Encryption_

The beginning verse establishes the narrator as oblivious and generally unintelligent through the lyric “I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed,” which indicates that the rest of the song will be told from a satirical point of view. It is also indicated, through “the world is gonna roll me” that the narrator will be manipulated by those around him. The next verse further indicates the narrator’s ignorance by saying how he is “fed to the rules,” which means that he blindly listens to the rules created by those around him, and also how it “your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb,” which is about how society educates him while simultaneously dumbing him down to conform to their rules. The next set of lyrics, “so much to do, so much to see… You’ll never shine if you don’t glow” are directly telling the listener the message of the song, which is that, in order to really “shine,” one must abandon the rules set forth by others by taking the “back streets.” The chorus is again through the voice of the ignorant narrator, as the lyrics idolize sports and rock stars, who exist only to “go play… get paid.” The lyric “all that glitters is gold” indicates the true superficial nature of this mindset, as the celebrities are being referred to as gold, which is the only thing that can “glitter,” or be successful. The last line of the chorus states the opposite; the only way to be a “shooting star” is to break the mold. What is being said in this line is that, while society idolizes celebrities, the truly successful people are the ones that “break the mold,” or defy society. The next verse is about how the world is becoming worse, represented by the lyric “it’s a cool place and they say it gets colder/ you’re bundled up now wait till you get older.” However, the “meteor men beg to differ/ judging by the hole in the satellite picture.” This lyric is very clear; the government tries to deny the problems in the world by covering up evidence and lying to the public. The narrator is content with his ignorance, as shown when he says, “that’s the way I like it and I never get bored,” which is saying that he doesn’t care about the world being destroyed around him because he is told by the government that nothing is wrong. The final verse brings it together by stating, “we could all use a little change.” This lyric is very literal; it means that everyone needs to change and stop blindly obeying the rules set forth by society. Through these lyrics, a theme is created about the apathy of the individual to the control of society over him. The juxtaposition of the dire message of these lyrics with the happy melody enhances the theme. The message of Smash Mouth to their listeners is that one should not blindly obey the rules of society.