"I Was a Teenage Anarchist" is a song by the

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

-based punk rock band

Against Me! Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida, by singer and guitarist Laura Jane Grace. That same year, Grace moved to Gainesville, Florida, which is considered the band's hometown. Since 2001, the band's lineup ...

, released as the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from their 2010 album ''

White Crosses White Crosses (in German: ''Weiße Kreuze'') is a memorial for those who died during the Cold War at the Berlin Wall. It is located at the shore of the river Spree in Berlin next to the Reichstag building, which houses the German parliament. Es ...

''. The single was released as a four-track digital download through various online music stores on April 6, 2010, including the additional album track "Rapid Decompression" and two

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

s from the album's sessions, "One by One" and "Bitter Divisions". A 7" single was released on April 17 in conjunction with

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, with an acoustic version of "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" featuring as the B-side.

Music video

The music video for the song features

Laura Jane Grace Laura Jane Grace (born Thomas James Gabel; November 8, 1980) is an American musician best known as the founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!. In addition to Against Me!, Grace fronts the band Laura ...

in traditional punk clothing running through a park being chased by a police officer, who tackles and then starts beating her. After a while members of a crowd that had formed attack the officer, freeing Grace. However, these members are accosted by other officers. Grace begins to run away, only to be stopped by more police officers. At the end of the video Grace is shown being shoved into a police car, smiling after a few moments. The video is shot in a single long take, entirely in slow motion.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Laura Jane Grace, all music composed by Against Me!

Download version

7" version

Controversy and feud with Rise Against

Lyrics from the song's hook, "Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?", drew controversy when fellow American punk rock band

Rise Against Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, formed in 1999. The group's current line-up comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tim McIlrath, lead guitarist Zach Blair, bassist Joe Principe and drummer Brandon Barnes. Rooted in hardcor ...

released their song "Architects" in 2011, containing the lyrics "Don't you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire? Somewhere deep down, I know you do. Don't you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire? Well I still am, and I still do!" The lyrics were interpreted as specifically responding to and calling out Against Me!'s song. In an interview, Rise Against lead singer

Tim McIlrath Timothy James McIlrath (born November 3, 1978) is an American rock musician. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist, songwriter and co-founder of the punk rock band Rise Against. He is vegan and straight edge. Early and personal life McIlrath ...

explained his reasoning behind the lyrical choice. "I felt like the Against Me! song was really dismissive of the fire in my belly, and fire in many of our fans' bellies. It was asking for, and deserved, a response... that line seemed to trivialize what many of us still hold on to unapologetically." Grace responded to Rise Against's song in an interview, criticizing the band's politics and the ease at which the lyric "The revolution was a lie" angered McIlrath. In 2016, Grace stated that, despite being close with Rise Against and having toured with them in the past, "At the time it just seemed like posturing, you know? Like, 'Okay, whatever, sure. You’re more revolutionary than me. You can have it.'"

Personnel

Band

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, lead

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* James Bowman – guitar, backing vocals * Andrew Seward –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals * George Rebelo –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Production

Butch Vig Bryan David "Butch" Vig (born August 2, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the drummer and co-producer of the alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of the diamond-selling Nirvana album ''Neve ...

–

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:I Was A Teenage Anarchist 2010 singles Against Me! songs Song recordings produced by Butch Vig Record Store Day releases Songs written by Laura Jane Grace Sire Records singles 2010 songs