I constantly have at least one song stuck in my head. The other day that song was the 90’s hit “The Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe (not to be confused with The Verve of “Bittersweet Symphony” fame.) Everyone who recognized the song from the lines I found myself unconsciously humming had something to say along the lines of “Oh my God, I LOVE that song!” This made me wonder what there was about this piece that so many people could relate to it. I found my answer in the words of the song itself, especially the chorus:

For the life of me, I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We’d never compromise
For the life of me, I cannot believe
We’d ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

This regret-soaked refrain is in context with the rest of the song, which frequently repeats a verse beginning with the line “I can’t be held responsible.” The rest of the lyrics detail a metaphorical yet undeniably sad story of some young kids who made some stupid mistakes. However, the exact meaning of the song is a bit difficult to figure out due to the thousand-something interpretations on the internet (thank you, songmeanings.net) and I even found a few conflicting accounts of the song writer Brian Vander Ark’s explanation of his own words. These opinions from multiple people about the song’s origin run the gamut from abortion to rape to groupies to the most widely accepted theory of a girlfriend’s suicide. It took me a while reading all these discussions to realize that many of the different entries were written by people who had placed the song in the context of their own lives. Even among the bickering, there seemed to be an overall consensus that everyone could relate to these words of regret.

Everyone makes mistakes- this is inevitable. Freshman year of college in particular is remembered by many as a series of dumb mistakes, earning itself the title of “Screw-Up Year.” Perhaps this is justified by the frequently reckless actions taken by kids with their first taste of freedom- binge drinking, engaging in meaningless hookups, experimenting with drugs. But at the same time, thousands of high school students are becoming involved in equally self-destructive behavior. The sad thing is we often do so knowing the consequences that await us and the fact that someday, sooner or later, we’re going to regret our actions. An observer might point out that this would place full responsibility upon our shoulders, but as a teenager it’s all too easy to place the blame on society and our lack of knowledge as to how the world works. One would rarely expect consequences involving cancelled weddings and fatal Valium overdoses as in “The Freshmen,” but other than that there’s a pretty good chance that we’ll all someday be able to relate to the song’s message of heartbreak and mistakenly believing we knew everything.

I think it’s incredibly important to live as regret-free as possible, using your mistakes to make you stronger and not dwelling upon things in the past that can’t be changed. I also think it’s a lot easier to live this way if you don’t waste your teenage years indulging self-destructive tendencies and therefore setting yourself up for regret. We’re the next generation; the world is at our feet. Do we really want to be remembered as “merely” freshmen?