The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Through the best of times,
Through the worst of times,
Through Nixon and through Bush,
Do you remember '36?
We went our separate ways.
You fought for Stalin.
I fought for freedom.
You believe in authority.
I believe in myself.
I'm a molotov cocktail.
You're Dom Perignon.
Baby, what's that confused look in your eyes?
What I'm trying to say is that
I burn down buildings
While you sit on a shelf inside of them.
You call the cops
On the looters and piethrowers.
They call it class war,
I call it co-conspirators.
'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone.
You watched in awe at the red,
White, and blue on the fourth of july.
While those fireworks were exploding,
I was burning that fucker
And stringing my black flag high,
Eating the peanuts
That the parties have tossed you
In the back seat of your father's new Ford.
You believe in the ballot,
Believe in reform.
You have faith in the elephant and jackass,
And to you, solidarity's a four-letter word.
We're all hypocrites,
But you're a patriot.
You thought I was only joking
When I screamed "Kill Whitey!"
At the top of my lungs
At the cops in their cars
And the men in their suits.
No, I won't take your hand
And marry the State.
'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone.
Through the worst of times,
Through Nixon and through Bush,
Do you remember '36?
We went our separate ways.
You fought for Stalin.
I fought for freedom.
You believe in authority.
I believe in myself.
I'm a molotov cocktail.
You're Dom Perignon.
Baby, what's that confused look in your eyes?
What I'm trying to say is that
I burn down buildings
While you sit on a shelf inside of them.
You call the cops
On the looters and piethrowers.
They call it class war,
I call it co-conspirators.
'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone.
You watched in awe at the red,
White, and blue on the fourth of july.
While those fireworks were exploding,
I was burning that fucker
And stringing my black flag high,
Eating the peanuts
That the parties have tossed you
In the back seat of your father's new Ford.
You believe in the ballot,
Believe in reform.
You have faith in the elephant and jackass,
And to you, solidarity's a four-letter word.
We're all hypocrites,
But you're a patriot.
You thought I was only joking
When I screamed "Kill Whitey!"
At the top of my lungs
At the cops in their cars
And the men in their suits.
No, I won't take your hand
And marry the State.
'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone.
Lyrics submitted by fugazifathead, edited by ncc74656m
Baby, I'm an Anarchist! Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Anarchist either consider themselves radical leftists, or post-leftists. Anarchists call the abolition of capitalism, private property, hierarchy, sexism, racism, and all forms of domination, both economic and social. Anybody who think that this is far left is umm... uninformed.
'36 is a reference the Spanish Civil War in which the liberal PSUC, which received aid from the Soviets, betrayed and turned on the revolutionary anarchists of the CNT/FAI in Catalonia, allowing the fascist nationalists to take advantage of the Republican army's internal struggles and defeat the leftist alliance.
Anarchists were the main driving force behind the struggle for the 8 hour work day. May Day spawns from the Haymarket Riot, which occured in response to police killing anarchists demonstrating for a reasonable work day. In the early part of the 20th century, anarchists represented a very significant portion of the labor movement.
In the Battle in Seattle, liberal demonstrators for some reason felt the need to protect the Starbucks and Niketown from the thrashing they deserved, and, in some cases, these peace police used violence against people to stop them from committing property destruction.
This song is half serious, half satire. There definitely is a lot of tension between anarchists and the authoritarian/reformist left.
eek. well, it's a very accurate description of liberals and anarchists not getting along. Usually liberals would like to participate in protests while staying in arms length with the law, while anarchists don't wish to confrom to these laws because they think they are a nuisance to achieving their goals to be heard and taken into account. liberals will protest on the sidewalk, anarchists will take to the streets. it happens. and i guess the guy has a liberal friend and doesn't think he/she is radical enough to partake in the social revolution they're fighting for. while the liberal finds the anarchist incredibley unruly and shows unnecessary resistance because he/she still has faith in the system.
happens in the activism scene a lot. against me! knows their shizit.
A couple of things to add:
If you've spent any time in an anarchist community you'll get the comparison. It's all about the people in the community reacting to one another's needs. Talents and weaknesses balancing out. Not saying anarcho-capitalism is something I agree with. I'm more a black flag kind of girl....but I can see other perspectives. Of course as an anarchist you'd have to.
All of the folks who think that the statement "Whether the protest is from the sidewalk or from the streets it's effective" is reasonable should read Ward Churchill's "Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America". It might not change your mind and make you take to the streets but it might help you make a more informed decision about the role of anarchistic protest and the reasons why there is such a divide between so called liberals and their anarchist counterparts. The reasons are many and the differences possibly insurmountable.
The song is NOT a love song. There is no boy. There is no girl. They're metaphores. Analogies. It's a song attempting to explain and explore ideological differences in the political left. I say the political left because despite numerous attempts by anarchists to exclude themselves from the political system as well as the political structure of our world, the general public deems us left if not criminal. In an attempt to make people consider these differences the ideas are put into the context of a relationship. Which is why if you look at alternative literature, film or music you'll find complex and difficult, often ignored issues at the forefront. People digest things they disagree with a lot easier - it seems less offensive through art. As can be illustrated with the people in this thread who like the music enough to consider the lyrics and post here. Even if their opinions are right-ish of the spectrum.
Point being that the song is not a love song and the gendering of the ideologies simply allows for the last line about marriage - "No I won't take your hand, and marry the state. Cuz..." The idea of marriage is built into our society...it's considered natural like so many other attributes of quote en quote human nature. but it's not. Marriage involves either state or religious intervention in a relationship between two people. Until recently in the western world, and still in many other places, those two people were required to be of the same ecolomic and social class in order to be married. So given that the idea of marriage is so embedded in state, religious and discriminatory ideologies the fact that an anarchist owuld be wholeheartedly against the idea is not untoward. Which isn't to say that anarchists can't or won't have healthy, committed relationships recognized by our communities. We do. We just don't feel right about making vows to institutions we don't believe in. We don't feel that we need to take our loved ones by the hand and "marry the state".
Might be good to know that the song was not initially menat to be an against me song to. Tom wrote it with some folks for a side project that fell apart. So he used it on Axl rather than having it go unheard. So it is no wonder that the song has slightly differnt sentiments toward anarchists than their others. They recorded it as a good song. Not as a manifesto. And they've never, to my knowledge claimed to be anarchists outside of this song.
Interesting side note on marriage: the words husband and wife. While we have a pretty idea of what it means to be a husband in today's western world, the historical meaning was that of a manager or steward. But another meaning for the word comes from animal husbandry - which is to say someone who breeds and breaks domestic animals. For example horse husbandry through which a horse is tamed or "broken" for somestic needs and riding. A wife until modern time was simply a woman, often in the sense of a midwife - a woman with knowledge of life and death, tobe respected. Or fishwife - a middle income independent woman. So basically in marriage, according to historical uses of the word - a man breaks and tames an independent or powerful woman in marriage. Just hought that was interesting enough to share.
Despite being a metaphorical political song, this is exactly why my last relationship fell apart.
wade boggs - no offense, but it shouldn't make you mad that people have the right to write songs that express themselves. if you can't deal with the fact that this is how they feel, then in fact it is you who needs to "get over it or take a hike."
humph. i wasn't aware that liberals were far right?
regardless, i just saw them on saturday for the second time. wasn't the basement show in pennsylvania last year, but still good. keep on rockin out against me!
liberals are in the middle of the political spectrum... left is more conservative, the extreme of which is fascism, right is more social, the extreme of which is communism<br /> <br /> anarchism isnt on the political spectrum since it doesnt recognize a government
actually you have it completely wrong<br /> left is more socialist and right is more conservative<br /> and liberals aren't exactly in the middle of the spectrum, they are left of the middle
the spectrum anarchism is on only has two words. far right is anarchy. far left is tyranny.
I don't agree that this song is intended to attack one political side or another. Yes it is political, but it is also meant to be satirical in my opinion, showing how over stupid political differences people go separate ways ("Do you remember '36 we went our separate ways, you fought for stalin i fought for fredom.") This song wasn't really in my opinion intended to be serious. The last line makes it sound kind of like its supposed to be a little rediculous "No I won't take your hand, and marry the state.", but thats just my opinion.
the last lines there because liberals are for big government and always dependent. anarchists hate government.
if you like Against Me! and don't like this song you should rip of your finger nails and dip your hands in salt. It's amazing. so shut up if you think it's generic anarchist poetry. even if it was, it's still great.
References aside its mainly about how anarchists like to damage important causes by pointlessly smashing up chain stores so they can feel elitist about it afterwards.
through the best of times, through the worst of times. through nixon and through bush.
pretty self explanatory
do you remember '36, we went our separate ways, you fought for stalin and i fought for freedom.
the spanish civil war, when the left was fighting against the fascists, and then the leftists started fighting between themselves. "you fought for Stalin" means that the other person was a communist (Stalin was the only country to help the left fight the fascists, even though Germany and Italy both helped the fascists)
you believe in authority, and i believe in myself. i'm a molotov cocktail, you're the dom perignon.
molotov cocktail=explosive made with gasoline and a wine bottle~he is a proletarian fighting for rights dom perignon=expensive wine~she is a member of the bourgeoisie, a rich liberal
baby, what's that confused look in your eye?
liberals and anarchists have a history of not understanding each other
what i'm trying to say is that i'll burn down buildings whlie you sit on a shelf inside of them
anarchists take direct action while liberals try to pass laws and reforms
you call the cops on the looters and the pie-throwers.
he is criticizing them for not being extreme enough
they call it class war, i call you co-conspirators
kind of like if youre not with us youre against us (Against Me!)(alright sorry bad pun)
'cuz baby, i'm an anarchist and you're a spineless liberal
liberals arent extreme enough
we marched together for the 8-hour day and held hands in the streets of seattle
anarchists and liberals protesting at the WTO in 1999
but when it came time to throw bricks through that starbucks window you left me all alone
anarchists started a riot at the protests, but the liberals stayed out of it
you watched in awe at the red, white & blue on the 4th of july
liberals are patriots
but while those fireworks were exploding i was burning that fucker and stringing my black flag high
black flag=anarchy
eating the peanuts that the parties have tossed you
liberals just take what the republicans and democrats give them
in the back seat of your father's new ford
rich liberals who dont work or know why people join the far left
you believe in the ballot, you believe in reform
faith in democracy
you have faith in the elephant and jackass
faith in the two party system (elephant=rep, jackass=donkey=dem)
and to you solidarity is a four-letter word
solidarity=swear
we're all hypocrites, but you're a patriot.
dunno what to say if you dont get that part
you thought i was only joking when i was screaming, "kill whitey" at the top of my lungs
white people have screwed the world
at the cops in their cars and the men in their suits
symbols of conformity, brutality and fascism
no i won't take your hand and marry the state.
fin