Today's lyric comes from Against Me! To me, they are the most exciting band going today, and in the videos posted live, you might get a sense of why.
I've been to a few of their shows, and I've always left something behind. Something that was ailing or worrying me. Something that was unhealthy. Yet somehow, someway at an Against Me! show it's a rock and roll revelation and salvation, ready to bathe your sweet sinners brow.
The song is Walking Is Still Honest. It comes off of, well it's on a lot of EP's and stuff, but it's perhaps more well known for being on Against Me's incendiary debut full length, Reinventing Axl Rose.
Before I moved to New York, Against Me came to Tucson, which is a bit of a stretch from where I live. Days before the show I blew my knee out, and still decided to go. It would be one of the last things I did for the foreseeable future in Arizona.
I'd never seen a crowd reaction like I did there in Tucson. I was covered in sweat; a strange combination of both my own, and hundreds of strangers. When Walking Is Still Honest came on, I climbed up on stage, and got to sing the full chorus. It might seem small and inconsequential, but those things to me, not only do they matter a great deal, but they make up the fabric of existence.
Being a chorus, a voice amongst hundreds of others...it's such a bewildering thing if you ever stop to think about it for a moment. Just witness in these two videos. Chances are, most of these people have no idea whom the others are. Just a small group of them, and that's it. But they all know the words, they all sing from the depths of their very souls, they all put arms around one another, and for one brief moment in eternity...life does not exist outside of the confines of that packed room in some town. Nothing else is happening. The earth isn't spinning, there's no bad situations, any of that...it all pours out of the pores of strangers. The biggest and most impartial group therapy you will ever get. I guarantee it.
The other song is from the same album, Reinventing Axl Rose, and it's called We Laugh At Danger (And Break All the Rules.) If you want to talk about anthemic, this is it in spades baby.
I hope I never forget these moments. I truly do. It's been the one thing constant. Music, and feeling young and alive. Making the most of anything.
When I discovered punk rock music, I knew it was more sincere than what was happening on the radio dial. I didn't have many friends, and I never really fit in anywhere. I still feel like I don't quite often, yet...when those lights go off and those chords spring to life...forget about it. This is the party we came for.
I'll take this over seated concerts any day. There's a reason these are called shows: because there's more honesty. People are gonna fuck up on stage. People are gonna scream and shout as a chorus of one, and if someone falls down...someone is going to pick them back up and help dust them off...and then run like hell.
The interaction of mic sharing, or dancing with strangers, or just not worrying about your appearance twenty minutes into a blistering set...that's amazing.
You can't even hear the band singing. It isn't just their song anymore. It's everyone there in attendance. They own it just as equally now. Listen to how loud the crowd is on We Laugh At Danger...just listen. You barely, for a moment, can hear the singer. The rest is bled out by the exuberance of hundreds. That's the way it should be. That's the way life should be.
-Until tomorrow.
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1 comment:
I knew eventually your blog would turn into a music review site. Hahaha.
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