"Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now" Cracker

Cracker is an underground band from the nineties that is still creating and producing music today. The band itself experiments with different types of music and sounds, the song that stands out the most to me is "Teen Angst (What the world needs now)."
In "Teen Angst" Cracker relays the message that teenagers, as well as adults, have no idea what the world really needs now, they just know what could benefit their own lives at that moment. Cracker uses pathos and ethos to convey their message that instead of trying to figure out what the world might need we should realize their are certain things we don't need and certain things that we simply can't figure out on our own. The song itself takes a rather sarcastic tone with all of the answers produced, or lack of. "Angst" itself is defined as a feeling of anxiety, apprehension or insecurity. The title alone for this song suggests that these are struggles that teens deal with.
In the opening lines, "I don't know what the world may need but I'm sure as hell that is starts with me, and that's a wisdom I've laughed at," shows that from the beginning that they admit that they don't have the answers.
The song is strong with pathos, perhaps because most teens deal with issues from the emotions of their heart. Most of the lyrics are contradictive of one another, creating a feeling of rebellion. Since this song was most likely written for teenagers it almost carries like an anthem, it connects the listener into the song. Cracker uses pathos to appeal to a teenagers emotion, as if saying "I get your angst, that's why I wrote this song." "I don't know what the world may want,
but some words of wisdom could comfort us.
Think I'll leave that up to someone wiser. " This lyric puts the band on the same level as the listener, that they are two in the same.
Perhaps the stronger appeal that Cracker used in this song is ethos, or arguments based on their character. The band doesn't claim to hold any higher knowledge than their listener, they don't pretend to actually know what the world may need. Their character is based on the idea that they deal with the same struggles as every human. "Cause, what the world needs now
is a new kind of tension.
Cause the old one just bores me to death." This lyric helps to establish some sort of credibility by recognizing that whatever the world is currently needs adjusting. The band doesn't offer any real wisom through their song, but their mocking satire recognizes a need for some change.
The video for "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)," was made in the early nineties and is reminiscent of a time when change had begun into grunge or "generation X." Perhaps the confusing change of time itself helped in the writing of the song. In the video we witness the band performing in front of an abandoned building, the singer is also shown driving wrecklessly on a motorcycle. There is also a grey hound dog pictured running through the field that band is performing in. The main idea of the video I believe is speed, running as fast as we can to no real truth. At the song climaxes at the end the video as well the band begin to break apart and run in all different directions. The ending can be representative of chaos and no actual answers to their hypothetical questions.
"Cause, what the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head. "

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TybFyhlwdvU
Link to lyrics: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Teen-Angst-What-The-World-Needs-Now-lyrics-Cracker/1CE65794C04BB78648256B04000B8C15