to scream at the top of my lungs I just found out there's no such thing as the real world just a lie you've got to rise above I just can't wait for my ten year reunion I'm gonna bust down the double doors and when I stand on these tables before you you will know what all this time was for
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11-14-2009
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09-10-2009
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08-24-2009
All through high school and most of college people discount you like you aren't a part of the real world because you are still in school and aren't really part of the "real world" yet. You aren't out there in a career or working 40+ hours a day with full adult responsibilities.
In college and even to some degree high school, people are always trying to get you to "take a seat and plot your life in black and white..." pick a major, a career, and set your life up before you've even had any experience or really lived life! That's the "right" track, but few people ever do this successfully and are actually happy in doing so. I think the point of the song is you don't have to do it that way. At that point in life, everybody is looking for answers, some are looking in books, some were prom kings or drama queens, or whatever else. You can live your life and make a plan and try and stay inside the lines, or you can get out there and live life and really find out what life is about. The people who do this are going to be far happier and better off then those who sort of walk the prescribed path.
I think that the main character or narrator of this song has done that and realizes that the whole process is a sham and that living life is what it is all about, and doing things your own way is all that really matters. There is no such thing as the real world and all of this responsibility and heavy handedness that everyone always references, there really is only yourself and your life and whatever you want to make of it.
Sorry if this rant made no sense, but I think the song has much more of an existentialist slant than simply being about not conforming.
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02-15-2009
but something's better on the other side'
when i was little, i would always go over to my neighbor's house with my sister, (this neighbor is more like a grandparent) and my neighbor's sister would always be like "stay inside the lines, val" while i was coloring all over the place, meanwhile, my sister's would be perfect, inside the lines, realistic colors and everything.
it's strange how the smallest things can mirror some of the biggest things in our lives.
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02-03-2009
also, i would like to tell everyone that im in eighth grade, and my school is quite small so i dont have much chance to run through its halls. oh well.
the first line kind of reminds me f all those movies where the promising young singer/artist/designer/architect/whatever goes to his/her first job interview/job. he/she is really confident about him/herself and is really psyched for their first day, then is handed a pile of paperwork. "I thought I would be doing important stuff. You know, like [whatever they were expecting to do--record music, paint, design...]" Then the boss says, condescendingly, "Welcome to the real world." its just like that.
i have to say though, I really do not like John Mayer. I don't think he does well in live performances, and his voice is *okay*. So the $64,000 question is, why am I making all these comments on his song?
Well, I wouldn't be if I didn't love his music so much. :)
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02-03-2009
heard it on the radio, bought it on itunes, looked on songmeanings.com for the lyrics/what other people thought of it. makes me wanna get up and dance.
i wanna run through the halls of my high school
i wanna scream at the top of my lungs...ahh it makes me so happy
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10-28-2008
You're already there, it never changes, the powers that be just keep sucking at you... there's no escape!
Enjoy the now.... now is all you'll ever have!
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10-22-2008
But during my junior/senior year of high school, I finally listened to it and realized that I could totally relate.
I know where I live, the majority was working towards being doctors, business men/women, accountants, etc (and quite a few of them had their careers picked out from birth). Not that there's anything wrong with those professions, but they're certainly not my thing! And so I'd tell people "I'm going to be an art major" and they'd be like "...Oh."
So I think it's just about doing what you want to do, despite the "...ohs" you get from people. xD
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07-28-2008
FIRST STANZA:
He's meeting his high school counselour and she's telling him he must do this and that in order to be successful. You know the deal. You have to have SAT of XXX and you should have been president of such and such and John probably doesn't meet these requirements (never having been the prom king, etc.).
He thinks he can make it, regardless of the fact that he doesn't fit the mold. He realizes that outside the lines of that mold, there can be so much more (and in fact, he is right. The richest and most successful people step outside the line).
He notices that the good children are following the advice of the counselour. Now, the verse about parents... I THINK its about how the parents are getting older and they have experience and by now they've probably realized that staying inside the lines wasn't always the best thing and John wonders if they would go back and change it and if they feel bad that they did what they did (or rather, didn't do).
John realizes that he can't be defeated as long as he's alive. That is, he will never be unsuccessful as long as he's trying his best.
The Real World is a myth. That is, the way that people tell us students how the "real world" is is a myth. The real world is what you make it and if you stay within the status quo, it will become the myth that it doesn't have to be.
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06-29-2008
the bridge is without a doubt the most meaningful part to this song..i hope it speaks to everyone the way it speaks to me:
"I am invincible, as long as I'm alive.."
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05-14-2008
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04-30-2008
was what i meant to say =]
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04-30-2008
this song is so me. relates to me so much, i'm in year 12 as we speak, under a year until i finish high school. I know what I want in life, i want to make skateboarding my life (which it already is). i'm no i'm not ready yet but its the only thing that makes me happy, its what i do, its who i am. my life. anyway, i'm gonna keep pursuing it until i get it, cause i know i'm gonna be miserable if i never make it.
just like the music industry as RememberToForget pointed out, it doesnt get the respect its deserves from society. skateboarding is like that, too. as i go through life i have people telling me "to get a life" and disproving of what i do. well, fuck them! its my life, i'm going to do what i want with it, i want ot be happy. don't we all?
wow, really deep but i had to let that all out.
i love you john mayer. very talent artist! kudos to you my friend.
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02-05-2008
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01-17-2008
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12-18-2007
"i am invincible as long as im alive"
birth-rebirth.
what humans go through.
you will be born into another life once you die,
unless you rise above. let go of what you're fed through media and meet the real you.
experience enlightenment and let go of all your old beliefs.
take advantage while your human.
then you dont have to live off other peoples songs and worrying about people who like the songs ("preps") and actually appreciate the music and those people for sharing an interest.
when he says "i just found out theres no such thing as the real world" means, the real world, what we think is the real world, what were born into - its not actually real.
everything were told is pretty much a lie, and its very decieving, all these thigns get in your way and try and blind you from teh truth.
so you've got to rise above.
again, let go.
the rest is pretty straight forward :)
this is a very amazing song
and my faovurite line is
"so the good boys and girls take the so-called right track
faded white hats grabbing credits, maybe transfers
they read all the books but they can't find the answers"
ENJOY :D
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11-13-2007
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05-14-2007
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04-30-2007
I heard it in a video at school that was a yearbook slideshow thing. I instanly recognised the song as my favorite song, my "soul song". I know the idea seems a bit weird, but still.
It starts out very mellow and quiet with the guitar and bass and instantly he starts singing and you hear the drums. This symbolizes the quick, overwhelming start of highschool and the adulthood of your life. "take a seat, take your life
plot it out in black and white" It then says that you need to plan your life in high school.
"well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
and the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
is still hiding up my sleeve"
He is complaning that he wasn't the most popular kid at the school but he still had a good life looking back on it.
"so the good boys and girls take the so-called right track
faded white hats grabbing credits, maybe transfers
they read all the books but they can't find the answers
all of our parents, they're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
while in their memories, tiny tragedies"
The other kids were following the croud with fashions and trends that everyone else was doing. The part about the parents makes me sad to hear for some reason, but I think it's my favorite part of the song.
Artists > John Mayer > No Such Thing
Submitted by Ice on December 21, 2001
Get John Mayer Ringtones!
Get MP3 ringtones – tons of them.
"welcome to the real world"
she said to me condescendingly
"take a seat, take your life
plot it out in black and white"
well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
and the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
is still hiding up my sleeve
they love to tell you "stay inside the lines"
but something's better on the other side
I want to run through the halls of my high school
I want to scream at the top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
just a lie you've got to rise above
so the good boys and girls take the so-called right track
faded white hats grabbing credits, maybe transfers
they read all the books but they can't find the answers
all of our parents, they're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
while in their memories, tiny tragedies
they love to tell you "stay inside the lines"
but something's better on the other side
I want to run through the halls of my high school
I want to scream at the top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
just a lie you've got to rise above
"I am invincible
I am invincible
I am invincible
as long as I'm alive"
This clearly shows what kids think in their teens. Nothing can hurt them and they are invincible. This is sadly not the truth stated ironically in the last line.
That's MY perception of the song for you. I may be extremely wrong on some parts of it. I just wanted to tell what I thought it was to me.
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04-30-2007
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04-29-2007
I want to scream at the top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
just a lie you've got to rise above"
I do, I really do, although I didn't just, I know it is. Did that make any sense?
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04-06-2007
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04-03-2007
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03-03-2007
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03-03-2007
People whose lives began AFTER high school will totally get this song.
People who felt they could not break out of their shell while in high school will totally get this song.
People who felt pigeon-holed during high school will totally get this song.
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