An Economics Interpretation of 3 Doors Down's Song "Duck and Run"

By far, Duck and Run is one of my favorite songs to include in every playlists I create on any streaming application. The song is somehow catching, and it is not boring. However, what I find most catching is the part that reads "I won't duck and run". Yeah! I know it is the title and the most repeated phrase. But, what is the real meaning of this phrase?

I googled "meaning of duck and run lyrics" just to find out that some people's interpretation vary a lot to what I think it represents. These interpretations come from love to friendship, from rebellion to education, and from psychology to environment. It's a metaphor, so it can have different meanings from each perspective.

I'm an economist and this is my interpretation:

I based my interpretation on individualism and collectivism.

To this world, I'm unimportant
Just because I have nothing to give.
So you call this, you're free country.
Tell me why it cost so much to live.

Maybe the part that leads you to think  that it is about rebellion is "So you call this, you're free country. Tell me why it cost so much to live." Of course, I'm not denying that's true. But I find it to specific to try to interpret. I'll focus on he first two lines then.

Who's "she" and why "she's" unimportant? "she's somebody who has nothing to give. These lines refer to the fact that the more you have to spend, the more value you have as a person. This is something that has been institutionalized (Veblen's definition of institution, please) in this society. "She" wants to be heard? Yes, "she" does. But, "she" finds this difficult because just those with the economic power to be heard are heard.

This song starts to be understood as a critic to the dominant ideology of individualism in the U.S.

All my work and endless measures,
never seem to get me very far:
Walk a mile just to move an inch.
Now even though I'm trying so damn hard.
I'm trying so hard.

This part is about social mobility. Social mobility, in short, is the capability of an individual to move from a specific social layer to an upper one. In the U.S., social mobility has decreased drastically. This including the idea that inequality has sharpened: the rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer.

"Walk a mile just to move an inch". First, this part expresses the whole paragraph, which is very repetitive. Even though "she" tries hard to move upward in this society, the social estructure of it drags "her" back. This social estructure of course is the reduction on the social wage; or all social spending from the government.

Now, my final examination is in the second line of the following strophe:

This world can turn me down, but I won't turn away.
And I won't duck and run 'cause I'm not built that way.
When everything is gone, there's nothing there to fear.
This world cannot bring me down, no 'cause I'm already here. Oh no!

"And I won't duck and run 'cause I'm not built that way". Isn't this beautiful!? At least I love it. It embodies the part of the song about rebellion against the ideology of individualism. Some people define "duck and run" very different to what I do. This is my definition. "Duck", when you prepare to run while "run" of course, it means "start to run". The whole idea of this is that this ideology (individualism) makes you believe that you have to be prepared to compete against others.

However, "I'm not built that way". Aren't we social creatures? Aren't we able to help others? Aren't societies created in the beginning to be collective instead of individualistic? That's the meaning of that second line in that strophe. We're social creatures who help others, not individuals who act separately from others. Capitalism is about that. Free markets are about that. Socialism is also about that. All the latter is about collectivism, not about individualism.

This song tries to make listeners change the idea that we act individually. No folks, we're social creatures.