"Some Beloved Punk Songs" from Dory to Lilly

Well, it's 11:25 at night and instead of being a normal person that is asleep at this hour, my mind is quite awake at the moment.  So I was watching an episode of "Supernatural" until I realized that it was going to be one of those ones with the heartbreakingly sad endings, so then I stopped.  And I started listening to music.


And it occured to me that I haven't listened to "I Don't Want Solidarity If It Means Holding Hands With You" (by Defiance, OH) for a very long time.  So I tuned it in and promptly started wandering around the internet.  Who knows how long later, I realized my computer wasn't playing music anymore and then realized that I hadn't payed attention to any of the song except that excellent intro.  Not cool, Dory.  So I turned it on again, but you know me and my distractions, and the same thing happened AGAIN.  This wasn't good, because this song rocks.  And then I started thinking about the lyrics and how profound they are, and then I promptly got out my lovely felt-tipped pen and appropriated some paper from my printer and started writing out the lyrics. This is how I think about songs, btw.  I don't know if I've ever told you that, actually.  I process things well by writing them, so when I want to really analyze a song I write down the lyrics and process as I go.

Anyways, as I was writing it occurred to me that this song is remarkably similar to "Baby, I'm an Anarchist" by Against Me!  I don't know why I haven't realized this before.  


But before I go into that, here, for your convenience, are those two songs and their lyrics:

I Don't Want Solidarity if it Means Holding Hands With You

by Defiance, OH

Let's stop this talk of privilege because the songs that we sing

are as much a product of our privilege
As the clothes on my back or the phone call I made to my mom last night.
And let's stop this talk of action because action comes easy;
It's the moments just before that are hard,
When I've got to get my voice and my fist on the same page as my heart,
As my heart.

And let's stop this talk of them because the things we find deplorable in politicians, CEOs and cops
Are the same things that will tear ourselves apart.
And let's stop this talk of words because words like "dishonesty," "selfishness" and "laziness" and "greed"
Aren't as distant to us as we'd like to believe,
To believe.

So please, the next time you're smashing the state, don't go breaking my heart.
But I know that when you pick up the pieces,
The only thing left will be the same empty rubble
That's made up every revolution that I've ever known.
To make me believe and lose faith in humanity
In the same empty breath of hot air.

And they say that the beauty's in the streets
But when I look around, it seems more like defeat.
And I'm afraid that this fight that we're all caught up in
Will leave us the same as that which we oppose.

So please, the next time you're smashing the state, don't go breaking my heart
But I know that we can pick up the pieces and build something new, something different!
That's not like every revolution that I've ever known,
That can make me believe and have faith in humanity
And we'll all breath a breath of fresh air.

Baby, I'm an Anarchist

by Against Me!

Sidenote: the little Anarchy A on this video makes me giggle.

Through the best of times,
Through the worst of times,
Through Nixon and through Bush,
Do you remember '36?
We went our seperate ways.
You fought for Stalin.
I fought for freedom.
You believe in authority.
I believe in myself.
I'm a Molotov cocktail.
You're Dom Perignon.
Baby, what's that confused look in your eyes?
What I'm trying to say is that
I burn down buildings
While you sit on a shelf inside of them.
You call the cops
On the looters and piethrowers.
They call it class war,
I call it co-conspirators.

'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone, all alone.

You watched in awe 
At the red, white, and blue on the Fourth of July.
While those fireworks were exploding,
I was burning that fucker
And stringing my black flag high!
Eating the peanuts
That the parties have tossed you
In the back seat of your father's new Ford.
You believe in the ballot,
Believe in reform.
You have faith in the elephant and jackass,
And to you, solidarity's a four-letter word.
We're all hypocrites,
But you're a patriot.
You thought I was only joking
When I screamed "Kill Whitey!"
At the top of my lungs
At the cops in their cars
And the men in their suits.
No, I won't take your hand
And marry the State.

'Cause baby, I'm an anarchist,
You're a spineless liberal.
We marched together for the eight-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle,
But when it came time to throw bricks
Through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone,
All alone.




The thing I love about both of these songs is their whole metaphor.  In "Baby, I'm an Anarchist," the relationship between the two ideologies of anarchists and liberals is presented as a romantic relationship between two people: they get along sometimes, but when it comes down to it their most fundamental ideas are just really different.  "Solidarity" brings up the same sort of metaphor, although I won't venture to say that the two sides of the issue in that song are as clear-cut as they are in "Anarchist."  On the contrary, the song itself says, "let's stop this talk of "them.""


The more I think about it, the more I start to consider "Solidarity" almost as the response to "Baby, I'm an Anarchist."  Perhaps the girlfriend's perspective on the whole thing.


I identify more with the ideas presented in "Solidarity," so consider me profoundly biased when I say that I think that those ideas are more mature, more realistic instead of radical.  In many ways, the ideologies in these two songs are opposites, which is interesting because they use the same sort of metaphor.


For instance, compare these two lines:


Cuz baby, I'm an anarchist, and you're a spineless liberal
We marched together for the 8-hour day
And held hands in the streets of Seattle
But when it came time to throw bricks through that Starbucks window,
You left me all alone, all alone.

vs.

So please, the next time you're smashing the state,
Don't go breaking my heart
But I know that when you pick up the pieces,
The only thing left will be the same empty rubble
That's made up every revolution that I've ever known.
To make me believe and lose faith in humanity
In the same empty breath of hot air.


I mean seriously, they're even using some of the same imagery.


So what do you think about these two songs?  Have you ever thought about them in relation to each other before?


Love, 
Dory