As a teen, I became a member of the Columbia House/"12 for a penny" record clubs. If I was expecting a shipment, let's just say hopefully I would make it home before the package did. If the artist was anything other than Michael Bolton or Kenny G, it was immediately considered contraband. Strange sounding band names (Toad the Wet Sprocket, Depeche Mode), immediately confiscated, lyrics reviewed for content, and shredded if there was so much as one word my mother disapproved of. Gay artist? (Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, George Michael), immediately destroyed. My mom believed that their "gay influence" could turn me gay, which I thought was funny. Especially in the case of Elton John. Bernie Taupin, a straight man, wrote all of his lyrics. Elton only wrote the music. So, with that logic, the right set of chords should have me sucking dicks I guess. Hip Hop, Rap, most R&B, most Rock (especially Hard Rock), and Punk...without question Punk, were banned like pornography from my house growing up.....not because the content....but because "they sounded" like they were no good for me.
During my senior year of high school, a kid in one of my business classes regularly wore a Bad Religion t-shirt. It was just the one with their standard, slash across the Christian cross logo. I had no idea who Bad Religion was. I thought he was an atheist. It wasn't until the next summer that I got my first taste of that band.
By the summer of 1994, the world had fallen in love with Green Day. And, although they, along with MTV, was banned from the house, I had heard them enough on radio to get an idea of what the 1994 version of "punk" was. It was fast. It was catchy. But it didn't have anything meaningful behind it. It was about smoking pot and masturbation. Then, the same summer, Bad Religion released '21st Century Digital Boy'. It was the most intelligent song I had heard in my life up until that point. And with my very short exposure with the punk genre, I realized, this was true punk. Green Day was "pop-punk".
Bad religion....21st century digital boy
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This song opened my sheltered eyes. 1996 comes along. By this time, I am no longer living with the book burners, and I happen across another Bad Religion song: 'Come Join Us'. The band claims it's about anti-conformity, but even around Witness circles, it's believed to be an anti-Jehovah's Witness song. Rumor is that the lead singer was raised as a JW as a child and wrote the song based upon his experiences. I have heard him in interviews discussing the song. He will not say it outright, but he definitely does not paint the Witnesses in a very good light based upon his experiences. The song moves pretty fast, and it is quite witty, so I am also posting lyrics:
so you say you gotta know why the world goes 'round
and you can't find the truth in the things you've found
and you're scared shitless 'cause evil abounds
come join us
well I heard you were looking for a place to fit in
full of adherent people with the same objective
a family to cling to and call brethren
come and join us
all we want to do is change your mind
all you need to do is close your eyes
come join us
come join us
come join us
don't you see all the trouble that most people are in
and that they just want you for their own advantage
but I swear to you we're different from all of them
come join us
I can tell you are lookin' for a way to live
where truth is determined by consensus
full of codified arbitrary directives
come join us
all we want to have is your small mind
turn it into one of our kind
you can go through life adrift and alone
desperate, desolate, on your own
but we're lookin' for a few more stalwart clones
come join us
come join us
come join us
we've got spite and dedication as a vehement brew
the world hates us, well we hate them too
but you're exempted of course if you
come join us
independent, self-contented, revolutionary
intellectual, brave, strong and scholarly
if you're not one of them, you're us already so
come join us
come join us
come join us
come join us
come join us
Again, when I first heard it, it amazed me the vocabulary that came through in the song. Sadly, I had to look up some of the words, with my public school education. I later found out that, Greg Graffin, Bad Religion's lead singer, has a masters in geology and a Ph.D. in zoology from Cornell University. When he isn't recording or touring with the band, he is lecturing and teaching life sciences and paleontology at UCLA. We're not talking about you're average musicians.
Until Bad Religion, I had no idea who the Ramones were, or the Sex Pistols, or Elvis Costello, Social Distortion or Iggy Pop. I didn't know any of the newer bands like NOFX, Pennywise, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys. Hell, all my dad listened to was country, and I wasn't as familiar with Johnny Cash like I am now.
I'm not saying I'm a punk now by any means. I'm a poser most days. I still listen to the 'Garden State' Soundtrack and wear my Beatles t-shirt. But punk music opened my eyes. It got me thinking. If it wasn't for those right songs at the right time in my life, I probably wouldn't have gauged my ears, or have gotten my lip pierced. I wouldn't have had the courage to say "Fuck it", and give myself a cobalt blue mohawk at the age of 32. Punk gave me the courage to piss people off, to live life on my terms, to be the person I wanted to be. So I may not be 100% punk, but I have just enough in me to get by.
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