You Were Cool
Lyrics
This is a song with the same four chords
I use most of the time
When I've got something on my mind
And I don't want to squander the moment
Trying to come up with a better way
To say what I want to say
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
It's good to be young, but let's not kid ourselves
It's better to pass on through those years and come out the other side
With our hearts still beating
Having stared down demons
Come back breathing
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
You deserved better than you got
Someone's got to say it sometime 'cause it's true
People should have told you you were awesome
Instead of taking advantage of you
I hope you love your life now
Like I love mine
I hope the painful memories only flex their power over you a little of the time
We held on to hope of better days coming
And when we did we were right
I hope the people who did you wrong
Have trouble sleeping at night
People were mean to you
But I always thought you were cool
Clicking[1] down the concrete hallways
In your spiked heels
Back in high school
Banter
- This is a song for the little guys everywhere. (2011-03-29)
- and several people wanted to hear this song this week, so—and I don't think John [Green] has heard it, so, and uhh, I would like him to, 'cause I'm pretty fond of it. It's one of those I'm perverse about, where it should be on a record, but I always like to keep some unreleased. I may buckle with this one eventually. It's for a friend of mine that I went to high school with. (2013-01-15)
- Thank you very much. Peter hasn't played this song before so this is sort of an experiment. Peter, a number of people keep yelling for it, or one guy quite insistently, I really don't know. I'm fond of this song. (2013-06-12 - Majestic Theatre, Detroit)
- We're breaking down the setlist, trying to figure out what to do, and I thought that given time constraints and the fact that I tend to ramble on and on when I start talking, I should probably limit my standing up here by myself to one. So picking one is kinda fun, 'cause there are several, to pick from. So. This is one of them. It's for an old friend of mine, from Claremont, California. (2013-07-26 Newport Folk Festival)
- I wrote it for an old friend of mine, and she is fine, if you are curious. (2016-10-15)
- The person I wrote this song for, in case you see yourself in it, and you're younger than she and I are– which is possible, I know there are a few people younger than I am... But just in the unlikely event, I want you to know, if you're a person who's heard this song and has thought "that's me! that's me!"; she's my age now, and she's fine. (2017-10-16)
- I'm gonna play one that hasn't been released and I don't play too much anymore for super ungrateful reasons that I don't like to divulge –– but people started yelling the words along with me? And I was like no, to get into the zone of this song, I need people to not be yelling it back at me. What kind of horrible songwriter is like, Oh, they're singing my song, this is terrible? But it's a really personal song, it's about someone I knew, and to get into the zone, I kinda have to not be [inaudible] they're yelling at me. So I will tell you in Albany that no one will ever breathe a word of this outside of this room, because nothing ever travels outside of a room. It's great, it's a great world, you can say something to 800 people or so who you want to keep it with and they don't rat you out. Like rats. Like snitches. I'm in touch with the woman that I wrote this about now, and I would like to report to you that she's doing great and she [inaudible]. (2013-04-18)
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. "tripping" (2013-07-26)