Kids Wan

The singer is frustrated by the music he hears on the radio and longs for rock and roll instead. As the song develops, that complaint becomes a confident claim: wherever he goes, young people still want rock music. His mood shifts from irritation to excitement and certainty.

“Turned the dial for a couple of miles” is an exaggerated way of saying he searched through many radio stations without finding the music he wanted. Calling the sound “computerized crap” shows his dislike of it, rather than offering a neutral description. “Kick down the barricades” suggests pushing past barriers or resisting what keeps people from hearing the music they want.

The repeated idea that “the kids wanna rock” may be taken literally as a statement about young listeners, but it also works as a rallying cry for rock music and its energy. The song contrasts changing fashions and new styles with the belief that music will endure. Its dismissal of new wave and unusual haircuts is deliberately forceful, so the lyrics can sound playful and defiant, but also resistant to musical change.