all star lyrics copy and paste

You can't accuse Smash Mouth of not knowing which way the wind's blowing. If Astro Lounge moved away from ska-punk in the direction suggested by "Walkin' on the Sun," Smash Mouth follows through on the band's latest breakthrough, the ebullient cover of "I'm a Believer," which was playing everywhere in the summer of 2001. "If you're not down with us, you're down below," Steve Harwell sings in "The In Set," and he's only partly kidding. They can repeat themselves ("She Turns Me On" might as well be called "Walkin' on Venus"), and guitarist Greg Camp's songs have gotten, perhaps, a little less politically engaged--the goofy "Sister Psychic" concerns Miss Cleo. Still, they're mostly playing to their strengths: Harwell's inimitable Cali rasp/whine and their ability to switch styles on a dime every few seconds. (The collision of a three-chord garage-rock chorus with Barry White strings in "Pacific Coast Party" is especially juicy.) Only a couple of slow ones break up the lightweight fun. --Douglas Wolk

Smash Mouth’s “All Star” has followed you incessantly for the last two decades. If you’re under the age of 30, it’s a part of the fabric of your life as much as it’s a strand of the DNA that keeps the internet funny and weird. But before “All Star” was an inescapable hit, or the anthem for a misanthropic, titular green ogre in Dreamworks’ mega-hit Shrek, or the inspiration for countless memes on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and TikTok today, it began as a chance for Smash Mouth to prove themselves.

The band began in the mid-Nineties, born out of singer Steve Harwell’s growing fatigue with his rap group F.O.S. (Freedom of Speech). The members were brought together by manager Robert Hayes, who introduced Harwell and the group’s now-former drummer Kevin Coleman to guitarist Greg Camp and bassist Paul De Lisle, who were members of the hip-hop/punk band Lackadaddy, which Hayes managed. Their sound initially reflected the ska-punk of the San Jose scene at the time, but the band’s debut album Fush Yu Mang had one notable exception: the glossy, retro-pop hit “Walkin’ on the Sun.” The third song on the album, it became the group’s only hit, and quickly grew bigger than anyone anticipated, topping the Modern Rock chart in 1997. For almost everyone who heard Smash Mouth, this was their defining song.

The runaway success of “Walkin’ on the Sun” helped get Smash Mouth a major label with Interscope, and also determined the type of band they were now meant to be: catchy, hook-focused alternative rock. Two years later, the band’s attempts to replicate its success would lead to their breakthrough album, Astro Lounge, and, more importantly, the LP’s lead single, an anthemic, sunny, feel-good pop hit that fans, radio stations and movie studios couldn’t help but love. It was called “All Star.”

Shrek would give the song a second life in 2001, and YouTube would launch it back into popular culture nearly a decade later. It hasn’t left since. “All Star” has inexplicably mesmerized the world for 20 years, and the band, their team and even the people responsible for finding new and rather interesting ways of utilizing it are still trying to unlock what exactly is the magic of Smash Mouth’s most recognizable song. This is the story of “All Star.”

"All Star"

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey, now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey, now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

It's a cool place and they say it gets colder

You're bundled up now wait 'til you get older

But the meteor men beg to differ

Judging by the hole in the satellite picture

The ice we skate is getting pretty thin

The water's getting warm so you might as well swim

My world's on fire. How about yours?

That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored

Hey, now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey, now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

Go for the moon

Hey, now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey, now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars

Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas

I need to get myself away from this place

I said yep, what a concept

I could use a little fuel myself

And we could all use a little change

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey, now, you're an all star, get your game on, go play

Hey, now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

all star lyrics copy and paste