Tonight (we are young)

"People don't want to think about lyrics anymore, they just want to be told something." -Nate Ruess

Now that we have established that Nate probably wants us to think about his lyrics and could be saying things that are hidden under the surface, let's look at one of his most popular, yet misunderstood songs to date.

tonight (we are young)

Give me a second I,

I need to get my story straight

My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State

My lover, she’s waiting for me just across the bar

My seat’s been taken by some sunglasses asking 'bout a scar, and

I know I gave it to you months ago

I know you’re trying to forget

But between the drinks and subtle things

The holes in my apologies, you know

I’m trying hard to take it back

So if by the time the bar closes

And you feel like falling down

I’ll carry you home

I feel like this whole verse is not literally about himself, he's putting himself in the shoes of a guy that is abusive, and saying how he feels that guy would act, at the end, he is saying okay to make it up to you I'll carry you home if you're drunk, basically saying that isn't much but it's what the abusive guy feels like is enough to make up for it.

Tonight

We are young

So let’s set the world on fire

We can burn brighter than the sun

this is interesting to me because setting the world on fire isn't really a good thing if taken literally. So tonight would mean, let's not think of consequences because we're young, let's do all sorts of damage to the world so that we can burn brighter than the sun, aka do it to be seen and for attention.

Now I know that I’m not

All that you got

I guess that I, I just thought

Maybe we could find new ways to fall apart

But our friends are back

So let’s raise a toast

‘Cause I found someone to carry me home

in this, he starts out talking about a serious issue of saying he knows (or possibly thinks) his gf is cheating, and I'm assuming he's still in the character of the abusive bf. Then he says he stays to see what all will happen in the relationship and all of a sudden it switches up to "Hey our friends are back" and the seriousness just stops there as if they are just pretending to be a happy couple because people are around.

Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)

Just carry me home tonight (Nananananana)

Carry me home tonight (Nananananana)

Just carry me home tonight (Nananananana)

this is the part when the female comes in so this could be her saying that she's dealing with it and is asking him to do what he said he would

The moon is on my side (Nananananana)

I have no reason to run (Nananananana)

So will someone come and carry me home tonight (Nananananana)

The angels never arrived (Nananananana)

But I can hear the choir (Nananananana)

So will someone come and carry me home (Nananananana)

this makes me think he's saying this is dangerous and the "character" is concerned about it but is doing it anyway, he thinks someone somewhere will take care of him.

So if by the time the bar closes

And you feel like falling down

I’ll carry you home tonight

I really don't think this song is about "hey let's have fun". Usually, you hear people singing along to just the chorus and they aren't paying attention to the actual meaning. I think this song is Nate mocking and complaining about the condition and actions of the youth of this generation. Nate himself was about 31 when this song became popular so it's not like he was a teen or college-aged person. Plus he specifically singled out the abusiveness of relationships these days. That could be literally physically abusive or he could be using that as an exaggeration to the fact that people don't seem to really respect themselves or their partners as much anymore. In the video, he doesn't look happy at all, and he looks like he wants the listener to realize that. Plus the video itself supports all the theories I have because among all the violence and chaos the band and Janelle are just observing it and not participating and at the point that Janelle is singing, even though she isn't on stage she just seems almost stoic and is just staring at this and she sees them tearing apart a teddy bear, her expression says that she can't understand why they are doing that and she is disappointed in this behavior. Nate in the video is the observer and not playing the part of any of the people in this relationship spoken of by the song.

(would also like to point out that in the video Nate starts jumping up and down and screaming the song, yet the audience pays no attention, so life has imitated art here)