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Seventeen (single)

by Penfriend

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about

Order my new album "Exotic Monsters" here: penfriendrocks.myshopify.com

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Seventeen. Is there a more complicated age? Not quite yet an adult, but impatient to be treated like one; navigating an avalanche of new experiences and urgent emotions, dismissed by the grownups as “teenage angst” or “just a phase”. An exhausting quest to negotiate a new space for ourselves, juggling the interests of parents, teachers and friends while not knowing to question their motives.

This song is an excavation, a letting go, an act of self-forgiveness.

Traumatic events from the past can feel just as fresh, years later, the ghosts of our former selves creeping up to tap us on the shoulder with icy fingers.

Sometimes we need to package up our memories with tidy words to dispel the haunting.

Sometimes we just need to stop blaming ourselves.

Sometimes writing songs is like painstakingly sculpting sounds from thin air; other times they arrive in a whoosh, fighting to be heard. “Seventeen” appeared on a summer Saturday evening, falling out of me in jagged swathes.

Facing up to our ghosts isn’t a pleasant experience, but this song helped me over a major stumbling block from my past, bringing me a fresh perspective and new freedom.

lyrics

LYRICS
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Happy birthday, time to say goodbye
Such a big girl, keep all this inside
Dial back those dreams

Wishing impossible things
Bursting your seams

It hurts when we grow

Tell me what you wanted
I was seventeen
Tell me I deserved it
Because I was seventeen

Toxic teens on mixtape afternoons
Photostatic memories of you
Fold paper planes
Pull them apart when it rains
Smash windowpanes
Stretching our wings alone

Tell me what you wanted
I was seventeen
Tell me I deserved it
I was seventeen
Tell me it was all my fault
I was seventeen
Tell me you remember

Tell me what you wanted
I was seventeen
Tell me I deserved it
I was seventeen
Give me a good reason
I was seventeen
Tell me you’re so sorry
I was seventeen

credits

released April 23, 2021
Written, produced, performed and recorded by Laura Kidd at The Launchpad, Bristol.
Drums by Max Saidi.
Piano arranged by Laura Kidd, performed and recorded by Catherine Anne Davies.
Mixed by Dan Austin.
Mastered by Katie Tavini.
Artwork by Alex Tillbrook, concept by Laura Kidd.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Penfriend Nottingham, UK

Music for people who like handwritten letters. Grungey guitars, synths and stories by music producer Laura Kidd.

Videos: youtube.com/penfriendrocks

Back catalogue: shemakeswar.bandcamp.com

xoxo
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