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God, what a mess, on the ladder of success
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung
Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons
Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom
Elvis in the ground, there'll ain't no beer tonight
Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons
Unwillingness to claim us, ya got no word (war?) to name us
The ones who love us best are the ones we'll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please
If it's any consolation, I don't begin to understand them
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons
Young...take it, it's yours...
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung
Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons
Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom
Elvis in the ground, there'll ain't no beer tonight
Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function
It beats pickin' cotton and waitin' to be forgotten
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons
Unwillingness to claim us, ya got no word (war?) to name us
The ones who love us best are the ones we'll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please
If it's any consolation, I don't begin to understand them
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons
Young...take it, it's yours...
Lyrics submitted by punkynoisething, edited by lhooq27, oski2005
Track duration: 03:38
"Bastards of Young" as written by Paul Westerberg
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Yeah... I've spent some time addicted to the Mats. Nevermind that. ;)
For the most part I think that the Mats' more debatable lyrics are easily more decipherable than guessed. And, though it may be reprehensible to turn the volume down whilst listening, ya (or, I) kinda have to.
On this wonderful little ditty, here's my take on some of it. Hear me out...
Paul understands grammar, common verbiage, slang, and certainly how to use common and uncommon contractions. Just as with other great lyricists, his references are easily understandable, likely because he conveyed himself properly, without taking it for granted, and without being lazy about it.
The combination of "there'll ain't", for instance. "Ain't" and "there'll" are both commonly used words.
But, "There'll ain't" used together? No... they don't work together, and ya can't force them to fake it. "There'll" (there will) "ain't" (is not) "no beer tonight" / "There will is not no beer tonight" is what that means together, and which doesn't mean anything.
Unfortunately, "there'll ain't" is a common lyric people have stuck to on the second verse of this song.
"Elvis in the ground.
No waitin' on beer tonight."
This song, most would agree, celebrates the generation for whom it is written (ie: "We are the sons of no one", "...take it, it's yours"). With that, Paul would seem to, with respect, acknowledge that Elvis is dead. And, that Elvis' association is to a past generation. (Key words: past generation.)
That being said, the generation that "Bastards of Young" refers to is undeniably different than the generation that is related with Elvis. However, "Bastards of Young" are just as relevant as the past generation, even though we bastards may not know or feel relevant. "That past generation has gone... time to celebrate our own generation! A round of drinks for we bastards of young! No waiting on beer tonight!"
"Unwillingness'd claim us.
Ya got no war to name ours."
Basically, it's Paul's reiteration of the "bastards" theme, with a dab of paradox to confirm it.
"Unwillingness'd (unwillingness would) claim us"... the simple apathy of unwillingness would claim us, if it could. Which, still, means we're bastards... because unwillingness is apathetic by its own nature.
And, lastly, as with wars that were/are easily attributed to other generations, there is no particular war that can be attributed to the bastards of young generation... the generation Paul's referring to by simply using the lyric "ours".
Gawd, I love these songs!
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung
i almost can't fucking believe two lines can sum up the past few years of my life. i need a "bastards of young" support group.
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least are the ones we'll die to please
If it's any consolation, I don't begin to understand them"
Classic lines. One of the best songs ever by any artist. Against Me! did a great cover of this song.
he slips in a "sons of norway" for a "sons of no one" one time
sons-of-norway is kinda-sorta big in mpls. it's a group along the lines of shriners and elks and what-not that were so popular to the generation of the 50's.
in the 80's they degenerated to the point that they mainly sold insurance (and like the shriners and the elks gained no new members while watching all of their current members die off). The had a huge building in the twin cities and they allowed local bands to rent their space on friday and saturday nights for concerts.
i'm sure the mats played at least once at the sons of norway during '81.