Lyric discussion by rabidshrew 

Cover art for Kick lyrics by Conor Oberst

The lyrics as posted are incorrect. Per the CD booklet actual lyrics are:

Kick you know you're still a kid And your diet's too full of additives Passed out on a couch with ashes in your mouth Dreaming that you're hopping a fence

This world must have it out for you From the shores of Montauk out to Malibu The trappings of a name you never could escape These people want to live in the past Some golden age that they never had

I thought we lost that Camelot I thought we lost that Camelot Some children's story we forgot Grew old so long ago

Kick it's hard to find a friend In a place that's so cruel and partisan You should go in style to Stockholm for a while Live outside oblivion's lens

Someday you'll have a fine divorce And a cemetery plot in Hyannis Port Next time you close your eyes on a helicopter ride I hope you see it isn't your fault I hope you know it isn't your fault

I thought they shot that Camelot I thought they shot that Camelot Whoever shot this movie-stock B roll said the show must go on

Laying in an office on an old chaise lounge Listening to the doctor drone There is no therapeutic feeling once the shock wears off You answer every question "No"

Hiding in a hamlet with the shades pulled down Wondering if the story's broke Tragedy is prophet once the word gets out Tabloids at the country store

Searching under tables once the bar's closed down Said somebody stole your phone Now there is no one to talk to but these trust fund drunks Should have brought a chaperone

Kick I'd love to help you but I just don't count Friendship makes you paranoid I don't believe in curses But I just might now you never really had a choice Like all of your broken toys

Kick you know this life is rich But pleasure is not the same as happiness But if you don't collide with the traffic in your mind I think you'll find your way out of this I hope you find your way out of this

These lyrics aren't a perfect representation of the recording either, which contains an occasional word added or subtracted from a line, or a contraction where there isn't one listed.

The song is about Kathleen "kick" Kennedy. In an guest column for Q-magazine Oberst wrote "“This song is total projection. I imagined what this person’s life might be like based off a few minutes I spent with her in a crowded bar and some scattered tabloid journalism. It is almost certainly and completely inaccurate on every level but, hey, it’s a catchy tune. And considering what her family has been through its surely not the worst thing ever uttered about them. Mad empathy is what I was going for. All apologies." He's right, the song is quite catchy, and it definitely made me feel sorry for whoever it may have been referencing the first time I heard it.