The Jock and the Dweeb | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Third-Rate Reprobates |
| Writer | Crash Cross |
| Genre | Punk Rock |
| Year | 1991 (Written 1989) |
| Album | Stark Raving Sad |
| Length | 2:47 |
The Jock and the Dweeb
The Jock and the Dweeb is the second song on the debut album of pop punk band the Third-Rate Reprobates titled Stark Raving Sad. The song holds a special place in the band’s memory as it was the first track they performed together in public. While at high school the band members were told to write a song in English class, and the lyrics for this song were penned by Crash Cross in that lesson. To try and turn the boys towards something more constructive, they were given a chance to perform their music to their school. The Jock and the Dweeb was the first song they performed to their classmates at that now infamous concert.
After the concert went down in school folklore, and the boys were expelled, they really needed a way to kickstart their musical ambitions. They had the idea of recording their debut song onto a cassette and then duplicating them to sell around their town. The band hand printed and illustrated every cover at their local library. They used a picture of a jock that they cut out from their school yearbook. The American football player on the cassette cover, Chad Stone, would go on to play semi professionally, but he could never escape the lyrical TRR chants from the crowds. The band actually quite liked him, but someone had to represent the jock in the song. The tape became so popular that they couldn’t keep up with demand, so originals are very hard to come by these days. The band loved the track that when they were signed by Dekaf Records they immediately rerecorded it for their debut album. The album track exhibited their now famous pop punk styling with each member playing their instruments and singing with both nonchalance and raw talent.
The song reflects the everyday scholastic struggles of a “dweeb” at Paul Revere High School. Crash had seen the ill-fated student being bullied in the corridors just before the lesson in which he wrote the lyrics. Even though Crash wasn’t either popular or despised at school, the moment he witnessed stuck with him and was fresh in his mind when he wrote the song. He wasn’t one for emotion, and was initially worried about sharing the song incase he was told he was being too sensitive. Thankfully the teacher along with his band and class mates loved it, as it really resonated with them too.
Lyrics
When I started High School
my head was full of dreams.
I could be anyone I ever wanted,
jock, punk, geek, coolest guy on campus,
but I got stuck with dweeb.
He joined that same day,
and became the toast of the school
because he could kick a pig skin well,
better than everybody else,
so his life went a different way.
It will always be me
I’ll forever be the dweeb
cos I’m always working hard,
I never get to play
while that lazy slacker
just sits around all day.
Why should he get all the girls?
Just because he can kick
a ball across a field.
It really makes me sick.
I just wanna get out of school alive.
I don’t feed the birds
because the sign tells me so.
I never walk on the cycle path
and I wave thank you at traffic lights
while to my teachers I always say hello.
But the jock parades around the school
just like he owns the place.
He pushes geeks out of the way
plus he never pays for lunch
and he rubs his new truck in my face.
It will always be me
I’ll forever be the dweeb
cos I’m always working hard,
I never get to play
while that lazy slacker
just sits around all day.
Why should he get all the girls?
Just because he can kick
a ball across a field.
It really makes me sick.
I just wanna get out of school alive.
My homework’s never late
and I’m always on time
I never jump the lunch queue
or speed in my rusty car.
I’m in bed by half past nine.
His friends point and laugh
at me everyday
just because they wear stupid jackets
and my clothes are from Goodwill
they beat me in everyway.
Cos he’s the jock and I’m the dweeb
he’ll always get one over on me
but it won’t be long
until school’s long gone
and he’ll see
that being a jock isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
when he’s stacking shelves at Costco.