Youth Without Youth (song)
Youth Without Youth is a song by Canadian indie rock band Metric. It was released May 1, 2012 as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Synthetica. The track, 4 minutes 17 seconds long, blends indie rock and electronic rock and was released on the Mom+Pop label. It was written by James Shaw and Emily Haines, and produced by Gavin Brown.
The song debuted at number 1 on the Canadian alternative rock chart and held that position for 16 consecutive weeks. Lyrically, it looks at a failing social state through the eyes of a deprived youth.
Critics gave mixed to favorable reviews. Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan gave it 3 out of 5 stars, calling it "glam sugar with a bitter core" and noting Haines’s delivery, especially the line "We played blindman's bluff till they stopped the game." Billboard's Jillian Mapes praised Haines's writing, pointing to vivid imagery like "double dutch with a hand grenade" and "rubber soul with a razor blade."
A music video for the song is available on YouTube. In the release timeline, it followed the 2010 single "Stadium Love" and preceded the 2012 single "Breathing Underwater."
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:27 (CET).