Marina and the Diamonds – Teen Idle

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  Song Meaning:It's a song about Marina throughout her late adolescent years: "...16-20 were kind of blackout years for me. Like I didn't even live them or they didn't belong to my life. I don’t really remember them".

  Flag xAon June 16, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:A lot of people are saying that this song has a very sarcastic base to it which could be true but when I listen to this song I get the impression that she is singing about her childhood (as i say could be completely wrong and she could have had a great childhood).
  
  My personal view of this song sounds like it was a time in her life where she felt extremely depressed as we can see throughout the song she wants to be something shes not and feels 'Conned' because other people seem to have a better luck in life than her or better things.
  
  Overall I just think the whole song is the different stages and worries people go through when they are really depressed,
  when your Jealous :'I wanna be a bottle blonde' ,
  Anger/hate 'I want blood,guts',
  Loss of faith 'Burning up the bible',
  Regret 'the wasted years the wasted youth',
  Isolation/lonliness 'Oh god im gonna die alone'
  and then finally finding that spark of hope
  
  'Only to find, I've come alive
  Only to find, I've come alive
  
  Oh, alive
  (Feeling super, super, super!)
  (Feeling super, super, super!)
  (Feeling super, super, super!)

  Flag Jamdexdanon June 05, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:I'm going to be that person who rants through each line. I've listened to this song hundreds of times. And I love it and Marina so much. And it's, like, she's singing what I believe and stuff (I'm /that/ person -_-)
  
  I'm probably wrong. And if she's being brutally sarcastic or not... I just don't know. Maybe she truthfully believes some and is over emphasizing it or something.
  
  "I wanna be a bottle blonde/ I don't know why but I feel conned"
  Well, the "blonde" is pretty much the "popular" blonde stereotype. And the "I feel conned" means she thinks she wasn't given as much as other teenagers who were more popular or whatever.
  
  "I wanna be an idle teen/I wish I hadn't been so clean"
  She's implying that idle(idol)(popular) teens are naughty and such.
  
  "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"
  Saying that the teenager doesn't want to do anything but sulk in her house and wanting to be more popular (and faker).
  
  "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"
  I wish I were popular and loved and positive rather than being negative and 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"
  She's saying teenage youth is stupid because it's just a bunch of pettiness and lies. And as for "the day has come... come alive". It could mean that once she gives in and offers her independent spirit to popularity and teenagerness, that's when she becomes alive OR it could mean that now that she is negative and such, it makes her a better person than other teenagers. (Biased statement)
  
  "I wanna be a virgin pure/A 21st century whore/I want back my virginity/So I can feel infinity"
  This verse is talking about teenage sexuality. She wants to nice and virginal because that seems more attractive than being an easy slut. So being a virgin is like being a slut. Indirectly.
  
  "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"
  I want to party hard and not give a fuck about it or it's consicuinces! Because that's what teenagers are like...
  
  
  "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"
  Realizing that all this teenage, immature, lovey-lovey is all stupid and will end resulting in nothing.
  
  "Adolescence didn't make sense/A little loss of innocence/The ugliness of being a fool/Ain't youth meant to be beautiful?"
  Being young is supposed to beautiful. Why is all this so ugly and tainted?
  
  SORRY THIS WAS PROBABLY ALLLLL WRONG. AND A LOT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION. SO YEAH.
  
  HAVE A NICE DAY.

  Flag amerilandon May 03, 2013   Link

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  My Interpretation:I think that the "Idle" instead of Idol in the songs title is showing how instead of being the teenager that people would look up to and wish to be, she lived her youth in an un-fulfilling way and now she regrets it. She regrets living her youth being so pessimistic "instead of being 16 and burning up a bible" and instead she wishes she was a "prom queen fighting for the title".
  I think the line "the pretty lies the ugly truth" shows how she would've lied to people hiding the fact that she was living her life being "idle" which is why it's a "wasted youth", because she didn't do all of the things she could've.
  "the day has come where I have died, only to find i've come alive" could reflect how she only decided to live her life to the full when her teenage years were over.
  
  The song may just be about teens in general (the archetype of the idle teen) or it could've been directly about her, I'm not sure.
  There could be loads of interpretations of these lyrics though I think, and this is just what i thought xx

  Flag idleteenon April 17, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:I think she is being extremely sarcastic, considering that the title of the song is "teen idle" rather than "teen idol"since the definition of idle is without worth or lacking in meaning. she must mean that all of that teen stuff was not meaningful while the real girls who were "16 and burning up a bible" had so much more worth, even if they wish they were bevaing like the "popular people" most of the album is about that sort of thing, how this world creates nobodys who are fake; or atleast America does anyway. and its better to be real and true to yourself for yourself since that leads to a much healthier lif. i just love her I wish her and her music were around when I was in highschool.

  Flag MrsNewVegason March 06, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:ppl if the lyrics r wrong change them, its a wiki

  Flagged mohamed377on December 03, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:*******
  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 going to die alone.
  Adolescence didn’t make sense,
  A little loss of innocence.
  The ugly years of being a fool,
  Ain’t youth meant to be beautiful?

  Flag thrwmyhrtawy.on April 25, 2012   Link

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    0

    The most touching song ever

    Flag LuckyLighton February 02, 2013  
• +3
  General Comment: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 going to die alone.
  Adolescence didn’t make sense,
  A little loss of innocence.

  Flag thrwmyhrtawy.on April 25, 2012   Link

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