Todd Kowalski: That song is directly inspired by some punk kids in Aceh, Indonesia. They were doing a benefit show that was interrupted by the local police and authorities. They had all of their punk stuff stripped off 'em, their heads shaved, they were thrown in a lake and put in a jail for actual spiritual cleansing for a month or two. I just found that totally insane. A friend of mine who’s from Indonesia told me that one of the kids had their teeth punched out. It affected me and it’s happening all over. There were "emo" kids in Iraq who were considered effeminate and a bunch of them were murdered. It’s kind of a warning about religious authorities and how hard things can come down on you in this world.
It’s not a figment of our imagination. You can see it in the States, sliding towards people saying things like, "only certain kinds of rape can lead to pregnancy." Just crazy thoughts and we’re not immune to it and the world’s not very big. Kids who wanna listen to punk music are getting thrown into jail.
Todd Kowalski: That song is directly inspired by some punk kids in Aceh, Indonesia. They were doing a benefit show that was interrupted by the local police and authorities. They had all of their punk stuff stripped off 'em, their heads shaved, they were thrown in a lake and put in a jail for actual spiritual cleansing for a month or two. I just found that totally insane. A friend of mine who’s from Indonesia told me that one of the kids had their teeth punched out. It affected me and it’s happening all over. There were "emo" kids in Iraq who were considered effeminate and a bunch of them were murdered. It’s kind of a warning about religious authorities and how hard things can come down on you in this world.
It’s not a figment of our imagination. You can see it in the States, sliding towards people saying things like, "only certain kinds of rape can lead to pregnancy." Just crazy thoughts and we’re not immune to it and the world’s not very big. Kids who wanna listen to punk music are getting thrown into jail.
http://music.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2012/9/Listen-to-Propagandhis-Failed-States-read-the-bands-track-by-track-insights