In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
This big daddy
I wanna see my boy, anybody seen my boy?
Big dad comin' out
Yo man, he cut out with that D and the chick, man
He cut out with the D and the chick, man
I was a teenage zombie
What's Johnny doin' out on a Tuesday night
Johnny can't read, Johnny can't write
Johnny just don't understand
Johnny don't care about this world
As long as he can fuck his girl
And prove that he's a man
Johnny wastes his days eatin' 'ludes
He's a teenage vegetable
Gettin' high proves that he's cool
Johnny hates to think, he's ignorant
He's a mindless brainwashed pig
Ring a bell, he starts to drool
Degenerated, degenerated
And your minds have vegetated
Degenerated, degenerated
And your thoughts are constipated
He's got PCP in his veins
He's got a void in his brain
He's addicted to the TV
And when he's old, he's gonna have a son
Both grow old, deaf and dumb
What's to become of young Johnny?
I wanna see my boy, anybody seen my boy?
Big dad comin' out
Yo man, he cut out with that D and the chick, man
He cut out with the D and the chick, man
I was a teenage zombie
What's Johnny doin' out on a Tuesday night
Johnny can't read, Johnny can't write
Johnny just don't understand
Johnny don't care about this world
As long as he can fuck his girl
And prove that he's a man
Johnny wastes his days eatin' 'ludes
He's a teenage vegetable
Gettin' high proves that he's cool
Johnny hates to think, he's ignorant
He's a mindless brainwashed pig
Ring a bell, he starts to drool
Degenerated, degenerated
And your minds have vegetated
Degenerated, degenerated
And your thoughts are constipated
He's got PCP in his veins
He's got a void in his brain
He's addicted to the TV
And when he's old, he's gonna have a son
Both grow old, deaf and dumb
What's to become of young Johnny?
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
it is all satire and sarcasm. The song Reagan Youth is just pointing out somebody so damn conservative, like Reagan, is running our country. People just didn't get the sarcasm. Does anybody know any stores that carry any Reagan Youth CD's? I can't find them anywhere! :(
reagan youth are fucking awesome. my favorite song they ever did.
this is a really good song, and it is awesome that this song is in the movie Airheads
I don't get it Sometimes when I'm listening to them I got a feeling that they are racist Sometimes ... Not! And the name "Reagan Youth" Why Reagan? Do they like his filthy politic?
and on one cover they are dressed as KKK but they have a black producer (I've heard)
Can someone explain...please
there's 1 reagan youth cd i do believe. and you can get it in little record shops or huge corporate conglomerate stores, it's funny to me, considering their politics, which are by the way, totally non-conservative.
p.s. when they took the name reagan youth it was a parody of the hitler youth of germany before world war II. in case you didn't get the sarcasm in that name, that means they alikened reagan to hitler. thank you, thank you.
fyi, you can get all 3 of their cds on newredarchive.com
ooh yay. i was wondering the same thing... the cd issue that is.
yes... you can get Collection of Pop Classics, Live and Rare, Volume 1, and Volume 2 all at interpunk.com. or Collection of Pop Classics and Live and Rare from New Red Archives.
Wow.. nine posts and no one has made even the slightest attempt at figuring out what this song means. Well, I think Dave is describing a younger him and using 'johnny' as a sort of mask. I got that from the "I was a teen-age zombie". He talks about being ignorant, mindless, and brainwashed though which throws me off a bit.. But maybe Dave was an apathetic teen who just didn't give fuck about the things we wrote about later on. He talks about drugs too.. which he did up to the day he died. At least half the RY songs we know and love were recorded Dave fucked outta his head. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is about Dave's teen-age lifestyle.