Teenage Riot

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"Teen Age Riot"

Single by Sonic Youth
from the album Daydream Nation
B-side(s)	"Silver Rocket," "Kissability," "Candle"
Released	1988
Format	CD single, 12", Flexi disc
Recorded	Greene Street Recording, New York City, July 1988 – August 1988
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	3:50 (Single Edit) 6:57 (Album Edit)
Label	Enigma/Blast First
Writer(s)	Sonic Youth
Producer(s)	Nick Sansano, Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth singles chronology
"Starpower" 1986	"Teen Age Riot" 1988	"Candle" 1989

"Teen Age Riot" was the first single from Sonic Youth's 1988 album Daydream Nation. The album version of the song is long, clocking in at 6:57, and has two distinct parts. The first is hypnotically dreamlike, with Kim Gordon reciting childlike, stream-of-consciousness prose, such as "You're it, no you're it/ Say it, don't spray it/ Miss me, don't dismiss me/ Spirit desire/ We will fall." ("We will fall" is a reference to The Stooges' song of the same name.) After one minute and 21 seconds, the rest of the band kicks in with the luminous, caffeinated riff for which the song is renowned. According to sonicyouth.com, The song's working title was "Rock And Roll For President;" the song was supposedly written about a fantasy world where J Mascis is president. The video for the song was Sonic Youth's fourth overall, excluding the low-budget Ciccone Youth videos; the band directed it themselves.

As with many Sonic Youth songs, the guitars are rather unconventionally tuned, in this case to GABDEG and GGDDGG.

In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Teen Age Riot" at number 69 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.