When I Was a Youngster

Album: Stereo Typical (2011)
Charted: 8
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Songfacts®:

  • British Hip-Hop duo Rizzle Kicks' third single from their debut album Stereo Typical finds them looking back at their pre-adolescent hopes and dreams. The duo reminisce about a time when they wanted to be firemen and fly around the world before mourning their vanished ambitions. The song was released on October 23, 2011 as a digital download in the United Kingdom.
  • This samples The Clash's "Revolution Rock," a track from the punk rockers 1979 album, London Calling.
  • The music video features British musician Ed Sheeran throwing shoes at the Rizzle Kicks pair.
  • The song is about the loss of ambition as you get older. Jordan "Rizzle" suffers from attention deficit hyperactive disorder and he admitted to The Sun: "When I was younger I had a real thirst for knowledge and I was really bright. I found it hard to concentrate when I was a kid. I used to do all kind of s--t. I entered writing competitions, art competitions, I joined the young historians group. I didn't give a f--k. Then you get older and your horizons get narrower. The upbeat production masks the fact that it's quite a depressing song."

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