Marina and the Diamonds: Seventeen Meaning

Seventeen Lyrics

Used to be a major scale,
But the melody went stale,
Musical cacophony let,
Insy Winsy spider free.

You're a rich little boy,
Who's had to work for his toys,
You've got all the sensibilities, oh,
Of an upper class guy.

No, no I'm not...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   May 1st 2013 !⃝

   It is about her relationship with her dad. Her parents split when she was young. She lived with her dad in greece from she was 15 til she was 17.
   Her dad told her how to be and to act. Marina was brought up by her mothers side of the family and her father probably didnt think it was good, He questioned the was she was brought up. He thought that she would have been moore ladylike and a little less outspoken. He was embaressed of her.
   And she sings of a "Upper class wife". That was probably his dads girlfriend or wife she didnt like.

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jun 22nd 2023 !⃝

   I always thought she was raped or sexually assaulted the day she turned seventeen. Some people (the "you" she speaks of) try to dismiss her, while others pin the blame on her family, ("I felt you question the way I was brought up as a baby") when they couldn't be more wrong.("well, you don't know fuck about my family")
   
   She can't help but express her contempt for the perpetrator, with "the rise of a king and the fall of a queen" being used.Also "no, I'm not your little slave" can be compared to this as well. The usage of "used to be a major scale, then the melody went stale" is referring to how the experience affected her mental health.
   
   When she says "Musical cacophony set eensy weensy spider free", she talks about how she was noticed and then preyed on shortly after.
   ("Oh,you are embarrassed of me,'cause I use my tongue freely, bet you wish I couldn't speak)" referencing her pleas for help, which were to no avail, and probably was ridiculed for causing a stir.
   
   "You teach me how to behave" is when she gets accused of being too provocative, and forced to "cover up" or "be more modest". You see in
   "that it was just how things were meant to be", that she blames herself, and thinks that her actions led to it,that her "immodest behavior" was inevitable, and this was bound to happen. She seems not to take her experience seriously ("I used to kid myself in this stress").
   
   As a sexual assault survivor, this song resonates with me significantly, as it describes my experiences perfectly. This song helped me through hard times and I want to let you know, that if you were in a situation like mine, you're not alone.

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Aug 17th 2017 !⃝

   I've always thought it was about the day she lost her virginity. She could've been directing this to a boyfriend that thought he could boss her around and use her, however she's cautious and now knows of men like this because of the man that took her virginity may have had similar traits
4. anonymous

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   May 16th 2024 !⃝

   i’ve always interpreted it as getting sa’d bc i’m a victim and when she says the “rise of the king and fall of a queen” is like a guy having power over the victim and the feeling of defeat almost and then when she’s says she can’t tell us what happened the day she turned 17 makes me think that too
5. anonymous

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   Oct 25th 2023 !⃝

   The first thing i thought was she was raped by her father. it realized me that she was treated wrong
6. anonymous

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   Sep 23rd 2023 !⃝

   I think it’s about the Anastasia Romanov and the execution of her and her family. She was 17 when she died and she was a Russian princess
7. anonymous

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   Aug 11th 2023 !⃝

   I thought it had something to do with her dad killing a woman she found out and when he realized she knew he tried to silence her aka kill her but on her 17th birthday she ran away from home so he couldn't but eventually found her and was ultimately murdered. I don't know why but that's the story that came to mind when I heard the song the first time so yeah.
8. anonymous

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   Jul 9th 2023 !⃝

   I thought that in the part "I was brought up as a baby
   Well you don't know a f*ck about my family could never tell you what happened when I turn seventeen the rise of a king and the fall of a queen" was about lady Jane Grey
9. anonymous

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   Jul 8th 2023 !⃝

   I don't think this is correct, but for me personally, I took it as a trans man coming out at seventeen.
10. anonymous

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    May 28th 2023 !⃝

    I thought it was about Katherine Howard and how she was senventeen when she got excecuted at 17 and got married to Henry viii of england
11. anonymous

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    May 27th 2023 !⃝

    According to my point of view the singer is a soul/ghost of a girl who has been killed by her dad and stepmother at her age of 17. Where the stepmother was the influence for her dad to change. She just say that her dad had a easy and better childhood compared to her own childhood. But the next wife he brought has not been a fair one for her.(Upper class wife = materialistic lady). For her stepmother and dad (who was under the influence of stepmom) her behaviour of her was not fit/embarassed. She wasn't keeping quiet but kept hating them and saying the society or outside about her crisis. This effected the dignity of the parents thus they killed her. She regrets and is stressed and sad about her own mother's dead. May be it also had an influence by her dad "The rise of a king and the fall of the queen" meant that. Her stepmother was someone who had reputation in the society but was another personality during her presence. And had tried to change the girls behaviour and couldn't thus killed her. ☹

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

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    Mar 29th 2023 !⃝

    I thought this was a song about paternal abuse the way it was talking about family and how she won't talk about it
    
    
    
    
    

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