Reconsider Everything
by 311

Album: Evolver (2003)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song has a great lesson that can be used by many in today's society, where people make decisions based on what others think and do. It expresses how important one's individuality truly is. It essentially creates a similar emphasis on one's well-being as an individual as 311's "Come Original" does. This song opens up with lines asking the listeners questions regarding how much longer will they allow society (or socially accepted policies) to run their lives.

    At the end of each stanza 311 asks the listener to reconsider everything they see as the popular or socially accepted thing for themselves, and to not follow what everyone else does. They continue to advise the listeners to follow their heart because, "Every time you will ignore your heart, it will come back twice more." They also insist to, "Never deny your own instinct," meaning that if someone is in a situation where they are being told to do something because it is the cool or popular thing but it truly goes against their instincts or morals, they shouldn't do it. Don't be a follower! The song reiterates Robert Frost's message in his poem The Road Not Taken: "I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Don - Baltimore, MD

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