Have you ever felt that the movies depict what your teenage years should be? Hollywood makes your teenage life to be perfect and ending amazingly by the time you’re off to college. It is nothing like this. Mad Tsai’s album, “teenage nightmare,” focuses on the messed up parts of teenage years. This album is nothing close to a cliché teen movie, but it is the harsh reality of these years that also focuses on the struggles that come with being in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) community. On this beautiful curated album there are nine tracks but here are six that perfectly encapsulates the meaning.

“teenage nightmare” (E)

“Wanna rob a bank and and chase the life I’ve missed

I’ve been searching for the feeling of eternal bliss

Look at this high-achiever turn into a self-loathing narcissist

It’s the last prom and I’m queen of the land of broken dreams”

That feeling of trying to be ‘perfect’ is sewed magnificently into this song. “teenage nightmare” discusses what it is like to spend a majority of your life trying to achieve perfection. This is a concept that can not be reached and now that Tsai has realized this, he wishes he wouldn’t have wasted so much time on trying to be perfect. From how he treated himself growing up has completely altered to who and where he is now.

“what a shame” (E)

“Go ‘head and tell your friends

I’m just ‘another ex who’s gone insane’

I gave you three whole years

And all you did was push it down the drain

So, it would be a shame”

The struggles from a break up are inevitable, but it’s even worse when you learn that you were used. A surge of sadness and anger hits when this comes to light, and the first instinct that many have is to seek revenge. Tsai focuses on how after a break up that the other one can move on easily while you are still struggling.

“mad’s world” (E)

“Ain’t it dumb growing up?

And the world wants you to break

God it sucks, knowing what

What is causing all my pain

I hate my guts, I’m so done

Being everyone’s mistake

It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world

And I’m insane”

In many cases, it can often feel like you are a disappointment to your family because you don’t fit into their expectations. After Tsai got his newfound fame from his single, “Boy Bi,” in which he expresses his feelings of bisexuality, he used this song to come out to his mother. However, after coming out to his mother, he felt like an outcast to his family along with the fans trying to pry into his life. He found increasingly difficult to cope with these feelings with all that was happening.

“in my head”

“But, in my head I don’t pretend

I never lost my only friend

‘Cause in another world we’d be again

But, in this life I’m not complete

You found someone I can’t compete

Guess happy endings only happen in my head”

Usually when a relationship is over, there is always a part of someone that wishes for the possibility of something more or the craving for it to have lasted longer. In Tsai’s fantasy world, the relationship would have never fallen through where they would both live happily ever after together. This song tells the story of what it is like to always wish there was more in your relationship with someone.

“boys beware”

“Boys beware ’cause he enjoys the thrill of chasing

Breaks you down so he can wipe your tears

Hug you with a knife behind his back and smile

And when he’s had his fun he disappears”

When you find someone you love you both are in a relationship thinking both of you are committed. However one may just do it for their enjoyment, and once it has been fulfilled, they will disappear. Tsai describes this feeling of being “love-bombed,” which is an unfortunate, yet popular occurrence that happens to many nowadays.

“hate my hometown”

“You don’t have to say ‘I love you’

Cause I’ve learned to understand you

Without words, without blame

And I know things will feel different

When you’re gone and I’m here listening

To the words we never say

Even after all I’ve broken and become

You always stayed”

Tsai wrote this song as an apology towards his mom after having some unresolved issues with each other. He felt that they had both drifted apart from each other, and he finally understood what she went through after this. Now Tsai desires to be closer to her once more like he once was.

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“teenage nightmare” is an album in which listeners see the reality of what teenage years are really like. This album is a journey of romance, sadness, anger, and forgiveness. The teenage years may seem extremely cruel, and Mad Tsai captures beautifully how these times may feel.