The Burning Platform

It’s time for the final smack-down. Bad Religion is not only a generator of an endless stream of mind-blowing lyricism married to undeniably driving beat, they’re pretty fucking famous. So famous, my anti-pop buzzer goes off when I hear their hits. No matter…. Saying a band isn’t good because they’re not on the top-ten chart and included in the endless loop of monopolized radio playlists is akin to saying TBP isn’t cool because they’re not listed on M S N Fuckin’ Money…. Riiiight. If you’re a nob-headed geezer, go find you Kenny Chesney or whatever and leave the 4th Turning rock to the cool kids.

“GENERATOR”

Alright, fooled you…. Not a radio hit but the quintessential Xer song as well as a triple-layered piece of poetic genius and very very very famous. Watch for lyrics.

OK, this time for reals…

“AMERICAN JESUS”

i don’t need to be a global citizen
because i’m blessed by nationality
i’m member of a growing populace
we enforce our popularity
there are things that
seem to pull us under
and there are things
that drag us down
but there’s a power
and a vital presence
thats lurking all around
we’ve got the american Jesus
see him on the interstate
we’ve got the american Jesus
he helped build the
president’s estate
i feel sorry
for the earth’s population
‘cuz so few
live in the U.S.A.
at least the foreigners
can copy our morality
they can visit but they cannot stay
only precious few
can garner the prosperity
it makes us walk
with renewed confidence
we’ve got a place to go when we die
and the architect resides right here
we’ve got the american Jesus
overwhelming millions every day
(exercising his authority)
he’s the farmers barren fields
the force the army wields
the expession in the faces
of the starving children
the power of the man
he’s the fuel that drives the clan
he’s the motive and conscience
of the murderer
he’s the preacher on t.v.
the false sincerity
the form letter that’s written
by the big computers
he’s the nuclear bombs
and the kids with no moms
and i’m fearful that
he’s inside me

Now get your lighters out for this one… Peace and all that shit, man…

“SORROW”

Father can you hear me?
How have I let you down?
I curse the day that I was born
and all the sorrow in this world

Let me take you to the herding ground
where all good men are trampled down
Just to settle a bet that could not be won
between a prideful father and his son

Will you guide me now for I can’t see a reason
for the suffering and this long misery
What if every living soul could be upright and strong?
Well then I do imagine

There will be (sorrow)
Yeah there will be (sorrow)
And there will be sorrow no more

When all soldiers lay their weapons down
or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns
Or when the only true messiah rescues us
from ourselves it’s easy to imagine

There will be (sorrow)
Yeah there will be (sorrow)
And there will be sorrow no more

There will be (sorrow)
Yeah there will be (sorrow)
And there will be sorrow no more

Yeah there will be (sorrow)
Yeah there will be (sorrow)
And there will be sorrow no more

Now all you anti-Cali’s will love this. I imagine Admin doing the Doomcast in this one…. Cameo of Mike Watt too (Crazy Doom Sign Dude). If you don’t know who that is, there is NO hope for you.

“Los Angeles Is Burning”

Somewhere high in the desert near a curtain of a blue
St. Anne’s skirts are billowing
But down here in the city of the lime lights
The fans of santa ana are withering
And you can’t deny that living is easy
If you never look behind the scenery
It’s showtime for dry climes
And bedlam is dreaming of rain

When the hills of los angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And los angeles is burning

This is not a test
Of the emergency broadcast system
Where malibu fires and radio towers
Conspire to dance again
And I cannot believe the media Mecca
They’re only trying to peddle reality,
Catch it on prime time, story at nine
The whole world is going insane

When the hills of los angeles are burning
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And los angeles is burning

A placard reads
“the end of days”
Jacaranda boughs are bending in the haze

More a question than a curse
How could hell be any worse?

The flames are stunning
The cameras running
So take warning

When the hills of los angeles are burnin
Palm trees are candles in the murder wind
So many lives are on the breeze
Even the stars are ill at ease
And los angeles is burning

I posted a video some kids did to this one a long time ago, but here’s the official. Note the lyrics… What do the fucking boomers complain about on blogs all day? Well, here you go. Aint life a mystery.

“21st Century Digital Boy”

I can’t believe it, the way you look sometimes
Like a trampled flag on a city street, oh yeah
And I don’t want it, the things you’re offering me
Symbolized bar code, quick ID, oh yeah

[Chorus:]
See I’m a 21st century digital boy
I don’t know how to read but I’ve got a lot of toys
My daddy’s a lazy middle class intellectual
My mommy’s on Valium, so ineffectual
Ain’t life a mystery?

I can’t explain it, the things you’re saying to me
It’s going yayayayayayaya, oh yeah

[Chorus]

Tried to tell you about no control
But now I really don’t know
And then you told me how bad you had to suffer
Is that really all you have to offer?

[Chorus]

[outro]
Cat’s foot, iron claw
Neurosurgeon, scream for more
Innocence raped with napalm fire
Everything I want, I really need.

[fade out]
21st century schizoid boy
21st century video boy
21st century digital boy…

Perhaps the most played BR song on the radio. Not my favorite, but it’s there… Video starring Ponch, bitchez.

“Infected”

Now here I go,
Hope I don’t break down,
I won’t take anything, I don’t need anything,
Don’t want to exist, I can’t persist,
Please stop before I do it again,
Just talk about nothing, let’s talk about nothing,
Let’s talk about no one, please talk about no one, someone, anyone

You and me have a disease,
You affect me, you infect me,
I’m afflicted, you’re addicted,
You and me, you and me

I’m on the edge,
Get against the wall,
I’m so distracted,
I love to strike you,
Here’s my confession,
You learned your lesson,
Stop me before I do it again

You’re clear – as a heavy lead curtain want to drill you – like an ocean,
We can work it out, I’ve been running out, now I’m running out

Don’t be mad about it baby,
You and me, you and me,
I want to tie you, crucify you,
Kneel before you, revile your body,
You and me, we’re made in heaven,
I want to take you, I want to break you,
Supplicate you, with thorny roses,
I want to bathe you in holy water I want to kill you,
Upon the alter, you and me, you and me

There you have it. The Pop singles, vetted for your own protection. I will accept an apology from the Administrator now in his first reaction wherein he, out of his Hipster Reflexes, rejected something he so obviously enjoys because he didn’t find it long ago. I will accept as a token of sincerity his assistance in helping Akanon, SAH and I vanquish any and all Boomer Curs who dare interject their useless opinions. Bad Religion has it going on. Really…. in a way it’s like the TBP of Punk Rock…. or is TBP the Bad Religion of anti-establishment blogging?

Only two bad motherfuckers can rock that pimp look and do it with literary style….

“Gen-Xers will make near-perfect fifty-year-olds. On the one hand, they will be nobody’s fools…..”

-Strauss and Howe “The Fourth Turning”