I wanna be a bottle blonde
I don't know why but I feel conned
I wanna be an idle teen
I wish I hadn't been so clean

I wanna stay inside all day
I want the world to go away
I want blood, guts, and chocolate cake
I wanna be a real fake

Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle
Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title
Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible
Feeling super, super, super suicidal

The wasted years, the wasted youth
The pretty lies, the ugly truth
And the day has come where I have died
Only to find, I've come alive

I wanna be a virgin pure
A twenty-first century whore
I want back my virginity
So I can feel infinity

I wanna drink until I ache
I wanna make a big mistake
I want blood, guts, and angel cake
I'm gonna puke it anyway

Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle
Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title
Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible
Feeling super, super, super suicidal

The wasted years, the wasted youth
The pretty lies, the ugly truth
And the day has come where I have died
Only to find, I've come alive

Come alive, I've come alive
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

I wish I wasn't such a narcissist
I wish I didn't really kiss
The mirror when I'm on my own
Oh God, I'm gonna die alone

Adolescence didn't make sense
A little loss of innocence
The ugliness of being a fool
Ain't youth meant to be beautiful?

Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle
Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title
Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible
Feeling super, super, super suicidal

The wasted years, the wasted youth
The pretty lies, the ugly truth
And the day has come where I have died
Only to find, I've come alive

Only to find, I've come alive
Only to find, I've come alive

All our lives
(Feeling super, super, super)
(Feeling super, super, super)
(Feeling super, super, super)
All our lives


Lyrics submitted by Cobehn, edited by 14emma, phoebe9261, crazysistra

Teen Idle Lyrics as written by Marina Lambrini Diamandis

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Teen Idle song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

27 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    "I wanna be a bottle blonde" "I don't know why but I feel conned" In my opinion, she is saying how much she really wants to change herself. How she wants to be that perfect blonde, and that everyone else seems to live the good life; making her feel like she was conned out of being happy.

    "I wanna be an idle teen" "I wish I hadn't been so clean" She is saying how she wants to be alone, and how she wishes she wasn't so careful with her decisions.

    "I wanna stay inside all day" "I want the world to go away" This is the stage where she is depressed and full of sadness, she does not want to see the outside and all of the happy people anymore.

    "I want blood, guts, and chocolate cake" "I wanna be a real fake" At this stage, she is full of lust for fighting back. She is angry at all of the girls who led perfect teenage lives, she wants to be who she isn't to advance her in life so she can hurt the ones who hurt her emotionally.

    "Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle" "Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title" She wanted to be one of the popular kids, she wanted to make the most of her youth and be the prom queen that every girl yearned for.

    "Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible" "Feeling super, super, super suicidal" Now, she is losing her religion. She see's everything as untrue, unfair, and useless. She just wants to give up.

    "The wasted years, the wasted youth" "The pretty lies, the ugly truth" Realizing she wasted her youth feeling deprived, she sees finally the ugly truth behind all the things that seemed beautiful to her.

    "And the day has come where I have died" "Only to find, I've come alive" She now sees that she finally is alive; not having mixed obligations, no more lust for the untrue, feeling revived.

    "I wanna be a virgin pure" "A twenty-first century whore" She wants to be a virgin again, but now she seems to feel like it never would have mattered, she would always be the stereotype to herself.

    "I want back my virginity" "So I can feel infinity" Not being a virgin emotionally killed her and seemingly affected her whole life.

    "I wanna drink until I ache" "I wanna make a big mistake" Now she is going back into the depression, she wants to be the alcoholic that feels nothing and regrets everything.

    "I want blood, guts, and angel cake" "I'm gonna puke it anyway" It seems now that she wants to be reckless, and understand that her recklessness will keep her sickness going.

    "Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle" She wishes she was a teen, not wasting her youth away

    "Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title" She wishes she did most of the teen-type of things, rather than sex and getting drunk to regret her decision the next morning.

    "Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible" "Feeling super, super, super suicidal" Again, wishing she didn't push herself to being faithless.

    "The wasted years, the wasted youth" "The pretty lies, the ugly truth" "And the day has come where I have died" "Only to find, I've come alive" She feels hopeful to overcome her now wasted youth

    "Come alive, I've come alive" "Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh" "Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh" She is so feeling alive more than ever

    "I wish I wasn't such a narcissist" "I wish I didn't really kiss" "The mirror when I'm on my own" She regrets going against what she wanted, and kissing the wrong things (People)

    "Oh God, I'm gonna die alone" She feels she is going to die alone, for her mistakes in her eyes cannot be forgiven

    "Adolescence didn't make sense" "A little loss of innocence" Her virginity should have never been thrown away, for she feels her adolescence could have been much more if she withstood from that mistake.

    "The ugliness of being a fool" "Ain't youth meant to be beautiful?" She sees that her youth was nothing like it was 'meant' to be. Sex, alcohol, mistakes; all things she knew were not youthful.

    "Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle" "Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title" "Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible" "Feeling super, super, super suicidal" She is looking back on her teen years as a mistake.

    The wasted years, the wasted youth The pretty lies, the ugly truth And the day has come where I have died Only to find, I've come alive

    ( But now she finally realizes that her mistakes make her who she is, though she wishes she was able to take them back instead )

    lyssamarieon October 22, 2017   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.