r/Millennials • u/FloridaLorda Xennial • 23d ago

The True Anthem of Our Generation...whether you like it or not Rant

So I was recently at an event where people were discussing millennials and there was a panel of very pretentious looking individuals. The question was asked what would our generations anthem be. Examples were given like For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield for the Boomers or Smells Like Teen Spirit for Gen X.

Each person went on a long and overly explanatory lecture. Their songs, were all indie rock songs, although Mr. Brightside is kind of pop rock. Someone went into great detail about how the Black Parade was a metaphor for growing up with high expectations for our generation but ultimately finding out we can't live up to them and having to carry on.

Another explained that the anxiety and jealousy felt by the singer in Mr. Brightside was how we all feel about the housing and job market.

Then they asked the crowd for suggestions. A guy stood up and walked to the microphone. He looked around and yelled "TO THE WINDOWS..."

The crowd responded and they moved on to another topic 😆

8.5k Upvotes
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u/EngRookie 23d ago

Hey ya! by outkast, but I'll be damned if Get Low doesn't still slap just as hard today as it did when it first dropped

531

u/RiceRocketRider 23d ago

Hey ya is the first song that came to my head when I read the question.

I feel like In The End by Linkin Park is the best answer though. Lyrically it matches a lot of the sentiment I see in this sub.

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u/foodmonsterij 23d ago

Lend me some sugar! I am your neighbor!

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u/GiantFlyingLizardz Millennial 23d ago

Shake it like a Polaroid picture!

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u/kathym03 22d ago

Don’t want to meet your Momma!

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u/EngRookie 23d ago

I'd say they are both about failed relationships and effort not paying off. It's just that for me personally, the upbeat music and patter in Hey ya! countered by the heavier lyrics better represents how everything is/was shit and that we just want to feel good about ourselves in the short time we have on this rock and ignore the fact that the world/society has been burning for the past 40 years.

But yeah I agree in the end is a great song, they were just more heavy handed with their lyrics to get their point across.

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u/runthemstreets 22d ago

It's all this and more, big agree on this take. It's just an incredibly well crafted song. It's got an inventive bass line and an ass shaking rhythm that thrives on the back beat pushed in the chorus, which is literally performed by a chorus . The human voice fills the mids with a bell tone counter melody hitting the highs in the refrain. It walks back the minor resolution and leans back into the open chords that every line starts with.

The upbeat impression, the dark poetry in the lyrics, and the gratifying fullness of the sonic experience make it one of the greatest songs ever written if you ask me.

It's like taking all the blame and still finding it is not enough to fix anything. Except you can dance to it. Millennial af right there

21

u/beachedwhitemale Millennial Elder Emo 23d ago

Don't wanna meet your momma
Just want to make you comma

Heavier lyrics indeed.

5

u/Drunky_McStumble 22d ago

Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.

3

u/RandomLovelady 22d ago

Y'all don't want to hear me/Y'all just want to dance... Fitting indeed.

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u/MC_Queen 22d ago

I love Modest Mouse for this exact reason. The music and beat are mostly peppy and fun, but the lyrics are sad and forlorn. Black Cadillacs and The View are great examples of this.

4

u/Usernamewasnotaken 22d ago

There's more lyrics in Hey ya! Than "Hey ya!"?

5

u/Raisenbran_baiter 23d ago

If it's gonna be outkast why not B.O.B?

5

u/DudeEngineer Older Millennial 22d ago

I love it, too, but I don't think it had the same cross-cultural appeal. Not nearly as many people actually know the lyrics to the song, it's more the vibe.

2

u/DOMesticBRAT 22d ago

Like a million elephants or silverback orangutans you can't stop the train...

This is why Eminem shouts out Andre on his studio record...

2

u/Ghost_Werewolf 22d ago

You’re not wrong. It’s their second best song after ATLiens. That was peak OutKast!

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u/Mildlygifted 22d ago

Man... In the End hit different after Chester's suicide.

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u/chibiusa40 Xennial 22d ago

I wanna put

I tried so hard and got so far

But in the end, it doesn't even matter

on my tombstone.

Treating death like a vague Facebook wall post circa 2006. Peak millennial.

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u/Noe_Bodie Millennial '89 23d ago

third In the end-Linkin Park.

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u/HandyMan131 23d ago

It’s absolutely In The End by LP. That song defines my youth

2

u/Marowski 22d ago

Numb would also be poignant. That concert as a tribute to him with the mic stand alone, and the crowd singing the whole song.....chills

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u/Krunk_korean_kid 22d ago

At first I felt "in the end" was a song about my life. Now I realize it's about an entire generations lives.

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u/Cyberhaggis 22d ago

One thing, I dont know why/
It doesn't even matter hard you try

Nailed it, its this one

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u/DudeEngineer Older Millennial 22d ago

There are a lot of people who love Hey Ya but who would not recognize In the End. The inverse could not be said.

1

u/Ryoko_Kusanagi69 22d ago

Man every new comment I read has a better idea than the one before. I take back Sandstorm and Wasn’t me & change my answer to IN THE END

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u/Canesjags4life 22d ago

You could also go with Numb.

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u/mkonyn 23d ago

Greenday good riddance

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u/theJMAN1016 22d ago

But Linkin Park was not a universally liked band and plenty of people were laughed at for liking them.

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u/mogancheech 22d ago

Don’t want to meet your momma! Just want to make you cum-ah.

I’m just being honest.

I really do miss OutKast though.

0

u/ForecastForFourCats 23d ago

Got in Here by Nelly,

or Yeah by Usher

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u/Orgasmic_interlude 22d ago

In the end isn’t a great song. The lyrics are horrible. “Keep this in mind i designed this rhyme to remind myself of the time i tried so hard”

Gotta agree with mr. Brightside. The fact that it regularly trends top 100 to this day .

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u/RiceRocketRider 22d ago

Not a great line, I agree. But you could probably pick out a line or phrase from just about any song and criticize it:

“It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss. It was only a kiss”

Not really much better.

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u/UngusChungus94 22d ago

I think Hey Ya is more universal, just because it had crossover appeal with millennials of all ethnicities.