I Wasn't Born to Follow

wow, no one has commented on this song yet. amazing. well this (in my opinion) is the most amazing song on the entire album. the lyrics are so real, and really speak to young people. so i really love this song. yay for mike ness!

i agree with u dcfreak that this song really speaks to young people, im 16 and totally feel this song. i thinks its my new theme song.

"Gonna change the world, gonna turn the page Gonna say what I feel, let out this rage, get ready"

i think he sayin hes ready to change his life for the better and gonna let out all the irritants and stresses that kept him from living life which were bottled up inside, this song really means something to me, i can relate perfectly

I agree with both of you, this song really speaks to me, it is my dream to bring back the real punk, not the clothing, but the attitude, and the need for change, and i want to get on stage with my guitar, and sing my songs, and let the new generation hear me

"Here comes a new generation, hope they feel and fight the same ways we did"

This is a great song and does touch me since I am in a punk band. It is great to hear a legend in punk music saying that he wants the young kids to bring back what punk was. That is what I get from the song, but I do know that this song is also about Joe Strummer and The Clash, Joey Ramone and The Ramones starting up the whole punk movement. I know that Mike Ness dedicated the song to them on the dvd "Live in Orange County"

I dont agree with the other comments..... My interpretation is that Mike Ness is admitting he took the beaten path and taking a road he wanted to without following what mainstream ideas were thinking, he wants music to be like it was in the good old days

I think it's about being young and being ready to take the path less traveled for the greater good of yourself and the world.

I don't think the song is that straightforward. I think there's a lot of irony in it.

My guess is, it is indeed about being young, about thinking you're the coolest thing in the universe, that only you have the right thoughts, and that you're the one that's finally going to "change the world". Almost all of us are going through this when we're young, and I don't think there's a way around it. Then we're "going down". That's when some of us find something that helps them become a person they never thought they'd be.

I think the main theme of the song is similar to "I Was Wrong". And I'm sure that those who now think that this song is a "young rebel anthem", in a few years will find it to be kind of satiric.