<P> Soon after Mark Foster formed Foster the People in 2009, he wrote and recorded "Pumped Up Kicks" in five hours while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in Los Angeles . On the day of recording, Foster debated between songwriting in the studio and going to the beach . He explained: "I really didn't have anything to do that day . I was standing there in the studio, and this thought came in my mind like,' I'm going to write a song,'...and then I was like,' I don't feel like writing . I don't want to write a song .' I was a block away from the beach, and it was a beautiful day . I kind of just wanted to just be lazy and go hang out at the beach or whatever . But I just forced myself to write a song...By that time the next day, the song was finished ." </P> <P> Reflecting on the lack of inspiration he felt when writing the song, Foster said, "I've heard a lot of other artists talk about this as well, like,' I'm not inspired right now . I've got writer's block . I'm just not really feeling anything .' And I've felt that way, too, just not being inspired and wanting to wait for inspiration to come before I wrote . But I wasn't inspired when I wrote' Pumped Up Kicks,' and that's what came out . So...it just solidified the notion that perspiration is more powerful than inspiration ." Thinking that he was just recording a demo, he played all of the instruments on the song, and using the software Logic Pro, he arranged and edited the song himself . The demo is ultimately the version of the song that Foster released . </P> <P>--Mark Foster </P> <P> The lyrics to "Pumped Up Kicks" are written from the perspective of a troubled and delusional youth with homicidal thoughts . The lines in the chorus warn potential victims to "outrun my gun" and that they "better run, better run, faster than my bullet ." Foster said in a statement to CNN.com, "I wrote' Pumped Up Kicks' when I began to read about the growing trend in teenage mental illness . I wanted to understand the psychology behind it because it was foreign to me . It was terrifying how mental illness among youth had skyrocketed in the last decade . I was scared to see where the pattern was headed if we didn't start changing the way we were bringing up the next generation ." In writing the song, Foster wanted to "get inside the head of an isolated, psychotic kid" and "bring awareness" to the issue of gun violence among youth, which he feels is an epidemic perpetuated by "lack of family, lack of love, and isolation ." The song's title refers to shoes that the narrator's peers wear as a status symbol . </P>

Gotta run gotta run faster than my gun