Kerosene

One of the most powerful and frightening songs ever written about teenage boredom and alienation. The lyrics alone can't do it justice, it has to be heard in its musical context for the effect.

'There's only two things to do (in small-town America). Go blow up a whole load of stuff for fun. Or have a lot of sex with the one girl in town who'll have sex with anyone. 'Kerosene' is about a guy who tries to combine the two pleasures' Dave Riley, Big Black bassist.

This song is the perfect blend of nihilism, suicidal thoughts, misanthropy, and unrelenting boredom

I love Albini's talent as a lyricist. This pegs what it's like to live in a shit-hole town.

it's shocking how little this song has aged. The guitars here are absolutely incredible. Lyrically simplistic, but the sonics conjure a visual imagery that's difficult to describe in song lyrics.

Well I used to think this song was about being so bored you start getting high off fumes just to do something, then you get hooked and you do it all the time co's it's the only thing to do! I can see what infotainment_lad is saying and much like every other Big Black song you need to have a chat with Steve Albini to get the bigger picture. It really starts to kick in at 2:50. Heavy stuff, great tune.

I live in a small Kansas town and never have words been written that so relate to what I go through.

damn right fucking scary subject matter but for me one of the greatest and most powerful songs ever, Steve Albini is and always will be a fucking genius

even at 24 years old, i relate to this entirely too much

Possibly one of the scariest songs ever written, both musically and lyrically. It's about getting so bored in a nothing town that you end up getting up to no good, just to entertain yourself. I never ended up doing stuff like that myself but I lived in a boring down and a lot of people just started on you cos it was something to do.