Trash

The lyrics seem to portray a teenager drawn into a fashionable, commercial world. The speaker asks whether the person is “customised or ready-made,” suggesting a tension between having an individual style and following a look supplied by others. The repeated age, “only seventeen,” makes the person seem young and still forming an identity. The tone is playful, but it may also carry a hint of criticism.

Several images point to style as something packaged and traded. “Row your features into magazines” suggests shaping one’s appearance to fit the images seen in magazines. “Go to Plaza—where’s the trade?” sounds like a search for the latest goods or trends. “Trash is neat” and “trash is in” turn the word “trash” into a label for a fashionable look: something dismissed as cheap or low-status can become desirable when it is in style. “Teenage fever” suggests an intense, almost contagious excitement about wanting these things.

The song’s meaning is not entirely clear, and “trash” may be affectionate, mocking, or both. The speaker could be admiring the teenager’s energy while teasing the shallow world of fashion and consumption around them. Rather than offering a firm moral judgment, the lyrics leave us with an image of youthful desire caught between personal choice and ready-made trends.