Every generation has stereotypes and most of them seem to be negative. Some of these generalizations, over decades, might stick better than others but when the generation is young and still growing and learning and becoming, why are people so bent on categorizing them? As for Gen Z, we’re still figuring out who we are. So come back in 20 or 30 years and tell us what categories we neatly fit into, if you can.
The inspiration behind “Generation Flee” came to me because, in my view, my generation (Gen Z) tends to be misportrayed as screen-addicted, lazy, and mentally unstable people. It’s a play on words on “Generation Z,” describing the erroneous perception of how we tend to run away from our problems as opposed to facing them head-on.
The verses of the song talk about some of the challenges of being a young person today. For example, “Slaves to handheld computers, we listen to whatever they say. Sends pixelated lashes down the backs of all our children,” is a sarcastic description of how I believe many adults view Gen Z’ers.
The chorus of the song reflects more of that sarcastic attitude towards how older generations view us. “We’re young and dumb and hopelessly in love with death and anxiety, sincerely all of us from Generation Flee.”
In the song’s bridge, the lyric “So don’t you tell me that kids these days are lazy, ‘cuz when you’re dead and gone, we’ll be forced to fix your past mistakes,” is one of the only non-sarcastic lines in this song. It means that however we are viewed today, in the future, we’re going to have to grow up and take care of the world’s problems that past generations have created and left unfixed.