Where The Kids Are

I second the first comment. It's about taking full advantage of your youth while you can.

But I almost get a sense that the singer is talking to herself, her younger self perhaps. In the first verse, she's kinda saying not everything that has happened to her is completely her own fault, but there's almost a sense that she wishes she could take some things back. She's wistful about it. She's telling herself she's beautiful because when you're young it's such a needless worry. And it's as if she's telling her old self to have more fun, take more pictures, etc. I could be wrong though. Mostly I feel like she's talking to me, because I'm in that "growing up" stage of my 20's.

And of course, the chorus is meant for everyone, including herself, "live it up, stay young while you can."

All in all, great fucking song. For those of you that have read (or seen) The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this song is could be my tunnel song..

I like the Wizard of Oz references. They're very fitting in this song. Also, I think the line "Don't take my chances" is telling the addressee not to not take chances. She seems to regret not living life to fullest, so the chances she took were not taking any chances at all, if that makes sense. The lines "You're such a beautiful girl" and "Smile for the lenses" kind of make me think maybe she was self-conscious or shy when she was young, which maybe stopped her from being as free as she could have.

I like the Wizard of Oz references. They're very fitting in this song. Also, I think the line "Don't take my chances" is telling the addressee not to not take chances. She seems to regret not living life to fullest, so the chances she took were not taking any chances at all, if that makes sense. The lines "You're such a beautiful girl" and "Smile for the lenses" kind of make me think maybe she was self-conscious or shy when she was young, which maybe stopped her from being as free as she could have.

Basically -in my eyes at least- the song is being told to a younger person (obviously a girl; "you're such a beautiful girl"), and this said girl is receiving an apology of sorts that leads into the lead vocals encouraging this girl to live her younger years to the fullest before reaching that level of maturity you can't escape.

"Live it up, you're growing up."

Self-explanatory, really.