Thursday, June 25, 2009
Song / ??!! Why Does Punk Rock Hate California?
Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Listening to Smoke and Fire's "California's Burning" (over and over and over again) got me thinking—there sure are a lot of punk and rock songs about wanting to destroy the Golden State. Sink it, burn it down, whatever. Punk rock hates California.
"Wake up, grab your bags. California's burning to the ground.... Burn it down! Burn it down!" - Smoke or Fire, "California's Burning"
"I wish California, without any warning, would go and start a burning tonight/I wish California would fall in the ocean and everyone would die." - Blatz, "California"
"California sucks, just look who you've produced/Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown and countless other fools/West Coast sun-tanned morons, you don't know how to think/I can't wait 'til your state erodes and you fall into the drink." - Screeching Weasel, "California Sucks"
"So with no evacuation, let California fall into the fucking ocean!" - Rancid, "Antennas"
"I'm getting higher, I think I'll start a forest fire/There's a forest fire climbin the hill/Burning wealthy California homes/Better run run run run run run from the fire." - Dead Kennedys, "Forest Fire"
Perhaps the backlash is because everyone's sick and tired of hearing about how great California is?
"We’re all so sick of California songs/Yeah we know you love L.A./But there’s nothing left to say/Please no more California songs/And fuck New York too." - Local H, "California Songs"
What are some others? If we could get a half dozen or so more, this could make for a pretty great West Coast road trip mix...
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There's also "Cobra Skullifornia" by Cobra Skulls, "Los Angeles is Burning" by Bad Religion, and "Hell Looks a Lot Like LA" by Less Than Jake.
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Some say the end is near. Some say we'll see armageddon soon. I certainly hope we will. I sure could use a vacation from this bullshit three ring circus sideshow of Freaks here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any fucking time. Any fucking day. Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay. Fret for your figure and Fret for your latte and Fret for your hairpiece and Fret for your lawsuit and Fret for your prozac and Fret for your pilot and Fret for your contract and Fret for your car. It's a bullshit three ring circus sideshow of freaks here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA The only way to fix it is to flush it all away. Any fucking time. Any fucking day. Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay. Some say a comet will fall from the sky. Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves. Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still. Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits. Some say the end is near. Some say we'll see armageddon soon. I certainly hope we will cuz I sure could use a vacation from this Silly shit, stupid shit... One great big festering neon distraction, I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied. Learn to swim. Mom's gonna fix it all soon. Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be. Learn to swim. Fuck L Ron Hubbard and Fuck all his clones. Fuck all those gun-toting Hip gangster wannabes. Learn to swim. Fuck retro anything. Fuck your tattoos. Fuck all you junkies and Fuck your short memory. Learn to swim. Fuck smiley glad-hands With hidden agendas. Fuck these dysfunctional, Insecure actresses. Learn to swim. Cuz I'm praying for rain and I'm praying for tidal waves I wanna see the ground give way. I wanna watch it all go down. Mom please flush it all away. I wanna watch it go right in and down. I wanna watch it go right in. Watch you flush it all away. Time to bring it down again. Don't just call me pessimist. Try and read between the lines. I can't imagine why you wouldn't Welcome any change, my friend. I wanna see it all come down. suck it down. flush it down.
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This is a question worthy of a PhD dissertation. I think it requires looking at what was going on in the state at the time. I would think that some of it can be figured out by looking at the rest lyrics in those songs, too. Yes, I know I'm taking all the fun out of it.
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