Teenage Kings

Album: Nothing to Lose (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This uptempo tune was penned by the Emblem3 trio with songwriters Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, who are responsible for One Direction's hit tunes "What Makes You Beautiful," "One Thing" and "Live While We're Young."
  • The song was inspired by the movie Project X about three teens who plan to gain popularity by throwing an epic party, but their scheme quickly escalates out of their control. "It's like a nerdy freshman that goes to a sick party," Wes Stromberg of Emblem3 told MTV News. "My perspective is like it's coming from a nerd because he's pretending to be like a teenage king at this party."
  • Drew Chadwick of Emblem3 told the story behind the song to Artist Direct: "That one is based off the summer of 2008," he said. "I was sixteen-years-old, and Wes was fifteen-years-old. Basically, our parents let us do whatever we wanted. We'd just go to these crazy parties all the time. My house was actually like the party house of our city back in Washington. My mom is cool. The song is based off some of the parties we'd go to back in high school. I had this whole theme in my head. It's basically about reliving that dream of when we were younger. We were broke. We weren't anything like kings, but we felt like kings. We made the best out of what we had. The song talks about this pool party like it's all fancy, but we weren't rich. In actuality, the pool was this little blowup pool in my backyard [Laughs]. There's nothing fancy about it. It's a flashback to the summer of 2008, which was the craziest summer of my life."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Songs Discussed in Movies

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And Scandals

Top American Idol Moments: Songs And ScandalsSong Writing

Surprise exits, a catfight and some very memorable performances make our list of the most memorable Idol moments.

Dino Cazares of Fear Factory

Dino Cazares of Fear FactorySongwriter Interviews

The guitarist/songwriter explains how he came up with his signature sound, and deconstructs some classic Fear Factory songs.

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went Mainstream

Jesus In Pop Hits: The Gospel Songs That Went MainstreamSong Writing

These overtly religious songs crossed over to the pop charts, despite resistance from fans, and in many cases, churches.

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"

Susanna Hoffs - "Eternal Flame"They're Playing My Song

The Prince-penned "Manic Monday" was the first song The Bangles heard coming from a car radio, but "Eternal Flame" is closest to Susanna's heart, perhaps because she sang it in "various states of undress."