Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: indie-pop
Song Meaning of “Kids On the Boardwalk” by Hop Along
Kids on the Boardwalk is a song about reaching the end of adolescence and entering the realm of adulthood, and the bittersweet emotion that comes along with it. The speaker in the song is observing the boardwalk, full of thrill-seeking kids, and remembering the times they spent there. They can feel the joy radiating off the youth around them, but also can’t help but feel a sense of melancholy, both for their own lost innocence and for the fact that those kids don’t yet understand the weight of the world. As memorable and peaceful as the boardwalk is, the speaker knows that all too soon the kids will grow up and have to make their own way in the world.
The lyric “life is hard, these kids don’t even know”, in particular, speaks to the juxtaposition of the carefree nature of the boardwalk and the harsher realities that await the kids in the near future. The speaker is perhaps impatient, yet also understanding and content, looking on and realizing “I believe in rest, and I believe in work”, feeling hopeful that the joy of childhood will never be completely lost.