"More than Useless" Relient K

In Relient K’s “More than Useless” the speaker conveys an overall sense of despondency. That feeling of hopelessness repeats itself in each chorus until the last few stanzas where a ray of hope might save the speaker from a vicious cycle. The speaker has found himself trapped with a conversation within his own mind over the meaning of life. He ponders about his place and importance in society. Parts of the song are spoken in second person, this could reference a friendship that brings out the better half of the speaker. The speaker’s reliance on the friend get repeated every bridge and chorus, clarifying its importance. His idleness leads to regret on missed situations, which is represented in the lines “Too late look, my date bookIs packed full of days that were empty and now gone.” And the speaker realizes that he has every chance to grow from this regret and use it as a tool to become stronger, “And I bet, that regret Will prove to get me to improve in the long run.” By the end of the song the tone has shifted to feelings of hope and that things will get better for the speaker.

Relient K front man Matt Theissan takes most of the responsibility for writing the words of this song. Relient K is also known for having an occasional Biblical allusion, some Christian overtones can be noted. In the third stanza, sixth line; Theissan made an allusion to Jesus, “Like he would, for the good.” The stanza alone illustrates that if the speaker ever worked for anything it would be modeled after Jesus. The second person voice could ultimately refer to Jesus or another confidant. Throughout the song the speaker undergoes a certain epiphany about how he his reliant heavily on his friend.

Most of the lines in the song are sung with a stressed/ unstressed fashion. category. The first two and lines four and five rhyme, while other lines have a slant rhyme feel.
“Doing anything of any consequence
(Without me)
Showing any sign of ever making sense
Of my time , it's my life
And my right, to use it like I should
Like he would, for the good
Of everything that I would ever know”

The first two lines have the same syllabic value. The second person voice makes a connection between the listener and the speaker. For the bridge the first two lines are complex sentences separated musically by the an equal amount the rest within the simple statements. “And sometimes I think that I'm not any good at all. And sometimes I wonder why, why I'm even here at all”

In closing the song evaluates how every human being has value and all are ‘more than useless’. Even if the morale is low it may only take comradery in a confidant to generate positivity.

"More than Useless"

I feel like, I would like

To be somewhere else doing something that matters

And I'll admit here, while I sit here

My mind wastes away and my doubts start to gather

Whats the purpose? It feels worthless

So unwanted like I've lost all my value

I can't find it, not in the least bit

and I'm just scared, so scared that I'll fail you

And sometimes I think that I'm not any good at all

And sometimes I wonder why, why I'm even here at all

But then you assure me

I'm a little more than useless

And when I think that I can't do this

You promise me that I'll get through this

And do something right

Do something right for once

So I say if I can't, do something significant

I'll opt to leave most opportunities wasted

And nothing trivial, that life could give me will

Measure up to what might have replaced it

Too late look, my date book

Is packed full of days that were empty and now gone

And I bet, that regret

Will prove to get me to improve in the long run

And sometimes I think that I'm not any good at all

And sometimes I wonder why, why I'm even here at all

But then you assure me

I'm a little more than useless

And when I think that I can't do this

You promise me that I'll get through this

And do something right

Do something right for once

I’m a little more than useless

And I never knew I knew this

Was gonna be the day, gonna be the day

That I would do something right

Do something right for once

I notice, I know this

Weekend is a symbol of how I use my time

Resent it, I spent it

Convincing myself the world's doing just fine

(Without me)

Doing anything of any consequence

(Without me)

Showing any sign of ever making sense

Of my time , it's my life

And my right, to use it like I should

Like he would, for the good

Of everything that I would ever know

I'm a little more than useless

When I think that I can't do this

You promise me that I'll get through this

And do something right

Do something right for once

I’m a little more than useless

And I never knew I knew this

Was gonna the day, gonna be the day

That I would do something right

Do something right for once