Teen Idle

Teen Idle
Artist	Marina and the Diamonds
Album	Electra Heart
Type	Album only
Released	April 27, 2012
Length	4:14
Label	679 • Atlantic
Format	Digital download • Streaming • CD (with album) • Vinyl (with album)
Writer(s)	Marina Diamandis
Producer(s)	Liam Howe

Electra Heart (UK edition) track listing
"Teen Idle" is track number 9.
Previous track "Living Dead"	Next track "Valley of the Dolls"

Electra Heart (US edition) track listing
"Teen Idle" is track number 9.
Previous track "Sex Yeah"	Next track "Valley of the Dolls"

"Teen Idle" is a song by Welsh singer-songwriter MARINA it is the ninth track on her second studio album, Electra Heart.

Background and composition

Diamandis stated that she got the idea for the title "Teen Idle" from a fashion show she went to, noting that a grey knitted jumper and "Teen Idle" written on it inspired the song's title. Thinking it would be funny to rhyme "idle" with "suicidal," she decided to write the song about youth—specifically how she did not live out her teen years the way she wished she had.

Official versions:

• Album version - 4:14
• Instrumental version - 4:15
• Live version - 4:25

Videos

Official live music video

Music Video	Information
	Premiere	July 23, 2012
	Filmed	June 25, 2012 • the Tabernacle, London
	Director	TBA
	Producer	TBA
	Production co	TBA
	Exec. producer	TBA
	Editor	TBA
	Choreographer	TBA
	Length	4:25
	Source

Lyrics

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 a, 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 a, 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 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 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 ugly years of being a fool Ain’t youth meant to be beautiful? Yeah I wish I’d been a, 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, come alive Feeling super, super, super! Feeling super, super, super! Feeling super, super, super! Come alive

Trivia

• Marina's manager at the time didn't want the song on the album.
• In a 2015 Hollywire interview, an alternative artist, Melanie Martinez, had been asked to name a song that she wished she had written. Melanie had confessed that she wished she had written the lyrics of Marina's Teen Idle, saying that Marina is a brilliant songwriter.
• The rhythm and theme of this song's first verse are both mirrored in the first verse of "Immortal".
• "I listen to a little Marina & The Diamonds. She has a song called 'Teen Idle' that I really like." —Lana Del Rey

Credits

Personnel

• Marina Diamandis - Vocals, Piano
• Liam Howe - Synthesisers, Santoor, Philicorda

Technical

• Written by Marina Diamandis
• Published by Warner Chappell Music Ltd (PRS)
• Produced and Mixed by Liam Howe for This Much Talent
• Additional drum production by The Elite
• Recorded and Mixed at The Ivory Tower
• Programming Liam Howe
• The Elite Additional drum programming
• Mastered by Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound, New York, NY