1
Sophomore year
You rushed for an average of eight and a third yards per carry
All eyes were on you
Junior year
Blew your knee out at an out town game
Nowhere to go but down, down, down
Nothing but the ground left for you to fall to
By July
You'd made a whole bunch of brand new friends
People you used to look down on
And you'd figured out a way to make real money
Giving ends to your friends and it felt stupendous
Chrome spokes on your Japanese bike
But selling acid was a bad idea
And selling it to a cop was a worse one
And a new law said that seventeen year old's could do federal time
You were the first one
So I sing this song for you, William Stanaforth Donahue
Your grandfather rode the boat over from Ireland
But you made a bad decision or two, yeah
You rushed for an average of eight and a third yards per carry
All eyes were on you
Junior year
Blew your knee out at an out town game
Nowhere to go but down, down, down
Nothing but the ground left for you to fall to
By July
You'd made a whole bunch of brand new friends
People you used to look down on
And you'd figured out a way to make real money
Giving ends to your friends and it felt stupendous
Chrome spokes on your Japanese bike
But selling acid was a bad idea
And selling it to a cop was a worse one
And a new law said that seventeen year old's could do federal time
You were the first one
So I sing this song for you, William Stanaforth Donahue
Your grandfather rode the boat over from Ireland
But you made a bad decision or two, yeah
Lyrics submitted by springheeledCJ, edited by KingQwerty
Fall of the Star High School Running Back Lyrics as written by John Darnielle
Lyrics © PACIFIC ELECTRIC MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Initially the kid is at top of his game and then plans fall through. He gets ostracized by his friends (the football team), and ends up adapting to a whole new situation.
These is some condescension in "people you used to look down on" but it's the truth. He realizes that this other group are actually pretty nice kids- even if they are fuckups. He gets accepted by them and for a little while things are working out. He's got friends again and he is happy.
At this point I envision that he quickly becomes the "leader" of the group and does with his natural dimple cheeked charisma and through taking risks that impress everyone. This would involve stuff like smoking drugs, vandalize shit, shoplifting, etc. You know, the normal stuff teenagers do (and regret later).
Eventually he takes one too many risks and ends up falling into a hole that he didn't realize he'd dug for himself. The new friends don't matter anymore because he is screwed.
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I love that at the end of the song you can hear John pushing a button the boombox that is recording the song. You can't beat that.