All-American Rejects, ‘Kids in the Street’ – Song Review

All-American Rejects offer a nostalgic look back to a more innocent time on 'Kids in the Street,' the title track to their upcoming album.

The ambitious, nearly five-minute-long song presents a frenetic pop beat paired with loopy synths created during a day of experimentation in the studio.

Singer Tyson Ritter reminisces, "In the night, in the beat, city light / We'd steal ourselves away and hold on tight / You were there, yeah we were all there / Too young, too smart, too much for this one town / We'd get so high we got lost coming down / When we were kids in the street, kids in the street."

Later, above his bandmates' surging harmonies, Ritter delivers a spoken-word verse: "And we never felt so alive / And we'd dance all night under the sky / We'd live, we'd breathe, we'd die / When the world stood still for you and I."

In a video explanation, Ritter says, "This song is the theme of the record. It's this callback to a moment in your life where you were so dumb, but so smart at the same time. The candle of naivety was burning down like that, but the candle of cynicism was yet to be lit."

While much of the Rejects' audience may be too young to look back on such a time, the song itself is a compelling reflection on the wilder, more carefree days of youth. The 'Kids in the Street' album, featuring the lead single 'Beekeeper's Daughter,' hits stores on March 27.

Listen to All-American Rejects, 'Kids in the Street'