Foster the People: Pumped Up Kicks Meaning

Song Released: 2010

Pumped Up Kicks Lyrics

Robert's got a quick hand
He'll look around the room
He won't tell you his plan
He's got a rolled cigarette
Hanging out of his mouth he's a cowboy kid
Yeah found a six-shooter gun
In his dad's closet hidden in a box of fun things, I don't...

1. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 5th 2011 !⃝

   Does anyone else think that the song Pumped Up Kicks is about the Von Maur shootings in Omaha, NE in 2007? Robert Hawkins was the shooter. In his suicide note he said he loves his friends and includes the name Mark. Mark Foster wrote this song. A Mark Foster used to live in Omaha, NE. The Mark Foster who wrote this song moved to Los Angeles in 2008-9 when the band formed. I think Mark Foster wrote this song for his old friend Robert Hawkins.. agree or disagree?
2. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jul 4th 2011 !⃝

   I suppose it's about life in general. Death is coming for you so get off your ass and do something.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 29th 2011 !⃝

   Robert is a quiet kid who, at least partially, idolizes cowboys or the cowboy loner mentality, perhaps he can relate because he, himself, is a loner. His father owns a six shooter(revolver) in his closet, possibly with his cigarettes, and maybe marijuana and other drugs(box of fun).
   Robert is a poor kid. He could never afford any of the "pumped up kicks"(nike shocks) and his mother isn't in the picture. His father is a working class man with a drinking problem and sometimes is abusive, he frequently comes home late leaving Robert to fend for himself, hence "dinner is packed in ice" (TV dinner). In retaliation Robert is going to invite the rich kids over and shoot them leaving his father to come home to the sight of many dead kids lying on the lawn. Robert is smoking a cigarette of some sort and waiting for the kids to come over at the time of this song.
4. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 27th 2011 !⃝

   Pumped up kicks are adrenalin activities.. Robert is going to shoot some people and possibly his family members with Daddys gun...found in a box of "fun things...and I dont even know what".. which may mean Daddy is a pervo as well as being absentee from work or whatever...."cowboy kid" is a reference to the gun ...because now Bobby-o thinks hes cool with his smoke and joint and the little thief now has a quick pull trigger for his pumped up kick...

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 14th 2011 !⃝

   I think it's about Robert Hawkins. He took his father 6 shooter gun, which makes him feel like a "cowboy" having that freedom to do whatever he wanted. The line "I don't even know why? But hes comming for you, ya hes coming for you." I feel has to do with his mother not knowing why he would do such a thing, yet he's able to go after anyone. Then he goes to the mall where all the kids that where pumped up kicks ("Cool Kids")and when everyone starts running after hearing the gun shots it's kind of pointless because if he wants he'll get you anyways "you better run better run faster than my bullet." When he talks about his father comming home from work drunk with dinner "packed in ice" meaning tv dinners, Something thats the same all the time. Maybe in some way he blames his father for what happened to him. Than he talks about reasoning with his cigarette thats something only a crazy person would do. Robert had many psychological disorders by the time of the shooting. "And say your hair's on fire, you must of lost your wit, yeah" He ended up shooting himself in the head after he killed 8 other people, so it's more of a foreshadowing of what's to come of him.
6. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 9th 2011 !⃝

   first off nike never made pumps they were reebok. And i actually remember when walking down the streets of bmore with some sneakers on meant you might have to outrun(or return) a bullet to keep them. Nice melodious song though
7. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 9th 2011 !⃝

   The song is not about any historical shooting incident. It's a fictional account of a neglected latchkey kid who turns on his peers and parents.
   
   The cowboy fantasy is a result of him being raised by television instead of his parents. He has no foundation at home to fall back on. His world is imaginary and isolated.
8. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

   You put dead bodies on ice.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. anonymous

   • 1
   • 2
   • 3
   • 4
   • 5

   click a star to vote

   Jun 2nd 2011 !⃝

   You guys are all retarded its about a school shooting aha.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    I think it's about a kid that's high and gonna kill his father and kids that has things he could'nt afford.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 27th 2011 !⃝

    "The song is about an outcast youth who doesn't wear the right clothes, doesn't say the right things and just doesn't fit in," Foster says. "It's really about the mental process of him going crazy. So it's a dark song with a really breezy melody."
    
    http://www.npr.org/2011/05/26/136643883/foster-the-people-an-outsider-anthem-a-viral-hit
12. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 19th 2011 !⃝

    I think the cheeriness of the song is a clue. I don't think Robert was planning to kill anyone, instead I think he's a kid who was playing cowboy, found his dads loaded gun thought it was a toy and went out to go play with the other kids. I think this is about parental neglect more than a depressed teen going on a killing spree. Otherwise the reference to being a cowboy doesnt really fit.
13. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 18th 2011 !⃝

    It is about a crazy murderer. Duh.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 15th 2011 !⃝

    To me, this is a song about a kid contemplating killing people because he's miserable (his dad's typical dinner is beer on ice). He knows his dad has a gun in the closet and he sees himself gunning down the people who piss him off (the rich kids, the bullies, his dad). He's a lonely kid and being alone he's the only one who knows of what he's about to do. Very chilling, but I bet this is how the killing sprees in our nation start: inside the dreamy head of a lonely kid (or kids). Sad.
    
    Amazing song, though! It's catchy, sticks in your head. :D
15. anonymous

    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

    click a star to vote

    May 15th 2011 !⃝

    He's got a rolled cigarette, hanging out his mouth...
    One final thing I forgot to mention. The "rolled" is very important. It's not just an ordinary cigarette, it's one that is rolled, meaning Robert actually created his "friend".
    I'll talk about the other versus later, if I remember to. I gotta go... Later...

Latest Articles

• 
  A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
• 
  Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
• 
  Dolly, we need you
• 
  The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
• 
  The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
• 
  Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)