| Bad Religion – Them and Us Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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My personal favorite Bad Religion song, it is steeped in anti-racism. "he struggled to find a distinctive moiety all he found was vulgar superficiality but he focused it to sharpness and shared it with the others it signified his anger and misery" Here they're criticizing the racists as those who focus on tiny differences even though almost everything else is exactly the same. The next stanza elaborates on how they try to emphasize whatever differences they find or make up. "tumult for the ignorant and purpose for the violence"-this refers to how many use these inconsequential reasons for their horrid racism. The best part is the end though, where he just makes fun of how ignorant people are always trying to draw lines in the sand, that it has to be between "them and us." "and there wasn't any reason or motive or value to his story just allegory imitation glory" Just the sheer pointlessness of their tactics, with no end in sight nor one wished for by the culprits. I don't believe that this song is saying that there will always be opposition, if anything, that you should try and avoid creating opposition as the people whom he is attacking do, and work towards uniting rather than dividing into camps. I also don't think the Martin Luther thing is right either, Martin Luther did not struggle to find something wrong with the church and then try and hype it up into something huge; on the contrary, Luther struggled to not rebel from the church, he just wanted to reform some of their practices from within. Martin Luther also had reasons(priests selling indulgences? Why would God care about monetary goods?) and values backing his beliefs, which would go against the point of the song. I just don't think that really relates at all. |
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| Against Me! – Baby, I'm an Anarchist! Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Nice Against Me! song that contains numerous references to various anarchist attempts for reform throughout history that most "hardcore" punks won't pick up on, shows how Against Me! aren't just singing about anarchy because it's punk, but they've actually put thought and effort into understanding what they're a part of. For eggy511, Proudhon, author of Property is Theft, says, "Property is anything one owns that serve to exploit others." So a house you live in is a possession, while if you rent it out for profit it becomes property. Also about the far left, far right thing, according to Loeffkism, all forms of government can be traced on a slippery circle, with Totalitarianism at the top of circle and Anarchy at the bottom of it. By giving more rights to the people you move closer to Anarchy, and by giving more rights to the government you move closer to Totalitarianism. However, radical change is rarely effective, as it will "slip" past its intended destination and instead either land back where it was or collapse from its inheret instability, that is why he instead encouraged gradual, peaceful change to reach anarchy. The circle shows though how left and right is all relative really, as what is considered right-wing conservative now would have been extreme left-wing radicalism 500 years ago. Whew, what a mouthful. Just thought I'd straighten up those loose ends. |
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| Fugazi – Waiting Room Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| Atom & His Package does a good cover of this too. | |
| Dead Kennedys – Chickenshit Conformist Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Punk is not just about the music, its about the lifestyle. The Punk music just usually goes along with the lifestyle. "A hairstyle's not a lifestyle Imagine Sid Vicious at 35" there he's talking about not just looking or being punk, but hanging onto the punk values and living by them even as you *shudder* become adults. The whole Punk movement was about making a change and revolutionizing our government. Actually getting out and doing something. When was the last time we had ANY kind of movement? We need to get back out there and start protesting. So far all I've seen is constant, constant complaining about how much MTV and poseurs have decimated punk, but that's not why it's hurting. It's because of our own inactivity! "Any kind of real change Takes more time and work Than changing channels on a TV set" This was a premonition by Jello, of what would happen once people stopped getting out and affecting the world and just sat back and argued between each other. "Who fight best among ouselves" So true. C'mon you guys, stop fucking judging each other and all the poseurs. Isn't one of punk's main pillars of truth is how we don't care what others think of us? Well then why should we judge others? So why don't you try getting involved and changing this shithole of a world? That's what punk was about, nothing else was working, so we went to the extremes to get things changed, and the extremes were great. But we've lost our sense of actual revolution. That's what I think this song was about, how punk was going to lose its original meaning due to the punks caring to much about what others thought. The Dead Kennedys were prophets, man. |
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| Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| I've actually been to Cambodia, and it's horrible over there. Land mine capital of the globe due to its wars. Pul Pot's mass genocides and the "Year Zero" have devastated that country. I've seen lines of skulls of the dead from his acts, and what they put people through in their death camps. So this song has always been pretty personal to me, as I know what he's talking about. | |
| Dead Kennedys – MTV - Get Off The Air Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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OK, there are almost always at least two ways a song can be intepreted, the first way is usually pretty obvious and can be figured out just by glancing at the lyrics. That one is obviously how MTV corrupts any form of rebellion by making it all about popularity, instead of what was actually good music or not. Then once you listen to it for a while you begin to understand the deeper meaning, which is especially true for Dead Kennedys songs. I believe this was the Dead Kennedys foreshadowing the collapse of punk due to over-commercialization. It's not just about MTV. You ask practically any kid that owns a black shirt what they think about MTV, and they'll tell you it's shit and how they never listen to it. It's common knowledge, fuck, a lot of the preps I know hate MTV as well, just hating it is no form of rebellion. So please, stop talking about it, as each time you mention one of the bands they sell to you it makes them a little more well known and punches punk in the gut a little more. Simplified, this song is a musical prophecy of the downfall of the punk ideals due to over-exposure. Absolutely amazing all around. As for all the people arguing about what punk really is, I've always gone by this philosophy: Punk is not about being anticonformist, it's about doing what you want and not letting others affect you in the slightest. By only doing things because others aren't doing it, you've effectively let your life be completely controlled by others. Just remember, one of the worst things you can possibly do is try to prove you're punk. |
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| Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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MountainJew and AirCav1stOfThe9th, you two were only half right. You can roughly divide up the Ramones into two different periods, pre-End of the Century and post-End of the Century. Pre-End of the Century Ramones were punk greatness,(as can be heard in songs such a Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat on the Brat, Sheena is a Punk Rocker, or I Wanna Be Sedated) but they differentiated themselves from the others by being a punk band you could actually dance to. Post-End of the Century Ramones were more pop-punk (for example The KKK Took My Baby Away, She's A Sensation, or Pet Sematary). I personally believe pre-End of the Century Ramones were a lot better than post, but all are the babies of the creators of the one-note guitar solo, so I'll still listen to post every once in a while. Like pink nico said, while Ramones weren't the first punk band, (Crass, Sham 69, MC5, and the New York Dolls all came before them) they are attributed with the first punk rock song, Blitzkrieg Bop, if that makes any sense. This song is the combination of the intense energy and raw emotion characteristic of the early punk scene. Whether it is about dancing in a mosh (which I think it is) or a secret subliminal message to turn all the punks into nazi-punks (less likely), there's no denying its powerful emotional response it invokes. Woh. That was long-winded. I'm done now. |
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