The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
You think I'm pretty
Without any make-up on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punch line wrong
I know you get me
So I'll let my walls come down, down
Before you met me
I was alright
But things were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February
You'll be my Valentine, Valentine
Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We'll be young forever
You make me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream
The way you turn me on
I, can't, sleep
Let's run away
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My, heart, stops
When you look at me
Just, one, touch
Now baby I believe
This, is, real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
We drove to Cali
And got drunk on the beach
Got a motel and
Built a fort out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I'm complete
Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We'll be young forever
You make me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream
The way you turn me on
I, can't, sleep
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My, heart, stops
When you look at me
Just, one, touch
Now baby I believe
This, is, real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
I'ma get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
You, make, me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream
The way you turn me on
I, can't, sleep
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My, heart, stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This, is, real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
I'ma get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight (tonight, tonight, tonight)
Without any make-up on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punch line wrong
I know you get me
So I'll let my walls come down, down
Before you met me
I was alright
But things were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
Now every February
You'll be my Valentine, Valentine
Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We'll be young forever
You make me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream
The way you turn me on
I, can't, sleep
Let's run away
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My, heart, stops
When you look at me
Just, one, touch
Now baby I believe
This, is, real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
We drove to Cali
And got drunk on the beach
Got a motel and
Built a fort out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I'm complete
Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We'll be young forever
You make me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream
The way you turn me on
I, can't, sleep
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My, heart, stops
When you look at me
Just, one, touch
Now baby I believe
This, is, real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
I'ma get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
You, make, me feel like I'm living a, teenage, dream
The way you turn me on
I, can't, sleep
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
My, heart, stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This, is, real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back
I'ma get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight (tonight, tonight, tonight)
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Yo La Tengo
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,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
This song makes me so happy because it reminds me how amazing it feels to be in love with someone.
"I let my walls come down" "let's go all the way tonight" "We drove to Cali and got drunk on the beach" "Got a motel and built a floor out of sheets" "I might get your heart racing" "Let you put your hands on me" "Be your teenage dream tonight"
Now, it doesn't imply that they are teenagers, but it says all those lines in accordance with those being the teenage dream. It's saying that sex is the teenage dream. Now that could be questioned, and normally I give people the benefit of the doubt, but come on. This is Katy Perry we're talking about. The same artist that sang "California Gurls" and "I kissed a Girl and I liked it". Promoting teen sex is something that Katy Perry would so do.
Just go watch the music video for this and it will prove this point. It's a music video about them having sex. It goes about as graphic as a music video is allowed to go.
thank you buddy~!!..and she does not do the whole illuminati eye covered thing,lso shes gotta promote some sort of poison to teens
teenagers having sex is not an issue!!! you're so closed minded
You're the closed minded one.
while I do not think that teenagers should be having random sex nor do I even think that they are clear headed enough to think clearly and obtusely about whether or not to have sex they definitely seem to keep having it. On top of that I remember being a teenager and that was pretty much all that was on my mind. Its a natural, biological side effect of maturing through puberty everyone goes through puberty in different ways but it all involves a lot of hormones and the FACT that a person is now able to produce the what is necessary to have a child. <br /> <br /> Now that aside I do not think it is a big deal that we talk about having sex promoting it or preaching against it we live in a pretty free civilized world its 2010 for gods sake. If you do not think teenagers should be having sex then you discuss it let them no the precautions and repercussions of having it. What we as adults seem to forget is that though we can suggest what our children can and can not do; we can not prevent them from doing it entirely. Teenagers are really a world unto themselves and if you raised your child with the knowledge of right and wrong before they hit puberty there shouldn't be a huge problem for them in deciphering it after they hit puberty. <br /> Songs like this are not the problem, however, people who try to treat sexual issues as though they are wrong or taboo (or think that songs or the media in general can influence a child so much that it would cause them to do something they know they shouldn't) are definitely part of the problem not the solution. I mean most teenagers would not get the references made in songs if some adult didn't pick up on it somewhere and spell it out. I know we live in the world of free speech but sometimes silence is better and sometimes its not, unfortunately most people have their ideas on when to talk and when to shut up mixed up.
Haha well I'm a teenager and honestly I didn't really pick up on the whole "teenage dream" meaning sex until I read it, I mean, I understood the "let's go all the way tonight" part to mean sex, but i thought that was kinda the only reference. Honestly, I think the song is about being in love, and that line kinda just refers to how sex (at least more commonly thesedays) really is a pretty prominent part that goes along with the whole being in love thing.<br /> <br /> See to me its pretty simple, all teenagers really want to do is fall in love, (: I mean, we just want to be accepted, and how much more accepted can you be by a person than if they're in love with you and you're in love with them? And they love you for exactly who you are, (: example: "You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on". And if you're truly in love you don't really need to have sex anyway, I mean, it won't make or break the relationship, and it won't be at all regrettable. example: "No regrets, just love".<br /> <br /> Yet often we do anyway, because of the way we make each other feel, and all that hormone stuff doolb specified above, (: example: "the way you turn me on, I can't sleep".<br /> <br /> I don't think she's promoting sex, i still think the song is kinda more about love, with sex included aha. I think she's just a pop artist singing to her target audience, who can relate to the song and the feelings shes singing about, and key word here, "RELATE". She's not creating this feeling, it's already there, and she's just doing what the pop genre does and taking advantage of the teenage target audience by singing to whatever they will relate to in order to make money, (: I mean it was kinda just as bad back in the 80's or whatever with the B-52s - Love Shack and stuff, ^^ its just slowly less and less taboo.<br /> <br /> And teenagers have sex, not all of them, but a fair few. And its kinda naive to think that a silly pop song is going to change how we think about sex anyway. The media doesn't raise us, our parent's/guardians do, and most parent's/guardians do a good job in making sure we know about sex and its ups and downs.<br /> <br /> I don't think people should get so wound up about sex anyway, or what people are singing in songs. Personally, this song doesn't make me want to go out and have sex, it makes me think more about past relationships and how it felt to be in love, (: and regardless its just a silly pop song, no one will listen to it in a few years time, so i don't think its going to have any great effect on anybody really, (: and if it does, who really cares? I'm sure you won't personally know them and it's their life anyway. Makes me think of the whole natural selection thingy, how life throws dodgy things at a species and the weaker ones fall to it while the stronger ones rise past it, (: there's always going to be things like the media and diseases and stuff trying to knock us down and there's always going to be people falling to it, but there will be people rising past it too, :P that's all kinda seedy but it was just a thought aha.
curlyfries, I wholeheartedly agree with you :) just as you've said, it's not focusing on sex, it's focusing on how it feels to be young and madly in love :D
Fair comments. What her focus and purpose could be debated, but as long as you realize that the song does talk about sex quite a bit, regardless of context, then we are agreed. Those who think that this song DOES NOT talk about sex at all are quite naive.
I think Katy Perry has higher priorities than promoting teen sex...why would she care if teens have sex or not? I think she has better things to do
You Guys are missing the point, This song is an Homage to Teenage love, You know your first love that you had your first kiss, your first dance, your first everything. The First guy or girl that broke your heart, hahaha every time I listen to this song, I cant help but smile, because it reminds me of my youthful days which by the way isn't that far behind considering I'm 23 hahaha. That what this song is, its not to promote promiscuity between teenagers trust me they are promiscuous enough, but Katy perry is invoking the spirit of Teenage love and the music video also show is as well like when the main squeeze guy is in the basketball room and punching the punch bags and Katy sees him working out, she is getting something in her locker room hello it speaks right there.
Music video shows the spirit of teenage love? I don't know if we watched the same music video, but what I saw was a bunch of people getting half naked, dancing, and making out. Now that's the spirit of teenage love, let me tell you...
Now if you want to talk Katy Perry music videos, her California Gurls music video tells a lot about who she is by her laying naked in the cotton candy clouds the whole song while running around with other girls all having skanky candy outfits for the rest of the song.
yeh. i always smile and laugh evry time i hear this. its wat most o' my frends are doin. i been single my whole life and proud of it. f*** yeh.
i think a lot of people commenting on this song "promoting" teenage sex are living in the dark ages. teenages were having sex before they heard this song and will continue doing so regardless. teenagers have every right to make their own choices and they do. dont you people who are complaining have any fond memories of sexual encounters as a teenager? theyre some of the best times of your life. why should we have to wait til marriage? marriage is an absolute joke, you shouldnt have to have a big extravagant and expensive ceremony and legally bind yourself to someone in order to prove your love. it's people like these whingers that make teenage sex that much better, because we're doing exactly what you don't want us to. we're so much more free than people like you.
We could argue moral values all day and I could go on for a while about the advantages of waiting until marriage and how it makes you more free than if you do so as opposed to having sex with anyone and everyone that you think you love, but that's not the point of this, is it? Right or wrong, the debate here is whether or not this is a song about teenage sex and based on your comments it seems like we at least agree on that aspect of it, even if we disagree on the morality part of it.
Your going about that whole concept the wrong way. Abstence until marriage isn't used to constrain you but to keep from throwing you life away on somebody that you dont love just because they made you horny. Also, until teens are eighteen years of age, they are bound by law(or at least where I'm from). So they do NOT have EVERY right. But to the point of my arugment, what does the fact that teens have been having sex for a long time have to do with this song promoting teen sex or not? Does an ad for a cigarette company not promote smoking even though people have been smoking for a long time? What if instead of a semi-cryptic song, it was a billboard that read, "ALL YOU TEENS OUT THERE, GO HAVE SEX!" Teens have been and still will have sex, but does that billboard not promote it? I personally am on the wall about the meaning of this song, however, your argument holds no ground either way except for the fact that you want teens to have sex.
Excuse me for my horrible english
I tend to think Ms. Perry is not talking about teenagers having sex. Teenage dream actually stand for how do call it... wet dreams? LOL Maybe, fuck, I suck at this. Well my point is that she is not precisely a teenage, she is 26 year, I mean come oooonnnnn. So, in my opinion, she is just trying to explain how love makes you feel younger and alive, it doesn´t matter if you are 18 or 80.. To sum up, she is trying to describe how hot Russel is and how much she wants to have sex with him... Thank you Katy, another reason to hate you...
bitch... =)
This song reminds me of this one girl im getting to know right now. about a month and a half ago. or 2 months. i forgot. but our first time hanging out together i picked her up at 11 pm almost midnight and we ended up coming back home at 7 in the morning. guess what we did. we drove 2 hours to hollywood and universal city. tried to find that hollywood sign. ended up going back to long beach to walk the pike and explore the famous haunted queen mary ship wreck at 3 in the morning. and chilled and talked at signal hill, a beautiful high view sight seeing place. see all the lights and cities out there. anyways. the reason why it reminds me of that is bcuz throughout the whole night this is the only song i didnt get sick of off of the radio. and cant u call that adventure we had a teenage dream? i call it a perfect one. talking about "lets go all the way tonight, no regrets, just love." "lets runaway and dont ever look back." doesnt that remind you of driving 2 hours away and not look back. i js wanna put this up bcuz ive been feeling this the passed 2 months or so and its still there. that night was js amazing. i mean can u js imagine how that night went. "thats a fuckin teenage dream" and it didnt even have to do with sex. "be your teenage dream tonight" she got to be my teenage dream that night. and still is.
thats whats gucci tho =]
so catchyyy(: okay just to clarify, THEYRE NOT TEENAGERS. theyre both grownups but he makes her feel like shes living a teenage dream (as in, she feels like a teenager again) and the teenage dream is to like fall in love (i guess?) and he makes her heart race and stuff. and shes not promoting teen sex. cause theyre not teenagers! besides its not like teens dont think about that stuff, cause they do
You don't have to be a teenager to live the teenage dream. She's with a guy that she loves (or lusts after) and they decide to go all the way. Due to this chain of events she feels like she is a teenager again. No, I am not a teenager anymore, but was one and I know how teenagers think. Do we need to go back to health class? Your teenager years is when you gain your sex drive and many teenagers fail to keep those newly gained passions in check. High school girls getting pregnant these days is not out of the norm, which is sad. Even teenagers who keep their passions in check have feelings for the opposite gender and sex crosses their minds. Thus is why the teenage dream is to have sex. Whether or not you do is another story, but the word "dream" is the key here. <br /> <br /> Now after our health lesson, back to the song. Katy Perry (yes Katy Perry isn't a teenager anymore, thanks for stating the obvious) gets with a guy and "lives the teenage dream". She goes all the way. However you want to say it, it all means the same thing. Now in the last half of the song, after describing her experience, she states 4 times to "be your teenage dream tonight". One of those 4 times being the last line of the song. Going to English class, now, that statement is a command and "be" is a verb. She's telling someone to go do something. She encouraging. She's promoting. What is she promoting? The teenage dream? What is that? Sex. Now this is terrible. People, teenagers especially, should wait for marriage before doing that. Not something anyone should promote in a song. The only way to justify this song is if Katy Perry is singing to married couples. Is Katy Perry doing that? I highly doubt it.<br /> <br /> Come on, people. Think. Pay attention to the details.
This song may or may not 'promote' or 'suggest' teenage sex.<br /> Yeah. So what? It happens. <br /> This song is not going to alter whether kids have sex or not.<br /> It doesn't matter, just listen to the damn song.
Oh, so just because the kids are doing it anyway and will continue to do it regardless, it makes it ok to sing about? How about trying to promote good behavior in your songs. Is that too much too ask for? No, but it is for Katy Perry. She's too much of slut. Her songs never have a positive message.
Good point, Robyn 193564
My favourite part of that whole speech, alienator345, was this bit; 'What is she promoting? The teenage dream? What is that? Sex. Now this is terrible.'<br /> hahahaha, get over it, it's a song.
It IS just a song XD even if she WAS promoting teenage sex, it still wouldn't matter, because teenagers are still gonna have sex no matter what they listen to! It's just part of life, so get over it XD
I don't think this song is promoting sex because for one Katy isn't says "Hey kids go have sex! It's fun!" She's saying that being in love with this guy makes her feel young again and that the things he does to her just reminds her of being a teenager again. Teens do things like that, I would know being 16. It's not like it's something we're just learning about, it's been that way for a long time. I really love this song and it's how I feel about my lover at the moment =] Thank you Katy for the fabulous song!
And i fogot to say what I though this song was about sorry.
I think it's Katy's idea of what she thought a normal teenage life was like, as she grew up Christian and never had this wild, sexy teenage life, and now she's met Russell Brand adn is getting married to him, she made this song to show how she's feeling and how he's giving her the teenage dream she never lived. Well that's just my opinion anyways
Ok, I'm a sixteen year old girl and don't usually like listening to pop, but I really love this song. It has never once crossed my mind after listening to this to go out and have sex with the first person I fall in love with, because I'm smarter than that and I know the consequences. Teenagers these days aren't that stupid to think 'Oh, thanks Katy, I'll go and wreck my life now thanks to this song! YAAAYYYY'. Seriously? And if you're going to argue that younger audiences will hear it and think that at age 11 etc.. you're wrong. My little cousin is eleven and when she heard the song, I asked her what she thought about the line 'Let's go all the way tonight' and she though it was about literally going somewhere. Some teens are smart and some are naiive. I notice no-one even honed in on the line 'Let's run away and don't ever look back'. That could in (most of) your eyes be encouragment to run away and leave home, but you all concentrate on sex. Well done. Why can't we just enjoy a song these days without it having to have a life-wrecking message apparently hidden in it? And sorry about the length of this (air quotes-rant) people, some of you didn't deserve to read this :) And now the haters....
Now, I really hope that people don't actually go out and do what they hear in songs. It would be a horrible world if that happened. Doesn't change what the song is about, though, and doesn't make it right. I also am really glad that your 11 year old cousin interpreted that line that way. Call me a Katy Perry hater if you want. She's given me no reason to respect her and has yet to prove to me that she isn't a slut.
Then why even BOTHER commenting on here? That's your opinion, and this is hers/ours, and no one can change that. shrugs It's perfectly fine to speak your mind, but if you're just gonna keep arguing again and again and again, now that's just stupid. IT'S JUST A SONG. ONE. FREAKING. LITTLE. SONG. SERIOUSLY, there are even WORST songs out there, believe me, so GET. OVER. IT.
I have an 11 year old sister and she knew exactly what 'Let's go all the way' line meant. Kids are getting more and more mature these days and they have ways of knowing things they normally shouldn't. I went to her school a few years back and I heard some 3rd-4th graders making innuendos and sexual insults about each other.<br /> I myself knew the meaning of sex at 11, not because I grew up in a bad household or anything, I just knew because I was too smart for my age.