About

"Pumped Up Kicks" is an indie pop song by Foster the People which was originally released as the band's debut single in September 2010. The song's lyrics are written as a monologue from the perspective of a homicidal teenager, who fantasizes about murdering other youths with "pumped up kicks" with a gun.

Origin

On September 14th, 2010, Foster the People released "Pumped Up Kicks" as their debut single, which was subsequently included on their self-titled EP and debut studio album Torches the following year.^[2]

Spread

On January 27th, 2011, Urban Dictionary^[3] user anonymous0987 submitted an entry for "pumped up kicks," defining the expression as a label for expensive footwear. On September 23rd, professional dancer Marquese Scott uploaded footage of himself dancing to a dubstep remix of "Pumped Up Kicks" (shown below, left). On October 17th, the Barely Productions YouTube channel uploaded a parody of the song (shown below, right). Within five years, the videos gained over 125 million and 5.4 million views respectively.

Columbine Shooting Remixes

On April 8th, 2013, YouTuber N0toriousFinN uploaded footage from various news clips and reenactments of the Columbine High School massacre with "Pumped Up Kicks" playing in the background (shown below). On November 5th, 2015, YouTuber Alan Ortega uploaded a similar montage featuring footage of the gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold with the song (shown below, right).

In June 2016, a clip from Season 4 Episode 2 of the television sitcom Everybody Hates Chris with "Pumped Up Kicks" playing in the background was featured in a video remix series on 4chan's /wsg/ (worksafe GIF) board.^[1] On June 22nd, YouTuber Melody Nabro uploaded a collection of the 4chan webm videos (shown below).

Search Interest

External References