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Roots Radicals Lyrics
Took the 60 bus out of downtown Cambell
Ben Zandito he was on there he was waitin' for me
All the punk rockers and the moon stompers are out on the corners
Where they sparing for change
I started thinkin' you know I started drinkin'
You know I don't remember too much of that day
Somethin' struck me funny when we ran out of money
Where do you go now when your only 15
With the music execution and the talk of revolution
It bleeds in me and it goes
Give 'em the boot, the roots the radicals
Give 'em the boot, you know I'm a radical
Give 'em the boot, the roots, the reggae on my stereo
The radio was playin'
Desmon Dekker was singin' on the 49 bus
As we climb up the hill
Nothin' incoming but the reggae drummin'
And we all come from unloving homes
I say: why even bother
I pick up the bottle
Mr. bus driver please let these people on
Rude girl Carol was a mini-skirt girl
My blurry vision saw nothin' wrong
With the music execution and the talk of revolution
It bleeds in me and it goes
Give 'em the boot, the roots, the radicals
Give 'em the boot, you know I'm a radical
Give 'em the boot, the roots, the reggae on my stereo
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah..
Took the 60 bus out of downtown Cambell
Ben Zandito he was on there he was waitin' for me
All the punk rockers and the moon stompers are out on the corners
Where they sparing for change
There's a really old plan, they keep stuck on singing
And the 49 bus climbed up on the hill
Rude girl Carol was a mini-skirt girl
My blurry vision saw nothin' wrong
With the music execution and the talk of revolution
It bleeds in me and it goes
Give 'em the boot, the roots, the radicals
Give 'em the boot, you know I'm a radical
Give 'em the boot, the roots, the reggae on my stereo
Give 'em the boot, the roots the radicals
Give 'em the boot, you know I'm a radical
Give 'em the boot, the roots, The reggae on my stereo
this song is about busses. simple as that, busses. not goverment, or math terms, busses.
when they were younger, they didn't have cars, so they took busses everywhere. when they ran out of money, they had to spare for change on the corners. the busses played reggae music, hence desmond dekker singing.
and if you don't believe me, watch the Give 'Em the Boot DVD.
Great song.... ...AND OUT COME THE WOLVES is the single best cd ever.... every song on it is fucking awesome... you cant consider yourself punk until u have this cd!!!
This song is actually about Lars' best friend as a kid, Ben Zanatto who has passed on. The song tells of the teenage memories he had of him.
Roots Radical is a Jimmy Cliff song. It's totally different from this one, but it may very well have inspired this one, since RAncid does a cover of "the Harder They Come" which is also by Jimmy Cliff
Just a really catchy song about average life on the city bus. Great song.
My fucking favorite song. I love the bass, even though it's not one of Matt's more extraordinary/amazing ones. It's Ben Zanotto, which was a kid in Lar's crew (The Skunx) that he ran around with. His best friend I believe. They hung out and got drunk and stuff. Just about the times then and what he did.
This song is about the times spent with Ben Zanotto rolling around on the bus where reggae was usually playing. When they played newer reggae stuff on the bus they were saying "hey this crap sucks compared to the real guys like Desmond Decker". Also they liked the Mighty Diamonds, Dandy Livingstone, up through to Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, the Ethiopians and so on. Give em the "Roots", give the newer reggae and dub the "boot".
This song is about the roots of reggae, which of course were ska, and thats why Desmond Dekker is referred to because he is the father of ska music. And, by using the C F G chord progression as the basis for the song structure, they are paying further tribute to the ska movement of the early 60's.
Almost every ska song by every ska artist in Jamaica at the time had this same basic chord progression, I IV V or I IV V IV, or any combination of the I IV V progression. Although Rancid throw a little twist with the Bb chord, but basically every ska song was either CFG, GCD, ADE or EAB. It wasn't until rock steady that minor chords were slightly used and then with reggae, the minor chord became more common. Modern reggae and modern dub rarely use the I IV V progression, and that is why this song is expressing the fact that "hey the early stuff is the reall stuff, the roots, the reggae".
@janeaparis1
@janeaparis1
This is the smartest answer!
This is the smartest answer!
Also the lyrics are wrong on this page
lyrics are wrong... if I have time(aka- get off my lazy ass) I'll type them up and send them in or w/e u do to add songs... but it's a great song, and the CD is just kick ass rock... nofxjuggalogirgo is completely right- u HAVE to have this CD... I'm not exactly sure what this song is about, I don't feel it's about the gov. tho... if we look back to what was going on when they (rancid) were 15 (refer to song) we might get an idea what they r talking about, but seeing how I wasn't even born when they were that young I have no clue... any ideas?
Great jammin' song. It's about some of the good times he had.