Cool Kids

Album: Bark Like A Dog (1996)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song describes an all-too-common problem with childhood: the formation of cliques. In this case, some cool kids have formed an exclusive club where they meet to talk bad about other kids, even the subject of the song who's "ugly and an imbecile" according to them. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alec - Yorktown Heights, NY
  • Screeching Weasel frontman Ben Weasel thought he'd escaped the realm of cool kids when he first joined the rebellious punk-rock movement in the mid-'80s. But he was wrong.

    "I chose punk because I thought it was the only place where I could just do whatever I wanted and there were no cool kids groups or whatever," he told Tempi magazine in 2015. "But very quickly I began to realize that I was totally wrong, it's just like everything else. I began to rebel against that from the very beginning, and that has always caused problems to me. In fact I have no idea how I have a career at all…

    The reason people say that I'm right wing, even though I'm not, is because the predominant voice in punk is left wing, and I have to criticize it. If the predominant voice was right wing I would be doing the exact opposite. Not just for the sake of doing it, but because I'm against any sort of unthinking allegiance to anything. I took seriously what they say in the hippy movement and in the punk one too: to question everything. I question everything, including your insistence that I question everything."
  • This features Teakettle Jones on keyboards, which is a pseudonym for Weasel and the album's co-producer Mass Giorgini.
  • This was used on One Tree Hill in the 2003 episode "Every Night Is Another Story."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lip-Synch Rebels

Lip-Synch RebelsSong Writing

What happens when Kurt Cobain, Iron Maiden and Johnny Lydon are told to lip-synch? Some hilarious "performances."

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

The Fratellis

The FratellisSongwriter Interviews

Jon Fratelli talks about the band's third album, and the five-year break leading up to it.

Tony Banks of Genesis

Tony Banks of GenesisSongwriter Interviews

Genesis' key-man re-examines his solo career and the early days of music video.

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.

Michael W. Smith

Michael W. SmithSongwriter Interviews

Smith breaks down some of his worship tracks as well as his mainstream hits, including "I Will Be Here For You" and "A Place In This World."