Parents

* Original
* Remix
* EP
* Album

"**Parents**" *(stylised in lowercase)*, released 24 May 2019, is the second song on both YUNGBLUD's third EP *the underrated youth* and the digital version of the second studio album *weird!* and the fourteenth song on the Japanese version of *weird!*, as well as the EP's first single. The original spelling of the song title was "Parents", spelled with a capital "P", when it was revealed to be on the EP, it was changed to have a lowercase "p".

"**Parents**" with Chloe Noone is a remix of the single, with fan and artist Chloe Noone on the song. This article covers both songs. Whilst the original song represents the growing amount of youth that feel unheard by the older generations, this remix comes with a flamboyant twist from Noone's perspective, Noone adds a more feminist view with her lyrics, specifically calling out rape culture and how it's truly up to consent when it comes to sex.

## Background

* Original
* Remix

**"parents"**, originally titled *"Parents Ain't Always Right"* is a single by YUNGBLUD. It was released on 24 May 2019 and inspired by a trans girl he met in Bonner Springs, Kansas. He described the song as *"A tribute to individualism"*, stating *"You are the best judge of how to become the best you. Don’t conform to the outside world's perception of who you should be if it means losing yourself in the process"*. It was later added to *the underrated youth*.

Leading up to the release of the single, YUNGBLUD set up a phone number on posters for fans to find and call the number each day for three days to hear different stories through voicemail, each story narrated by Harrison and relating to a lyric in *"parents"*. After calling the number on the first day, 21 May, you would hear a story of a boy whose father caught him kissing another boy, and threatened to kill him if he did it again. The next morning the boy tied his father up with gaffer tape and locked him in the shed, made a peephole in it and forced his father to watch him have sex with his best friend. The story is told from first person perspective of the boy. The second day, 22 May, the story is of a teacher and a student in her class, they fell in love with each other, but she became "possessed with jealousy" when she "saw his pupils dilate for another" and when he threatened to walk away from her, she killed him. The third day, 23 May, the story is of a young boy called Charlie, whose parents never wanted him, the boy became depressed and conspired about leaving town with his friends, unfortunately his parents heard him and ended up killing him by dropping a toaster in his bath.

*"parents"* contain lyrics relating to all three of these stories. On 22 June, just under a month after *"parents"* came out, YUNGBLUD organised a scavenger hunt. In each location: Los Angeles at Pink Dot, New York at Village Music World, London at Underground, Leeds at the Crash and Sydney at Hum Records his fans could find different items that were in the lyrics of the song or within the music video.

The premise of the song is to call out immoral and uncaring adult figures who manipulate and abuse the younger generation, all while claiming to know better and be morally superior. It does also communicate a hopeful message, though, in stating that by coming together and recognizing the faults in those with power over them, the younger generation will survive and be able to fight back.

**"parents (with Chloe Noone)"** originally came about through the social media app, TikTok. Months ago, YUNGBLUD realized the that parents was becoming popular on TikTOk and requested fans to add their own perspective on a part of the song that he included in his own video on TikTok. Hundreds of fans made video, most of which he shared on his Instagram story.

He took notice to Chloe Noone in particular and in a collaboration with TikTok, YUNGBLUD planned to collaborate with Chloe to produce a remix of *"parents"*, in which Chloe would give a more feminist perspective with the lyrics that she added. She was originally surprised by YUNGBLUD and had no idea about it.

Speaking more on why and how the collaboration came about, he stated: *"When I saw it was re-emerging on TikTok I asked them if I should get an artist to remix it and who should that artist be. Then it occurred to me, this song is about us, it is a celebration of individuality and a celebration of the determination of my generation so i thought f\*\*k it, I’m gonna release a record with one of my fans because this song is about my fans"*

## Lyrics

* Original
* Remix

[Intro]

Blah!

[Verse 1]

I was born in a messed up century

My favourite flavoured sweets are raspberry amphetamines

I bought a car, Beretta, age 16

I brush my teeth with bleach 'cause I ain't got time for cavities

My daddy put a gun to my head

Said, "If you kiss a boy, I'm gonna shoot you dead"

So I tied him up with gaffer tape and I locked him in a shed

Then I went out to the garden and I fucked my best friend

[Chorus]

'Cause my high hopes are getting low

Because these people are so old

The way they think about it all

If I tried, I would never know

My high hopes are getting low

But I know I'll never be alone

It's alright, we'll survive

'Cause parents ain't always right

[Post-Chorus]

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

[Verse 2]

Threw a toaster in my bath, watch my mum and dad laugh

See a thousand volts go through the son they wish they never had

They told me casual affection leads to sexual infection

But it's hard to get an erection when you're so used to rejection

Yeah, the teacher fucked the preacher

But then he had to leave her

Had to wash away the sins of a male cheerleader

"Hi, nice to meet ya," got nothing to believe in

So let me know when my breathing stops

[Chorus]

'Cause my high hopes are getting low

Because these people are so old

The way they think about it all

If I tried, I would never know

My high hopes are getting low

But I know I'll never be alone

It's alright, we'll survive

'Cause parents ain't always right

[Post-Chorus]

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

[Bridge]

Tick, tock, stop the clock

Because I get the feeling that I'm gonna get shot

Tick, tock, stop the clock

Because I get the feeling that I'm gonna get shot

[Chorus]

My high hopes are getting low

Because these people are so old

The way they think about it all

If I tried, I would never know

My high hopes are getting low

But I know I'll never be alone

It's alright, we'll survive

'Cause parents ain't always right

[Post-Chorus]

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

[Intro: YUNGBLUD]

Blah!

[Verse 1: YUNGBLUD]

I was born in a messed up century

My favourite flavoured sweets are raspberry amphetamines

I bought a car, Beretta, age 16

I brush my teeth with bleach 'cause I ain’t got time for cavities

My daddy put a gun to my head

Said, "If you kiss a boy, I'm gonna shoot you dead"

So I tied him up with gaffer tape and I locked him in a shed

Then I went out to the garden and I fucked my best friend

[Chorus: YUNGBLUD]

'Cause my high hopes are getting low

Because these people are so old

The way they think about it all

If I tried, I would never know

My high hopes are getting low

But I know I’ll never be alone

It's alright, we'll survive

'Cause parents ain't always right

[Post-Chorus: YUNGBLUD]

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

[Verse 2: Chloe Noone]

I'm sick and tired of women bein' labeled as the villain

When in reality all we want is equality

'Cause it’s a dress not a yes, I won’t say it again

Your sexist ideology, that respect is earned by modesty, yeah

Women are powerful, beautiful, wonderful

We'll scream it at the top of our lungs

Our body, our choice

All together, use your voice

[Chorus: YUNGBLUD, YUNGBLUD & Chloe Noone]

’Cause my high hopes are getting low

Because these people are so old

The way they think about it all

If I tried, I would never know

My high hopes are getting low

But I know I'll never be alone

It's alright, we'll survive

’Cause parents ain't always right

[Post-Chorus: YUNGBLUD]

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

[Bridge: YUNGBLUD, YUNGBLUD & Chloe Noone]

Tick, tock, stop the clock

Because I get the feeling that I'm gonna get shot

Tick, tock, stop the clock

Because I get the feeling that I'm gonna get shot

[Chorus: YUNGBLUD, YUNGBLUD & Chloe Noone]

My high hopes are getting low

Because these people are so old

The way they think about it all

If I tried, I would never know

High hopes are getting low

But I know I'll never be alone

It's alright, we'll survive

'Cause parents ain't always right

[Post-Chorus: YUNGBLUD]

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I, I-I-I-I

I-I-I-I-I-I-I

## Verified Annotations

On Genius YUNGBLUD annotated this song, verifying the meaning behind the lyrics.

> *I was born in a messed up century*

"Right now we need to remain informed because look at what is going on in the world. I was born in a messed up century and I can admit that because I have enough information to be able to digest and assess. I’m making informed decisions so someone can’t say to me, “You’re just a bratty, kid who don’t know what he’s talking about."

> *My favourite flavoured sweets are raspberry amphetamines*

"When I was younger, they tried to put me on these prescription drugs to censor my personality. They try and put people in boxes because to go, “Okay, you have that, so we’ll give you this drug.” Instead of maybe listening to what I have to say, you go, “Cool, you belong there, because you’ve told me this and I’m going to treat you like a piece of Maths and and (sic) give you this drug even though it might not be right for you.” Because when they gave me Ritalin man it completely zombie-fied me. I was like, “Oh, I’m dumb. Nice to meet you.” And I was completely-killed my personality, instead of working to my needs. My mom took me off it and then she was like, “It was this. This is not my son.” And I was lucky. I was lucky for that. But I just think when you’re told something from somebody in a position of power, you usually believe them, but that wasn’t right for me. And as the song, I know what’s right for me. I know what is going to make me a better human because I’m going to feel good in myself and I’m going to accept myself for who I am deep down, so don’t treat me like another number."

> *I bought a car, Beretta, age 16*

"When I first came to America (at 16). I couldn’t buy a beer, but I could buy an assault rifle and that blew my mind, man."

> *I brush my teeth with bleach 'cause I ain't got time for cavities*

"This lyric is about having to clean yourself up so much that it might hurt you. The age of having to be false and all made up is over. Authenticity shines through and your biggest superpower is to be authentically yourself. If you look at someone and they are completely themselves, you admire them. You think even if you, whatever color you are, whatever you look like, shape, size. It’s just amazing if you embrace that."

> *My daddy put a gun to my head / Said, "If you kiss a boy, I'm gonna shoot you dead"*

"Every single person on this planet, and if you live on Mars as well, has the right to love whoever they want to love and be loved in return. No matter how much you oppress me, no matter how much you hurt me, no matter how much you don’t accept me, I am going to love who I love who I want to love because that is my right and if you don’t like it, I’m going to lock you in the fucking shed and I’m going to fuck the person outside while you watch. Because that is my generation, we’re not violent, we’re just, us."

> '*Cause my high hopes are getting low / Because these people are so old / The way they think about it all / If I tried, I would never know / My high hopes are getting low / But I know I'll never be alone / It's alright, we'll survive / 'Cause parents ain't always right*

"When I was younger, before I found my people before I find my community, before I found Yungblud, I felt so misunderstood because it wasn’t necessarily on mom and dad. It was a little bit, but it was people in positions of power or teachers or who didn’t have an emotional to me. Because if you’re not the ideal kid, they haven’t got emotional connections to you so they don’t need to love you. They don’t need to make you feel any other way than they want you to. And it would deflate me. It would make me feel so small, and so insignificant and so irrelevant because of their ideologies and views on the world. And I realized again at the end of the chorus it’s like the way they think about it all, if I tried, I would never know. I could not relate to you because I would never be like that. My high hopes are getting low, but I know I’ll never be alone. It’s all right, we’ll survive because parents ain’t always right. It’s about me finding them. We have each other. I understand you. You understand me. The thing in my fan base is, for me this isn’t about anything other than this piece of magic that I have with kind of every one of my fans, and it ain’t even a big deal now, but when we look at each other, there’s this piece of magic in between us that goes, you saved my life man, and you make me feel like it’s our right to be on this planet because I have you and it ain’t even a big deal."

> *Threw a toaster in my bath, watch my mum and dad laugh / See a thousand volts go through the son they wish they never had*

"That’s about not being the ideal kid. If you are not the ideal person to your parents, to your teachers, to your boss at work, that’s their problem. They are hurting you because that’s their problem, because they don’t understand you and they’re probably scared of. People are scared of shit they don’t understand, but that doesn’t mean you have to change. Make their outlook change."

> *They told me casual affection leads to sexual infection / But it's hard to get an erection when you're so used to rejection*

"I remember everyone listened to this tune like, ‘ahh! Woah! Woah!’ And I was, like, freestyling that, and everyone was like, ‘yo!’ It was proper, like, dude, it was like, I don’t… all my fucking geezers with their hoods on and me in my fucking makeup just, like, on the mic, like, just spitting. As I say, it’s literally just, like, any form of loving is gonna completely end up in your demise, so why bother loving at all? It’s like, no! I don’t wanna face it on my own! I wanna cuddle! I wanna cuddle everybody! Just cuddle me for being me!"

> *Yeah, the teacher fucked the preacher / But then he had to leave her / Had to wash away the sins of a male cheerleader*

"They’re gonna pretend they’re so squeaky clean, but they’re completely full of contradictions the same way as you and I are. So why do we put these people on a platform? Like, I was watching Joker, right? I was watching the new movie and I was like, ‘why do we idolize Thomas Wayne (Batman’s rich father) so much? This billionaire who didn’t give a fuck about the little man, but we were taught to idolize this person because of the position they were in. But as humans, man, we are completely full of contradictions. But that’s fine because why do you want to start at Z? You want to start at A. Then move to C and then trip over D. And have sex with O and then regret M. And then fucking get your head kicked in by Q and fucking marry R and then die at Z. You know what I mean? I don’t want to be dead straight away. I don’t know if I’ve experienced it all. I want to be wrong, I want to be right? I want to be up, want to be down? I want to be everything because that’s just life and that’s what it is to be like human innit?"

## Gallery

* Original
* Remix

parents cover art

remix cover artAn image of Chloe Noone via Twitter, recording in the studio (18 March 2021)
## Trivia

* This song marks the first time Harrison has worked with Justin Tranter.

## Buy/Stream

* Original
* Remix

* YouTube
* Spotify
* Apple Music
* Tidal
* Deezer
* SoundCloud

* YouTube
* Spotify
* Apple Music
* Tidal
* Amazon Music
* Deezer
* SoundCloud

## References

1. ↑ YouTube (YUNGBLUD) — "YUNGBLUD - Parents (Official Audio)". Published 24 May 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
2. ↑ YouTube (Mia) — "YUNGBLUD Parents Aint Always Right 4K!". Published 5 May 2019.
3. ↑ YouTube (EmoBubba) — "Yungblud- "Parents Ain't Always Right" LIVE 5/9/2019 Dallas, TX". Published 12 May 2019.
4. ↑ NME — "The Big Read – Yungblud: “I wanna be the rock star of the 2020 generation”". Published 18 October 2019.
5. ↑ Alternative Press — "YUNGBLUD proves “Parents” ain't always right in new song". Published 24 May 2019.
6. ↑ Alternative Press — "YUNGBLUD launches mysterious hotline, sparks fan theories". Published 21 May 2019.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Alternative Press — "YUNGBLUD confirms new song release following hotline teasers". Published 23 May 2019.
8. ↑ Alternative Press — "YUNGBLUD POSTS CRYPTIC TEASER FOR CROSS-CITY FAN SCAVENGER HUNT". Published 21 June 2019.
9. ↑ TikTok UK (@TikTokUK) on YouTube — ""parents" YUNGBLUD & Chloe Noone - #ItStartsOnTikTok - TikTok" Posted 17 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
10. ↑ Musically — "Yungblud re-releases ‘Parents’ with a fan after TikTok duet". Published 18 March 2021. Written by Stuart Dredge. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
11. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (First Verse, 1)
12. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (First Verse, 2)
13. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (First Verse, 3)
14. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (First Verse, 4)
15. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (First Verse, 5)
16. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (Chorus)
17. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (Second Verse, 1)
18. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (Second Verse, 2)
19. ↑ YUNGBLUD — Genius Annotation (Second Verse, 3)