Be More Pissed Off

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I originally posted this on my personal blog because it didn’t have anything to do with bikes and I didn’t think it belonged here on the yellow page. I have since said fuckit and here it is. These are my ramblings.

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RISE ABOVE

Jealous cowards try to control
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
They distort what we say
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
Try and stop what we do
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
When they can’t do it themselves
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, it’s no use Society’s arms of control
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
Think they’re smart, can’t think for themselves
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
Laugh at us behind our backs
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
I find satisfaction in what they lack
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, but it’s no use We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, but it’s no use We’re born with a chance
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
I am…

There is a lot of crazy bullshit going on in the world today. I’m sure you have noticed. You can’t escape it on the screens in front of you. But I find it hard to get too worried. We have seen it all before and it’s a cycle that we will most likely see again in our lifetime. The world around us gets fucked up, some old guys in suits get power crazy, overly puritanical and life starts to get extra bland. Then eventually human nature takes over and we will reach a point where we finally have had enough and a resistance will form. The resistance is usually led by the youth, maybe because they have the most energy. More likely because they haven’t been conditioned to actually give a fuck yet. Never underestimate the strength of someone with nothing to loose.

The Ronald Reagan dark times gave birth to punk and hardcore. I don’t think you could have had one without the other because every hero need a villain. But in an era of complacency and the leftover dregs of disco, the kids rose up. They sang short songs with angry lyrics. Because fuck you. They made their own albums, printed their own zines and spread out across the country to meet up with others like them. They led a resistance and changed lives of people around them. Whether they knew it or not.

I was fortunate enough to witness the tail end of this resistance. I remember being a kid, probably too young to be going to such shows, and seeing all this go down. Technically what I witnessed was “post hardcore” but it had all the same themes of those who came before. For a chubby little kid, addicted to skateboarding from a squalid mill town it was fucking paradise. I was right where I needed to be and I thank those older dudes for letting me tag along those first few shows. Initially it was a novelty to see everyone in the pit smashing into each other and feeling the groove of the guitars crunching. Then after a while, I realized it was more than just bodies colliding and high volume. All these people were just like me, but completely different all at the same time. Rich, poor, kids from the country or from the projects and we all were there for the same reason. As I started going to more shows I learned more about this new world around me. Why were those dudes from Syracuse so damn angry on stage? What the fuck is a Vegan? That band sings about suicide and their parents fighting. Holy shit, other people think about that stuff? This crew shows up and calls themselves the Anti Racists Action? Yeah, that’s something I can get behind. Some pretty life altering shit for a 15 year old.

It was my first experience with a double life which I would later replicate in corporate America as an adult. I would go to school like a good little boy during the day and then get to shows by any means necessary at night. That was my real school. I learned about social engineering. Things like how to mooch car rides, navigate public transit, dip out on taxi cabs, and even hop the occasional freight train. I could talk my way into 18 and over shows on a weekday and still be home in time that nobody knew any different. At the shows, the person with the mic was the professor, the band were the TA’s. The people on the dance floor were my study group and the tables set up in the back were the extra curricular activities.

I wonder where the kids go to real school these days? I’m over a quarter of a century removed from my education but the lessons I learned still permeate my daily thoughts. I still have that fire burning inside even though I find myself a bit more out of touch than I’d like to be. But that is to be expected as home geography and priorities change with age. What I do see is kids rising up all over the world. Punk rage is alive and well in Chile and in Hong Kong and a young woman named Greta might just be the new Sid Vicious.

I am optimistic that a change soon come, but I have a feeling it might have to get a little worse before that can happen. What gets the kids fired up? What will make them say “Not in my house, fascists” “fuck you cop!” “eat this baseball bat, Nazi” like we did when we were mad. Maybe we aren’t supposed to act like that anymore. We should sit up straight, fall in line and reap the rewards of your first world privilege. Or maybe we are simply too comfortable under the warm blanket of complacency to rock the boat? I don’t see much problem with getting a little pissed.

No matter what happens, I hope we at least get some good new music out of the deal.

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