Lyric discussion by Krwlng_n_mie_skn 

Cover art for I Knew You Before lyrics by Dustin Kensrue

It's about "the scene."

The little girl is the underground punk scene that has evolved from an independent music to a major label tool controlled by MTV. Its pretty clear he is disgusted by the changes. The scene is no longer a respected indie/alternative music, but a money machine.

As someone who has loved this scene of music for a long time, and have a hard time finding many new artists to respect like I had in the past. When fans stopped finding the best new bands by local concerts / word of mouth/ and online communities, and started looking for new "punk" bands on MTV, it was clear the genre had collectively sold-out.

I love this song, and the end is a great insight to Dustin's thoughts on the music industry.

"And all I can say is I knew you before You were beautiful back then You could be beautiful again..."