# Best teen angst songs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690 "2017-10-01T00:36:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/21 "2017-10-01T16:06:47Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Revolution I’ll say that one’s more about its title than teen angst. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rainbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d26b3c/32.png) [@black\_rainbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rainbow)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/22 "2017-10-01T16:21:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian. Good one! Bullet with butterfly wings by: Smashing Pumpkins ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/23 "2017-10-01T23:18:32Z")
“Parents Just Don’t Understand” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince (AKA Will Smith; this song kick-started his career). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/24 "2017-10-02T00:08:00Z")
There are quite a few “teen angst” songs on [Freak Out!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_Out!) by the Mothers of Invention. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/25 "2017-10-02T00:20:14Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ADBAm3B7tgE/hqdefault.jpg "Little Feat Teenage Nervous Breakdown") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADBAm3B7tgE) Teenage nervous breakdown… gotta love Lowel and little feat ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/26 "2017-10-02T00:28:36Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > To build on what **Zonexandscout** said: > > While I respect Dee Snider as a personality, that song is about juvenile anger, not teen angst. A kid mad at his/parents or teacher. > > Fight for Your Right was satire and a bid for commercial success. They thought they were goofing on the idiots. That’s why they fled to Paul’s Boutique for their next album. Point taken. Guess I misunderstood what angst means. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/27 "2017-10-02T00:39:09Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > “The Kids Aren’t Alright” by the Offspring And [The Kids Are Alright](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbSdHMkWafc), d’oh, and the whole \*Quadrophenia \*double album. And[I’m A Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgOyqdN2SaE), [Pictures Of Lilly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qy9J4exvM), … ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/28 "2017-10-02T01:10:07Z")
The Good: The Who’s Baba O’Riley, The Animals’s We Gotta Get Outta This Place, Harvey Danger’s Flagpole Sitta, Presidents of the United States of America’s Lump. The Bad: Every single story song ever. The worst of the worst David Gedde’s Run Joey, Run and that song that got made over by a band I sorta had respect for until this about a car crash and angels and it’s so bad my brain will not let me remember any details. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/29 "2017-10-02T02:02:36Z")
I’m sorry. The OP specifically asked for the best teen angst songs. Please disregard the second part of my post. You can replace them with Journey-- any song really, but Don’t Stop Believing is the gold standard. Now, I’m aware that to some of you I replaced bad with worst but your subjective tastes are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/30 "2017-10-02T03:12:25Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And [The Kids Are Alright](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbSdHMkWafc), d’oh, and the whole \*Quadrophenia \*double album. And[I’m A Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgOyqdN2SaE), [Pictures Of Lilly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qy9J4exvM), … [Substitute](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswQl-hcvU0) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/31 "2017-10-02T04:13:40Z")
_Zip City_, **Drive-By Truckers** \*"Maybe it's the twenty-six mile drive from Zip City to Colbert Heights Keeps my mind clean Gets me through the night Maybe you're just a destination, a place for me to go A way to keep from having to deal with my seventeen-year-old mind all alone Keep your drawers on, girl, it ain't worth the fight By the time you drop them I'll be gone\* And you'll be right where they fall the rest of your life..." ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/32 "2017-10-02T04:18:32Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And [The Kids Are Alright](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbSdHMkWafc), d’oh, and the whole \*Quadrophenia \*double album. And[I’m A Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgOyqdN2SaE), [Pictures Of Lilly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7qy9J4exvM), … Quadrophenia wins the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/33 "2017-10-02T04:20:49Z")
Tool - The Pot "Who are you to wave your finger You must have been out of your head … You must have been… high You must have been sooo high. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/34 "2017-10-02T06:18:17Z")
Do those teen death songs from the 60s count? Teen Angel, Last Kiss, Laurie, Leader of the Pack, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/35 "2017-10-02T07:02:43Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Many songs by [the Mountain Goats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mountain_Goats). Darnielle’s lyrics are often like cleverly observed short stories. > > [Dance Music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abvqNQ2QXuk): > > [You Were Cool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3n_RKEuRlw) > > And much of his latest album [Goths](http://www.tune-jam.com/single-post/2017/05/22/Goths---By-The-Mountain-Goats). > > He obviously has a long and twisted memory. Personal favorite of mine in that vein: “[This Year](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii6kJaGiRaI)”. I played video games in a drunken haze I was 17 years young Hurt my knuckles punching the machines The taste of scotch rich on my tongue And then Cathy showed up and we hung out Trading swigs from a bottle, all bitter and clean Locking eyes, holding hands Twin high maintenance machines I am going to make it through this year If it kills me I am going to make it through this year If it kills me Also, no love for My Chemical Romance? In a thread about teen angst? Ouch. Maybe there aren’t that many 90s kids around here. Cheesy? Sure. Emo? They pretty much defined the trope. But _god damn_ does “[I’m Not Okay (I promise)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRFhNZNu_xw)” ever hold up. This song is basically an entire generation’s teen angst in a black-and-red-lipsticked nutshell, and I will gladly hold this up as a rock classic worthy of veneration in the same way as, say, “Foxy Lady” or “Radar Love”. And “[Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORsFFjt1x6Q)” is pretty great too. ---
**Author:** ![KatTP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@KatTP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KatTP)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/36 "2017-10-02T07:13:47Z")
Mad World-Tears for Fears ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/37 "2017-10-02T07:42:16Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Do those teen death songs from the 60s count? Teen Angel, Last Kiss, Laurie, Leader of the Pack, etc. I made this same mistake. The OP wants the best teen angst songs not the worst. And Last Kiss was the name of the song that I couldn’t remember in my other post. So thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/38 "2017-10-02T10:20:37Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Quadrophenia wins the thread. Has to be, It is one of my all time favourite albums so perhaps I am biased but it doesn’t have just _one_ song about teenage angst, it is a rock opera specifically _about_ teenage angst. Take a look through any of the lyrics of any of the songs and it is all there. Just one snippet from “I’m one” > [@](#): > > Every year is the same > And I feel it again, > I’m a loser - no chance to win. > Leaves start falling, > Come down is calling, > Loneliness starts sinking in. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/39 "2017-10-02T11:41:07Z")
I don’t think it’s possible for a song to get any angstier than the Stones’[Paint it Black](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690/40 "2017-10-02T11:49:39Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > … it is a rock opera specifically _about_ teenage angst. > … Exactly. And a hell of an album. One of my favourites, for sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-teen-angst-songs/797690.md?page=3)