I remember being introduced to this phrase or some similar phrase, but this concept really, at a young age while using old BBS video game forums. The idea is that a person could feel such an emotional draw towards something that they lament their existence in their current cultural sphere in favor of another, as if the time and space they were born into was false and didn't match the character of their soul.
The first instance I saw this was someone speaking dramatically about classicrock/dadrock music (grandparock/greatgrandparock music now?). Whichever band it was from the 60's/70's/80's had ignited something in an anonymous youth's soul or mind to the extent that he was yelling at other anonymous online users that he was "born in the wrong generation", that he should've been alive to see Supertramp live in their prime or to buy their record on day one and listen to it with empty soup cans rubberbanded to their skull.
Modern music is TRASH. Not enough guitars!
How strange this might seem now, or how common depending on which circles someone runs in, which industries they work in, but for people in the presocialmediainternet, opinions like these were everywhere. People were loud and proud of all sorts of hyperspecific subjects. This was because there were no soapboxes, nowhere to voive their opinions where theyd be guaranteed to be heard by at least SOMEBODY. Instead most of what someone said would be immediately lost in a sea of ongoing text from others. If something was really good, really well said, it could be perhaps referenced too and linked to enough to gain someone respect and notability, but most systems for searching, navigating, and linking posts on old forums were janky at best. Reputation was measured in quantity rather than quality. One would pride oneself over proving they had no life, instead talking to strangers all day and having thousands of website posts.
I find it quite sad that a person would spend time and energy wishing aloud to be isekaied into a magicalclassicrockfanlife with complete and even desperate earnestness. I find it sad because I have seen this live and know the truth that was in the souls of these sad individuals. They really wanted the universe to StarTrek transport them to a place with no airconditioning or videogames just so they can listen to PinkFloyd.
The borninthewronggeneration phenomenon as I witnessed it stems from a pentup nerddom which was bottledup as it had previously had no outlet. Finally you could talk to other people who had the same hyperspecific interests that you did. Some of us ran way to far with this, getting addicted to the dopamine rush of this ersatz socializing and becoming monstrous bullies. Most of this type of behavior remains in memory because similar types of behavior exist to this day in other online spaces.
Everyone wants for something more.
Everyone wants for something beyond.
Some want for want of something else because they struggle to articulate what they really need due to fear so instead they distract themselves with trifles, bells and whistles and stare at a pinwheel and blow into the pinwheel and watch it spin and they just look at the colors all day.
Some of these people claim to be happy.