When I was young I knew everything
And she a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt-stricken sobbing with my head on the floor
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice now

Can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me
I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her
His girl took a week's worth of valium and slept
Now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his head on the floor
Thinks about her now and how he never really wept

Can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me
I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

Oh, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeaaaaaaaaaahhhh
Oh, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

We tried to wash our hands of all of this
And never talk of our lacking relationships
Or how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip, we'd say

Can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me
I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

For the life of me
I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me
I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

For the life of me
I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise...


Lyrics submitted by kingpyro

The Freshman Lyrics as written by Douglas Corella Donald Brown

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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The Freshman song meanings
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21 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I remember this song quite vividly from my young adulthood. I remember my mother, older sister and I were driving around town and this song came on the radio. I started to sing it and my mother started to cry. She said that the song was about abortion and suicide and that I was too young to sing a song like it. I never quite understood all the words, untill now. I wonder if this song was inspired by true events that took place in the authors life or his personal opinions on abortion...

    EisforEmotionalon June 13, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is a song about a girl who was raped and the sorrow and guilt that was untold to her. she's thinking about having an abortion but can't come to grips of going through with it because of the repsonsibilities of life.

    Finchon July 18, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    thats right finch, and i beleive this is my favorite cover out of every little ska or punk or any cover by far

    empty_satireon August 21, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love this song, and think its so sad, but heres the thing, i've listened to this and the original, and i can't tell a difference, it may just be the cold meds i'm on right now, but i feel like i'm missing something, can anyone like, tell me the difference?

    thegirlgreenon September 05, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    for one, much more brass.

    geekularon March 20, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "my best friend took a week's vacation to forget her"

    she wasn't raped, it was consensual....she had the abortion....made her so depressed she killed herself

    sakeboxon April 11, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is a fabulous cover - one of my favorites, for sure!

    okay, now as the meaning for the song, which was originally by the verve pipe:

    writer's girlfriend gets pregnant, and he has her abort the baby, so they won't have to get married. they're both guilty about it. then, the writer goes away to get away from everything, and while he's gone, his girlfriend commits suicide.

    part of this is actually true.. well, the abortion part is. however, the girl didn't really kill herself.

    so, there you go!

    thats superon May 11, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Really, I always thought this song was about a breakup... then again, im still young and never really listened deep into the lyrics... but damn if i wont skank to it.

    Ska Luchadoron January 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The original was one of my favorite songs ever and I used to play it all the time on my radio show back in college. *WARNING: What follows is the lead singers description of the song summed up from a 2001 posting on the bands web-site (vervepipings.com since defunct) !! **

    Brian Vander Ark (the singer/song writer) said that the song was about his relationship at a young age with his very serious at the time girlfriend who became pregnant. Instead of getting married they opted for an abortion, and the song talks about dealing with that pain. HE STATES THAT THE GIRLS SUICIDE WAS POETIC LICENSE for the song, but that the relationship and abortion were real. The name of the song actually comes from a reference to their youth, as well as having been the name of a movie (w/ Marlon Brando) that he had watched the night before. He claims after writing the lyrics "I realised we were all kinda freshmen."

    Brian goes on to conclude the post saying that the song has a life of its own, and it is important that it means whatever it has to for whoever needs it. The above meaning being only his as the writer, not the total summation of the song.

    If I can find a stable url for the original post I'll try and put it up. Great song though!

    nitehameron March 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice, now" REFERS TO STOPPING A MARRIGE AND HAVING AN ABORTION....

    zippybrighteyeson April 02, 2006   Link

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