Quotes / Former Teen Rebel

"I really used to be a bad girl
I had a threesome with my sister and her boyfriend Tom
I know I used to be a real wild child
But now I am a Volvo-driving soccer mom"

— Everclear, "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom"

"I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around
But I couldn't take the punishment and had to settle down
Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care
'Cause I can tell what's going on
It's hip to be square"

— Huey Lewis and the News, "Hip to Be Square"

I believe in this and it's been tested by research:
He who fucks nuns will later join the church.

— The Clash, "Death or Glory"

Aging black leather and hospital bills
And tattoo removal and dozens of pills
Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments
But rock on completely with some brand-new components

— Cake, "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle"

Lorraine Baines McFly in 1985: Girls chasing boys! When I was your age I never chased a boy or called a boy or sat in a parked car with a boy.
Lorraine Baines in 1955: Marty, I'm almost eighteen years old - it's not like I've never parked before.

— Back to the Future

Remus: Look, Harry, what you've got understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did - everyone thought they were the height of cool - if they sometimes got a bit carried away -
Sirius: If we were sometimes arrogant little berks, you mean.
Harry: (pained) He kept messing up his hair! (Sirius and Remus both laugh)
Sirius: (affectionate) I'd forgotten he used to do that.
Remus: Was he playing with the Snitch?
Harry: Yeah. Well... I thought he was a bit of an idiot.
Sirius: Of course he was a bit of an idiot! We were all idiots. Well - not Moony so much.

— Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

"Okay, 'Giles' and 'orgies' in the same sentence. I could've lived without that one."

— Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"Those who recall my fight to outlaw teenage rudeness may be shocked to learn that I myself was once a street punk."

— Principal Armin "Seymour Skinner" Tamzarian, The Simpsons episode "The Principal and the Pauper"

Blackwall: For all your experience, Solas, you don't carry yourself like a soldier.
Solas: You should have seen me when I was younger. Hot-blooded and cocky, always ready to fight.

— Dragon Age: Inquisition

When I was young - er, younger - they called me Ripper; my old friends still do. I was a lot like Hunter, pushing everything to the limit. But I might have been a little too good, or at least lucky, at it. Replacement crews coming in, bright young second looies, took my lead... and got themselves shot to hell. When I started burying young pilots who had been killed for behaving like me, I decided to give them an example that would not get them blown out of space. It is sort of a vicious cycle: you try to act as an example, and young pilots start coming to you for advice. That is when they started calling me Bossman. I do not regret all these changes... but there are times I miss the old days.

—Major Chen Kien, Wing Commander: Claw Marks

"Roughraff preys on teenagers, turning them into youth offenders. We're talking about sassyness, no-good shenanigans, and reckless tomfoolery. Things adults look back on and regret."

— Whisper, Yo-kai Watch

Every hero was once
Every villain was once
Just a boy with a bad attitude"

— Meat Loaf, "Bad Attitude"

"Twenty-five years ago
They spoke out and they broke out
Of recession and oppression
And together they toked

And they folked out
With guitars around the bonfire
Singing' and clappin'
Man, what the hell happened?

Then some were spellbound, some were hellbound
Some they fell down
And some got back up
And fought back against the meltdown

—Smash Mouth, "Walkin' On the Sun"

"Do you really think we're that gullible? We were teenagers once, too, you know."

Sandra Tennyson, Ben 10: Alien Force

The guy who slagged the football team, those yobs were not for him
He turns into a real estate agent who believes in discipline
The guy who's first to use cocaine, the wild boy breaking free
He'll end up in a court of law - as a prosecuting QC!

— TISM, "Greg! The Stop Sign!"

Jake: I suppose shoplifting steaks from Winn Dixie's is okay?
Melanie: Oh, Oh! I took 'em back and you know it!
Jake: What about that incident of vandalism in the stockyard... totally her!
Melanie: Like I could tip a cow... by myself!
Jake: Wade, isn't there some outstanding warrant for whoever drove your mama's tractor into the fishing pond?
Melanie: (horrified realizing what he meant) OH!

—Sweet Home Alabama

"Ben used to be seriously into meth, and Karl^note one of Ben's younger brothers started pinching it from him. Now Ben's like born again and thinks meth's a tool of the devil."

—Casey Acosta, Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary