Molly’s Weblog

“I got lots of friends, yes but then again—nobody knows me at all. Kids and a wife, it’s a beautiful life. Nobody knows me at all.”
–The Weepies, Nobody Knows Me at All

This is a quote from a song by one of my favorite bands, the Weepies. The song discusses the idea that though the speaker is happy and clearly social, no one else really knows her as well as she knows herself. I think what she is referring to is the fact that she has good friends who are supportive, but they don’t necessarily know her as well as they think they do; she is close to them without revealing a lot of deeply personal thoughts. I am not sure about the line “kids and a wife” because the singer has a husband and did not have any children when the song was written—but taken metaphorically, it shows how close she can feel to someone without actually feeling as if they know her. Additionally I don’t think she’s trying to say that she hides herself and pretends to be someone else, but rather that there are many layers to her and she shows all of them to very few people, though many people might see a few layers.
I chose this song because I don’t think that this applies to just me and a select few other people. I think, on some level, everyone must feel this way. Family can know you very well when you’re young, and a best friend might know almost everything about you, and hopefully when you get married you and your spouse know each other well enough to be sure that marriage is the right choice. But with any friendship, not everything can be shared, and I actually think it would be unhealthy if everything was. I think it’s pretty normal to have some things that you keep to yourself, not because it’s something that needs to be kept secret, but simply because it’s nice to have something that’s yours. Or, for example, most of my friends are aware that I’m passionate about the cello. But other than other musicians, few really understand what cello means for me, and I’ve never really tried to explain it to other people. It’s not that I’m embarrassed or that for some reason I don’t want others to know—I just don’t really talk about it.

Full lyrics:
When I was a child everybody smiled, nobody knows me at all
Very late at night and in the morning light, nobody knows me at all

Now I got lots of friends, yes, but then again, nobody knows me at all
Kids and a wife, it’s a beautiful life, nobody knows me at all

And oh when the lights are low
Oh with someone I don’t know

I don’t give a damn, I’m happy as a clam, nobody knows me at all
Ah, what can you do? There’s nobody like you. Nobody knows me at all