"Normal American Kids" is a ballad dedicated to teenagers who believe themselves to be different from their peers. The poem illustrates how each and every American kid thinks that they are unique because of their rebellion. The author talks about his days as a teenager in a brooding and resentful tone, but now that he is grown he can recognize that he had nothing to be afraid of. He reflects back on himself with nostalgia and wisdom and realizes that he was no different from a Normal American Kid. Whether it was getting high behind his shed or feeling bored on lazy summer days, he writes with sarcasm about how angsty he used to be. When the author writes "I was as high as high can get", he implies two things: that he was as happy and as carefree as he was ever going to be, and he used his time as a kid to resent other kids who were just like him. In the last stanza, when he says,"Hate everything, I don't understand" he admits that his hate came from a place of ignorance, and as an adult he realizes how foolish that fear is.
Look up the false uniqueness effect: it's when people underestimate how common their skills are, so they swear that they're more special (whether it be more talented, smarter, etc.) than the "average" person.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of a "Normal American Kid," I automatically think of rebellion. It is ironic that the author believes rebellion makes him different from the average teen because we, as American teenagers, hear so much about the teenage social norm connected to substance abuse and angst.
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