Wasted Youth
Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984 in Vacaville, California) is an a… Read Full Bio ↴Bonnie Leigh McKee (born January 20, 1984 in Vacaville, California) is an award-winning American singer, songwriter, and actress. McKee has co-written eight #1 singles, that have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Her first studio album, Trouble, was released in 2004, and a second album is scheduled for release in summer 2013.

By age 15, McKee was writing songs and performing in the Seattle area. A friend helped get her EP to Nic Harcourt, a popular disc jockey in Los Angeles and host of KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic". He helped spark a major record label bidding war after playing the song "Somebody" on his radio program for several weeks. After signing a recording contract at age 16, she moved to Los Angeles to begin work on her debut album with producer Rob Cavallo. Trouble was commercially released on September 28, 2004.

After ending her recording contract, McKee spent many hours in the recording studio and was introduced to music producer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, by her manager. Gottwald had collaborated with McKee's longtime friend Katy Perry on her debut album One of the Boys. They (along with Max Martin and Benny Blanco) began writing songs together, ultimately producing the hits that would appear on Perry's second album, the worldwide multi-platinum, Teenage Dream. The singles "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream" and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" each topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold millions of copies around the world. Other successful collaborations between McKee, Gottwald and Martin include Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me," Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," Rita Ora's "How We Do (Party)," and Katy Perry's singles from Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, "Wide Awake" and "Part of Me."

McKee recently signed a recording contract as a solo artist with Epic Records, and is currently at work on her second studio album, to be released in summer 2013. The lead single will be "American Girl," which McKee described as a "summer banger". "American Girl" was released in July 2013.

Wasted Youth
Bonnie McKee Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

They say youth is wasted, wasted on the young
So then tell me why are we having so much fun?
All the midnight dreamers falling into love
In our torn up sneakers, yeah, we were born to run

So I'm begging you
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
Hang on, hang on
Cause it's going so soon
So let's get it while we're young
(We're wasted youth)

Yeah, we're bored and jaded
Sharing bubble gum
But these nights are sacred
There's freedom in our blood

So I'm begging you
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
(We're diamonds in the rough)
Hang on, hang on
Cause it's going so soon
(Let's get it while we're young)
And shine on
Cause we'll never be the same
We'll never be the same
(You know you know the truth)
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
Let's get it while we're young

Let's get it while we're young

Let's go
Let's get stupid right now
Get to fooling around
Jump in the pool with you clothes on
Sleep with your shoes and on the futon
Time we got is right now
So we're making it count
Roll down the windows and scream it
Let's get it while we're young

Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
(We're diamonds in the rough)
Hang on, hang on
Cause it's going so soon
(Let's get it while we're young)
And shine on
Cause we'll never be the same
We'll never be the same
(You know you know the truth)
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
Let's get it while we're young

Who, oh oh, who oh oh
We're wasted
Let's get it while we're young
Who, oh oh, who oh oh
Let's get it while we're young
Yeah
Let's get it while we're young
Who, oh oh, who oh oh
We're wasted, we're wasted
Who, oh oh, who oh oh
We're wasted, we're wasted




Who, oh oh, who oh oh
We're wasted, we're wasted

Overall Meaning

In Bonnie McKee’s song “Wasted Youth”, the lyrics express the idea that youth is often wasted on younger people, who do not fully appreciate it or realize its fleeting nature until it is gone. Despite this, they still manage to have fun, to live in the moment, to fall in love and embrace their freedom. The chorus begs the listener to hold onto their “wasted youth” and to enjoy it while it lasts. The song encourages its audience to embrace the spirit of youthfulness, to go out and do foolish things, to take risks and to live life on their terms.


The song is a celebration of youth and the idea of living life in the present. McKee urges her listeners, no matter how old they are, to hold onto their own version of “wasted youth” as the years go by. By the end of the song, the chorus has become a rallying cry, urging the listener to hold on tightly to their youth and to live life to the fullest.


Overall, "Wasted Youth" is a song about living life with courage and vigor, embracing the present, and not wasting a single moment of life. The song reminds us that we're only young once and encourages us to live in the moment.


Line by Line Meaning

They say youth is wasted, wasted on the young
People often say that young people don't appreciate their youth enough.


So then tell me why are we having so much fun?
Despite what people say, we're having a great time being young.


All the midnight dreamers falling into love
We're dreaming big and falling in love in the middle of the night.


In our torn up sneakers, yeah, we were born to run
We feel like we were meant to run free and do whatever we want, even if it means our sneakers get torn up.


Hang on, hang on Cause it's going so soon So let's get it while we're young (We're wasted youth)
We need to hold onto our youth because it won't last long. So let's make the most of it while we can.


Yeah, we're bored and jaded Sharing bubble gum But these nights are sacred There's freedom in our blood
We may seem bored and unimpressed, but we share a common bond that makes these moments special. We feel a sense of freedom in our youth.


And shine on Cause we'll never be the same We'll never be the same (You know you know the truth)
Let's make the most of our youth and shine because we know we'll never have this exact moment again. We need to embrace the truth of our impermanence.


Let's get stupid right now Get to fooling around Jump in the pool with you clothes on Sleep with your shoes and on the futon Time we got is right now So we're making it count Roll down the windows and scream it Let's get it while we're young
Let's do silly things and take risks, like jumping in the pool with our clothes on, because we know we won't be young forever. We need to make the most of the time we have now by embracing the moment and living it to the fullest.


Who, oh oh, who oh oh We're wasted Let's get it while we're young Who, oh oh, who oh oh Let's get it while we're young Yeah Let's get it while we're young Who, oh oh, who oh oh We're wasted, we're wasted Who, oh oh, who oh oh We're wasted, we're wasted Who, oh oh, who oh oh We're wasted, we're wasted
We're fully aware that we may be called 'wasted youth', but let's make the most of it while we can, as we won't be young forever.




Contributed by Lily E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

MAX

[Verse 1]
They say youth is wasted, wasted on the young
So then tell me why are we having so much fun?
All the midnight dreamers, falling into love
In our torn up sneakers, yeah, we were born to run
So I'm begging you

[Chorus 1]
Hold on, hold on to your wasted youth
Hang on, hang on 'cause it's gone so soon
So let's get it while we're young
(We're wasted, wasted, wasted, wasted)

[Verse 2]
Yeah, we're bored and jaded
Sharin' bubble gum (Oh)
But these nights are sacred
There's freedom in our blood
Oh, so I'm begging you

[Chorus 2]
Hold on, hold on to your wasted youth
(We're diamonds in the rough)
Hang on, hang on 'cause it's gone so soon
(Let's get it while we're young)
And shine on, 'cause we'll never be the same
We'll never be the same (You know you know the truth)
Hold on, hold on to your wasted youth
Let's get it while we're young
Let's get it while we're young (Get it while we're young)
Let's go

[Bridge]
Let's get stupid right now
Get to fooling around
Jump in the pool with your clothes on
Sleep in your shoes on the futon
'Cause all we got is right now, so we're makin' it count
Roll down the windows and scream it
Let's get it while we're young!

[Chorus 2]
Hold on, hold on to your wasted youth
(We're diamonds in the rough)
Hang on, hang on 'cause it's gone so soon
(Let's get it while we're young)
And shine on, 'cause we'll never be the same
We'll never be the same
(You know you know the truth)
Hold on, hold on to your wasted youth
Let's get it while we're young

[Outro to fade]
Whoa, whoa
We're wasted (Wasted, wasted)
Let's get it while we're young
Whoa, whoa
Let's get it while we're young
Let's get it while we're young
Whoa, whoa
We're wasted (Wasted, wasted)
We're wasted (Wasted, wasted, wasted, wasted)
Whoa, whoa
We're wasted (Wasted, wasted)
We're wasted (Wasted, wasted youth)
Whoa, whoa
We're wasted



ᴍᴀɴᴏᴇʟ ᴄᴀʀᴠᴀʟʜᴏ

They say youth is wasted
wasted on the young
So then tell me, why are we having so much fun?
All the midnight dreamers falling into love
In our torn up sneakers, yeah, we were born to run

So I'm begging you
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
Hang on, hang on
Cause it's going so soon
So let's get it while we're young
(We're wasted youth)

Yeah, we're bored and jaded
Sharing bubblegum
But these nights are sacred
There's freedom in our blood

So I'm begging you
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
(We're diamonds in the rough)
Hang on, hang on
Cause it's going so soon
(Let's get it while we're young)
And shine on, cause we'll never be the same
We'll never be the same
(You know you know the truth)
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
Let's get it while we're young
Let's get it while we're young

Let's go
Let's get stupid right now
Get to fooling around
Jump in the pool with you clothes on
Sleep with your shoes and on the futon
Time we got is right now
so we're making it count
Roll down the windows and scream it
Let's get it while we're young

Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
(We're diamonds in the rough)
Hang on, hang on
Cause it's going so soon
(Let's get it while we're young)
And shine on, cause we'll never be the same
We'll never be the same
(You know you know the truth)
Hold on, hold on
To your wasted youth
Let's get it while we're young

Ah, ah, ah, ah
We're wasted
Let's get it while we're young
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Let's get it while we're young
Yeah
Let's get it while we're young
Ah, ah, ah, ah
We're wasted, we're wasted
Ah, ah, ah, ah
We're wasted, we're wasted
Ah, ah, ah, ah
We're wasted, we're wasted



All comments from YouTube:

Malcolm Bancu

She's so underrated. Her songs/videos are everything

YouTube user And chef

She wrote a few songs for Katy Perry

Bárbara Contiero

Omfg I remember when I listened to American Girl for the first time, and I can't believe she is not on top of Billboard, seriously. She deserves more recognize, her music is so good and fun. I can easily imagine myself driving a car and listening to Wasted Youth, while the wind blows into my hair...

Nicholas Zulick

I remember hearing American girl for the first time on the radio, I almost thought it had to be Katy Perry because of how dang similar the writing was (found out the reason for that later haha) But i knew it couldn't have been Katy, no offense I love Katy but she absolutely CANT belt it out the way Bonnie does!!!

Armchair Engineer 85

Bonnie sure has a thing for the 80's

lasv

+Blair Clarke that's what makes her so good!

Pastel Hot Mess

And Humor, and Glitter, and rainbowy teeny boppy jazz, XD I LOVE HER MUSIC!!!!!

Pixel Doll

+Blair Clarke Probably because she was born in the 80's. She's 32. :)

Marcos Boscolo

i wish someday she can make a hit... she deserves its

Kátia Cristina

Oi

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