Teenager by Deftones

Album: White Pony (2000)

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Songfacts®:

In this uncharacteristically mellow Deftones song, lead singer Chino Moreno describes an intensely passionate time when "a new cavity moved into my heart today."

In the Deftones B-Sides & Rarities liner notes, he explained: "The song itself is super simple, but I think that's what I love about it. The lyrics were all written when I was 15 and living in Arizona with my grandparents. It's pretty much about my first and only real date I ever had. It's kind of corny, but it was the first time I got my heart broken." >>
Suggestion credit:
Tim - PGH, PA
The title never appears in the lyric. With Moreno's explanation, we can assume it refers to his teenage self.
Moreno wrote this for his band Team Sleep, which is a lot more atmospheric than Deftones, but ended up using it on Deftones' third album, White Pony. In 2005, Deftones included a new version of "Teenager" on their album B-Sides & Rarities with guest vocals from Michael Harris and Daniel Anderson of the band Idiot Pilot. Moreno explained: "This song, originally derived from a Crook sample, had almost no real instrumentation. So when I heard the kids from Idiot Pilot covering this live, I got the idea to re-record it with them."

Comments: 2

Jimmy from Sydney, Australiathis song may lack in instrumentation, and the traditional sound of the deftones, but it still is able to send out such an emotional presentation of love falling apart into 'cavity.' thats a beautiful metaphor for the way in which love can deteriorate after certain experiences in your teenage years.
Tim from Pgh, PaThe original version of this song is on "The White Pony." The two main differences between this song and the album version are that the verses are sung by the lead singer of Idiot Pilot and the chorus is sung by Chino. The only one is that a guitar is used as the instrument in this song, as compared to a turntable on the White Pony.

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