Last day of the rest of my life
I wish I would've known
'Cause I would've kissed my mama goodbye

I didn't tell her that I loved her and how much I care
Or thank my pops for all the talks
And all the wisdom he shared

Unaware, I just did what I always do
Everyday, the same routine
Before I skate off to school

But who knew that this day wasn't like the rest
Instead of taking a test
I took two to the chest

Call me blind, but I didn't see it coming
Everybody was running
But I couldn't hear nothing

Except gun blasts, it happened so fast
I didn't really know this kid
He wasn't part of the class

Maybe this kid was reaching out for love
Or maybe for a moment
He forgot who he was
Or maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged
Whatever it was
I know it's because

[Chorus]
We are, We are, the youth of the nation

Little Suzy, she was only twelve
She was given the world
With every chance to excel

Hang with the boys and hear the stories they tell
She might act kind of proud
But no respect for herself

She finds love in all the wrong places
The same situations
Just different faces

Changed up her pace since her daddy left her
Too bad he never told her
She deserved much better

Johnny boy always played the fool
He broke all the rules
So you would think he was cool

He was never really one of the guys
No matter how hard he tried
Often thought of suicide

It's kind of hard when you ain't got no friends
He put his life to an end
They might remember him then

You cross the line and there's no turning back
Told the world how he felt
With the sound of a gat

[Chorus]

Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim
No matter what you say
It don't take away the pain

That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies
Don't nobody know why
It's the blind leading the blind

I guess that's the way the story goes
Will it ever make sense
Somebody's got to know

There's got to be more to life than this
There's got to be more to everything
I thought exists

[Chorus]



Lyrics submitted by HoldURBreath, edited by SlashedO

Track duration: 04:16

"Youth of the Nation" as written by Sandoval/curiel/daniels/bernardo

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Youth Of The Nation song meanings
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313 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:If someone tells the world how they feel with the sound of a gat and the world isnt there to hear it, does the gat still make a noise?

    I can only imagine this song was written with nothing more in mind then selling as many copies as possible.

    It borders on being comical how ambiguously vanilla they write about hardcore implications. This is the industry wagging its pierced pinochio puppets to its finest.
    Flagged elwoood13on June 26, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is gorgeous.
    i'm from Australia and i can hardcore relate to this song.
    sometimes people just.. lose their way, and thats when lives get lost.
    kids these days have to raise themselves, the parents have no clue what to do.
    they treat us like shit, but i guess.. born and raised by hypocrites.
    Flag hollyrochelleon June 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love this song! AS for the meaning, you could replace "We are the Youth of the Nation" as "We are the Product of our Environment."
    Flag DubiousDoobieson November 18, 2010   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:I truly love this song. The message is so intense and strong.
    It's like saying that we, as youth of the nation have a certain responsibility to keep these avoidable tragedies from happening. And to therefore make the world a better place.

    But i just have to reply to roth89's comment about religion. It just makes me mad.
    First of all, If there was no religion whatsoever, do you know how messed up our world would be?? I mean, I can't even imagine. People wouldn't care about anything. There would just be murder and hate. Religion is a uniting thing that brings people together. Without it, we wouldn't exist. Nothing would. No law, no compassion, no anything.

    Seriously. If you honestly believe that there is no God, you are soooo ignorant, uneducated, and i'd seriously suggest taking a few classes in history and taking a look at life in general and the beauty that is presented around you every single day. My history classes have presented me with more and more undeniable proof that there is a God. Miracles happen on a daily basis. I've seen it, and i've lived it. And if you still swear that there is no God, i suggest you check into an insane asylum. I'm not joking either.

    God exists in every single part of your life. You can't escape it. He's always there. And He's the only answer to every one of your problems.
    Flagged ilyrawrron August 27, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:this song is about santana high school in santee california:

    Guitarist Marcos Curiel: "It's always been a topic on tour. I don't want to say it inspired us, but it gave us the motivation to write something. Well, when we were writing this record, we wanted to be secluded so we went to Santee, in East San Diego, where we had this 35x35 rehearsal studio. One day we were on our way to practice, and we saw all these cops, but we didn't know what was going on. Later we found out what had happened (The shooting). this is how we came up with the song youth of the nation. It was an emotional situation. The main control room in the studio has a TV, and we're watching the news on there, thinking, 'Man, this is a mess.' I'm the only one that doesn't have kids, but everybody was like, ' Dude, that could have been my kids in there,' or 'That could have been my sister.'"
    Flag santeejron July 15, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"It's the blind leading the blind" After tragedy strikes very common for people to say, "Never saw it coming, wish I could of done something"..then everyone attends the funeral and then continue on with their lives....so what changed? Well damnit, its about time for people to wake up, give a damn, step up and reach out... we need more positive role models out there......
    Flag temptation777on July 06, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:Okay, this song is about more than one subject. it's not about one school shooting. It's about every little problem, insecurity, and issue us youth face. So stop saying this song is about one thing (ex.Columbine) it's about tons of things.
    Flag Matt12159on July 06, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:P.O.D. wrote this as a response to not only Columbine, but mainly it was a response to the Santana High School shooting in 2001, which happened in Santee, CA (close to San Diego where they're from).
    Flag beau99on March 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song speaks to me so much. I used to often feel like coming to school with a gun and shooting all the people who believed they were higher than me and got off on putting me down. In the first part, when he says: "Or maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged" I feel an instant connection. I never would have felt the way I did if someone had just shown some sort of love or compassion.

    In the second section, the whole part about Suzy is the story of my girlfriend's life. And the part about Johnny Boy is pretty damn close to the story of one of her ex-boyfriends.

    Flag Spectre13on March 07, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:To be quite honest, I relate to this song since this crap has happened in my lifetime to people all around me.

    I'm not bringing God and all that mubo jumbo into this because to be quite honest, I could care less since I'm Wiccan. I think this is a great song only because of the pictures it paints in your mind and sticks with you.

    To those that think all these topics in this song are caused by groing up without God, think again. I went to Catholic school for six years and hated every minute of it 'cause those kids were cruel all because I was different and far more mature than them. I never cared about stupid crap that won't matter in five minutes. I liked politics and theology and anything intelectual (I spell like a ten year old!). The point is, I grew up being smothered, and in the end, it didn't mean anything. I am who I am, and I'm proud of that. The kids I went to that school with either ended up in public school and are probably now in jail, or they ended up at the Catholic high school and are now snooty bi0tches. *shrug* Whatev.

    I like the song and it has a pretty nice meaning as well as a catchy melody.

    If you read all of that, WOW. lol.

    -Chriss
    Flag SquireChrisson April 13, 2009   Link

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