Pennsylvania

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a specific, often unglamorous, cultural identity. The narrator lists a series of seemingly random, low-brow, and dated references: "Cop Rock," "Screech," "Z. Cavaricci," "Tasmanian devil tattoos," and "half shirts." This barrage of imagery establishes a tone of self-aware tackiness and a rejection of mainstream cool. It suggests a group that embraces its own niche, perhaps even its own perceived failures or embarrassing trends. The repetition of "We are" creates a collective identity, a shared experience of being these specific, odd things. This opening establishes a world of inside jokes and a particular kind of outsider status. The central tension arises in the chorus, contrasting the "we" with the "you." The "you" is characterized by a romanticized, albeit drunken and imperfect, gesture: a postcard from a volcanic destination with a "heart dotting 'i' in the word 'apologize.'" This implies a more aspirational or perhaps even a more conventionally romantic figure. In stark contrast, the "I" is the anonymous, airbrushed "heart with no name" on a Subaru license plate registered in "Pennsylvania." This juxtaposition highlights a feeling of being ordinary, overlooked, and perhaps even a bit stuck, compared to the more adventurous or expressive "you." The "Pennsylvania" registration grounds the narrator's identity in a specific, unexotic locale, amplifying the sense of mundane reality. The most striking craft element is the use of specific, often jarring, cultural touchstones to define identity. References like "flashing twelve o'clock," "spread-out butt cheeks," "mustaches The Beatles grew when they dropped acid," and "the queef after a porn star breaks the gang bang record" are deliberately provocative and crude. They serve to shock and to solidify the "we" as something far removed from polite society or conventional taste. The repeated question in the bridge, "Do you even know what a Wawa is, girl?" acts as a gatekeeper, further defining the in-group by shared, regional knowledge that the "you" might lack, reinforcing the divide established in the chorus. Ultimately, the lyrics resonate because they capture a specific kind of self-deprecating humor and the complex emotions tied to place and identity. The narrator doesn't aspire to be the romantic figure on the postcard; instead, they find a strange pride in their own specific, unpolished reality. The humor comes from the sheer audacity of the unflattering self-portraits, while the emotional weight comes from the quiet assertion of belonging, even if that belonging is defined by things considered uncool or embarrassing. The final "I'm in a state of P fuckin' A" is a defiant, albeit crude, embrace of this Pennsylvania-rooted identity, suggesting a resignation and a strange sort of freedom within it.