We’re Not Supposed To

Song Meaning

The lyrics present a playful defiance of unspoken social rules, framing them as arbitrary and easily broken. The opening lines, with their conversational, almost chaotic energy, set a tone of youthful rebellion against adult expectations. The repeated phrase "We're not supposed to" acts as a prompt for subversion, immediately followed by an action that directly contradicts it, like making friends with someone perceived as lonely or a stranger. The central tension arises from the conflict between prescribed behavior and genuine impulse. The narrator acknowledges societal boundaries – not making friends with the lonely, not talking to strangers, not making love to the younger – but then actively chooses to disregard them. This creates a sense of liberation, suggesting that these 'rules' are more about conformity than genuine harm. The chorus amplifies this, with an external force ('everybody') seemingly endorsing this transgression by wanting the group to 'stay with you.' The most striking craft element is the direct, almost childlike inversion of prohibitions. The lyrics don't argue against the rules; they simply state them and then immediately do the opposite. This is particularly evident in the lines about the stranger and the younger person, where the justification for not interacting dissolves into a statement of shared humanity or age. The repetition of "Than me or you" grounds the defiance in a sense of shared experience and equality, dismantling the very basis of the 'supposed to' rules. Ultimately, the effectiveness lies in its straightforward, unpretentious embrace of breaking down barriers. It captures a specific youthful impulse to question authority and connect with others, regardless of what they 'should' do. The song feels like a spontaneous decision to act on empathy and curiosity, rather than adhering to a set of unexamined social norms.