Welcome to this month’s Kulture Korner. This month I will be showcasing the song American Teen by Khalid. This song could be credited as one of his breakout hits. This song hits close to high schoolers, as it is about being a high schooler and experiencing the end of high school and the end of childhood, it mainly pertains to the seniors.

In the first verse, Khalid hits us with the biggest fact of being a teenager. Lots of things are merely temporary in the line “Living the good life full of goodbyes, my eyes are on the grey sky, saying I don’t wanna come home tonight.” In this verse, he makes it known that in your life as a teenager, you’re constantly saying goodbye, whether to friends or family. He then tells us that he doesn’t want to come home so he can stay out and party and enjoy life. He then makes the commentary that he was so absorbed in partying that he doesn’t even know what he’s high off of as his friends around him are passed out.

The pre-chorus is him shouting out and hyping up the city he finished high school in. “From the city of the 9-1-5, where all the girls are pretty and down for the hype. All my boys are with me going up for the night. But who cares, who cares? Cause this is our year.” He lets us know he has no problem with the girls of his city and that his boys are always down to party because this is the year they graduate.

The chorus makes a subtle hint to teenagers being dishonest or dodgy about their mental health in the line, “We don’t always say what we mean, that’s the lie of an American teen.”

His second verse is almost existentialist due to him realizing his youth is all but over. “Maybe the end is near, but I’ve been waiting all year to get the hell up out of here and throw away my fears.” You can feel the concern that he will soon be an adult and will no longer be able to live the life he’s known for all these and be successful at the same time. He then makes a joke of high school party culture by making fun of those ‘High school drinkers’ in the line “Maybe I’m not really drunk, maybe I’m really good at faking.”

He begins wrapping up the song by mentioning that his youth made him who he is because his mother got him into music while he was at a young age in the line, “My youth is the foundation of me. Living life as an American teen.” He then shouts out the fact that both of his parents were in the military by quickly spouting “I’m proud to be American.”

He ends it on a somber note with the outro with, “American teenager, I’ll be living this dream with you.” Which could mean this song was made with the intentions of helping other kids who are struggling with this.

But after his singing ends, you get to here Khalid sing this song with his best friends with an acoustic guitar. It’s almost like a casual nod that no matter what, your true friends will be with you forever.