American Teenager

[Verse 1]

Grew up under yellow light on the street

Putting too much faith in the make-believe

And another high school football team

The neighbor's brother came home in a box

But he wanted to go, so maybe it was his fault

Another red heart taken by the American dream

[Pre-Chorus]

And I feel it there

In the middle of the night

When the lights go out and I'm all alone again

[Chorus]

Say what you want, but say it like you mean it

With your fists for once, a long cold war

With your kids at the front

Just give it one more day, then you'rе done Done

I do what I want, crying in the blеachers And I said it was fun

I don't need anything from anyone, it's just not my year

But I'm all good out here

[Verse 2]

Sunday morning

Hands over my knees in a room full of faces

I'm sorry if I sound off, but I was probably wasted

And didn't feel so good

Head full of whiskey but I always deliver

Jesus, if you're listening let me handle my liquor

And Jesus, if you're there, why do I feel alone in this room with you?

[Pre-Chorus]

And I feel it there

In the middle of the night

When the lights go out and I'm all alone again

[Chorus]

Say what you want, but say it like you mean it

With your fists for once, a long cold war

With your kids at the front

Just give it one more day, then you'rе done Done

I do what I want, crying in the blеachers And I said it was fun

I don't need anything from anyone, it's just not my year

But I'm all good out here

[Chorus]

Say what you want, but say it like you mean it

With your fists for once, a long cold war

With your kids at the front

Just give it one more day, then you'rе done

I do it for my daddy and I do it for Dale

I'm doing what I want and damn, I'm doing it well

For me, for me

For me, for me

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Official Music Video

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Official Visualizer

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Lore (in progress)

American Teenager was orginally released as the third and final single from Preacher's Daughter.

Hayden says of this track,"Growing up I was surrounded by visions of NASCAR, rock’n’roll, and being the one who would change everything...They make you think it’s all achievable and that if nothing else, you should at least die trying. What they don’t tell you is that you need your neighbor more than your country needs you. I wrote this song as an expression of my frustration with all the things the ‘American Teenager’ is supposed to be but never had any real chance of becoming.”

About the making of the music video Hayden says "I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with one of my favourite people Silken Weinberg, who flew down to Florida and spent a couple days with me in my hometown, running around getting sunburnt and riding bikes to the high school football field in town.

"I dug my mom’s old cheerleading uniform out of the closet for the occasion. Looking at old pictures of my mom when she was my age cheering on that same football field was a huge inspiration when I was writing the song, so it only felt correct to play in her footsteps for the video. We shot it on the same camera we shot the God’s Country video on, trying to avoid any strict rules and just have a good time and shoot what felt natural and true to the essence of the song."