Going Away to College Lyrics

[Verse 1: Mark Hoppus]
Please take me by the hand, it's so cold out tonight, I'll
Put blankets on the bed, I won't turn out the light, just
Don't forget to think about me, and I
Won't forget you, "I'll write you once a week," she said

[Verse 2: Mark Hoppus]
Why does it feel the same to fall in love or break it off?
And if young love is just a game, then I must've missed the kickoff
Don't depend on me to ever follow through on
Anything, but I'd go through Hell for you, and

[Chorus: Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge]
I haven't been this scared in a long time
And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine
Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody
This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful to me

[Verse 3: Mark Hoppus]
I'll think about the times she kissed me after class, and
She put up with my friends, I acted like an ass, I'd
Ditch my lecture to watch the girls play soccer
Is my picture still hanging in her locker?

[Chorus: Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge]
I haven't been this scared in a long time
And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine
Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody
This world's an ugly place but you're so beautiful
[Instrumental Break]

[Chorus: Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge]
I haven't been this scared in a long time
And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine
Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody
This world's an ugly place but you're so beautiful

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

Mark Hoppus allegedly wrote this song in about ten minutes after watching Can’t Hardly Wait while feeling home-sick on Valentine’s Day, 1999. He began to think about the pain of high school love and parting ways come graduation.

Mark is the only Blink-182 member to go to college, as he wanted to be an English teacher. However, his college days didn’t last long because he found the classes to be tedious and useless.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did ​​blink-182 say about "Going Away to College"?
Genius Answer

In a program for one of Blink’s tours around the time of Enema’s release, Tom left a brief annotation for each track. For “Going Away to College”:

That’s a super-romantic song. Mark wrote the song as though you are a boy leaving your girlfriend, after years of school together. After high school, when you’re leaving to go to college, and what do you say to this girl that you’ve been in love with for years, but now have to leave for years? I don’t think it gets more romantic than that. It’s a sad song and it’s really moving. It’s one of my favorite songs on the record, and the way the lyrics flow with the music, I just think it’s a really sad, emotional song. It’s something a lot of people go through. You probably date a girl in high school and grow up with her and learn so much about each other and have so many growing pains and have to leave to go to college. Do you stay with her, do you break up with her, do you have faith in the relationship…? I don’t know. That’s a cool thing to write a song about.

Comments