Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Why do parents....

The NOFX song is "The Separation of Church and Skate" off "War on Errorism."

As for teenage angst... most "punk" bands (let's throw a wide label on all this stuff to make it easier) isn't really teen angst, most of the bands are in their 20s/30s in the genre, except, of course, for the punk boy-bands like Good Charlotte, who are just as created by the record label as New Kids on the Block were.

In the case of "Church and Skate" - it's about exactly what we're talking about here... "helicopter" parents (there's a good article in this month's Readers Digest on overprotective parents) making sure these shows are all played in well-lit, high-security venues... anger and dissent controlled, no swearing, just go and put on your punk rock clothes and then come home and straight downstairs to watch and breathe CNN - no being angry at what you see, just accept and fit in. They want punk to just be a shirt you put on, not a social movement.

When I grew up as a politically and socially active "punk", shows were played in 3rd floor firetrap walk-up venues, the lyrics reflected anger and disdain for government, corporations and whoever else was making profit-based decisions that hurt others.

Taking the anger and dissent out of punk music is like taking the love out of a ballad, or taking all the "sad crap" out of the blues. It ceases to exist.

As for not understanding what their anger is... it's not one concentrated cookie-cutter target, and it's as simple as reading the lyrics, punk lyrics are very cut and dried - they're like subculture poet-laureates, paid through album sales.

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"Seattle was a riot/They tried to pin on us/But we didn't show up/With gas and billy clubs/An unknown mass of thousands/Just trying to be heard/But there are no world leaders/Who want to hear our words" - Anti-Flag
(about the Seattle WTO demonstration in 1999)
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"This land is my land where ever I stand, what God has made let no man lease/Some of the phrases in that rhetoric you're stuttering must mean the opposite to you than it does to me/Yea being scared and confused I guess is part of the problem, is that what you wanted me to get out of that speech?/Is there another America from the one I live in and why do I get their TV?"
- World Inferno Friendship Society
(about how politicians' rhetoric and jingoism sound good on paper, and make a great rally cry, but their actions don't follow their words)
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"Tomorrow morning, different story and he'll be a different guy/he'll justify her black eye with another lie/She packs her bags in great temptation he's on his knees again he cries/A hug & kiss and a "don't know why" as a tear drops from her swollen eye/Apologies until tonight and another justified black eye" - No Use For A Name
(the cycle of spousal abuse)

So as you can see, it's easy to "not get what these kids are belly-achin' about" but among the plastic pop stars, there are a lot of musicians still saying some very profound things. If they say it loud and they swear when they say it, that's part of the culture, don't write off the message because you don't like the medium.

Bren R.

I have 4 daughters, 19, 15, 13 and 7 1/2. The oldest is beginning her sophomore year of college, my 15 year old just made the J.V. volleyball team, my 13 year old plays soccer and is on the honor roll and my youngest has been in ballet for several years and has just taken up the violin.

Having said that, I'm a very liberal parent. I believe that children must be respectful and we've tried to teach them as best we can. I totally trust my children and they have yet to let me down.

I'm sort of a counter-culture old dude myself. Did the long hair, rock and roll thing. I can relate. I think there are some parents who fear their kids see them as part of the problem, and sometimes probably rightfully so. Once you have kids it is natural to worry about their well being. My son has friends who I might describe as being in the goth culture. One day a group of them came to the door. I went to tell my son that he had visitors. As a joke, I told him that the Manson family was at the front door.