My Discovery of The Ramones
My Discovery of The Ramones
Finally, during Christmas season 1985, with the fateful year of 1984 behind us, I stopped to read a copy of Rolling Stone. (This is something I flirt with every now and then, though lately it is a complete waste of time.) Too Tough To Die had just come out, and it got a five star review in one of those roundups of great rock and roll they do in Rolling Stone on a yearly basis. What really struck me was how long they'd been together. About as long as I'd been married, which was in 1974. I thought anything good that started up at that time and was still going was probably worth checking into, so I went to Rhino Records in Westwood and bought the tape. I stuck it in my Walkman and discovered a power source. My energy had been flagging, because law school is a coercive system that breaks down your will and turns your brain into mush. The entire business of being turned into a mercenary for the system, an oiler for the gigantic smoking mechanism of modern civilization, had left me and most of my law school friends feeling disoriented, if not flat crazy.
The Ramones shattered my prison, burst my chains, and invited me to march down the streets of the metropolis with them, the lords of everything we had thought lost. My dignity restored, a new vision of liberty dawning in my mind, I seized the rude implements of modern life and plunged forward. Into the smog, into the traffic, into the core of the monster, my mind blazing, my stereo cranking, the world cleansed by radiocative sounds. The Ramones accelerated the rhythm of my being until I caught up with the adversary, then ratcheted me into to hyperdrive and blasted me far beyond the distant horizon. The song, “I'm Not Afraid of Life” was a great anthem that every city dweller could appreciate.
I'm Not Afraid Of Life
I am not afraid of life
of the poor man's struggle
of the killer's knife
I am not afraid of life
of an insane rage
of the minimum wage
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
But I see an old lady with a shopping bag
and I wonder is life a drag?
I am not afraid of pain
but it hurts so bad
I feel so mad
no one see the truth
there's nothing to gain
a life goes down the drain
don't want to die at an early age
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
But I see a street crazy shivering with cold
is it a crime to be old?
there's the threat of the nuclear bomb
we know it's wrong
we know it's wrong
is there a chance for peace?
will the fighting ever cease?
mankind's almost out of luck
a maniac could blow us up
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
but I get down on my knees and I pray
is there hope for the world today ?
Well certainly the madness that afflicts the world, as described in this beautiful song, has not diminished. The Ramones touched on all of the issues that were driving us crazy then, and are still driving us crazy today. Is it a crime to be old? Is life a drag? Is there hope for the world today? Will some maniac blow us up? Are we almost out of luck?
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Finally, during Christmas season 1985, with the fateful year of 1984 behind us, I stopped to read a copy of Rolling Stone. (This is something I flirt with every now and then, though lately it is a complete waste of time.) Too Tough To Die had just come out, and it got a five star review in one of those roundups of great rock and roll they do in Rolling Stone on a yearly basis. What really struck me was how long they'd been together. About as long as I'd been married, which was in 1974. I thought anything good that started up at that time and was still going was probably worth checking into, so I went to Rhino Records in Westwood and bought the tape. I stuck it in my Walkman and discovered a power source. My energy had been flagging, because law school is a coercive system that breaks down your will and turns your brain into mush. The entire business of being turned into a mercenary for the system, an oiler for the gigantic smoking mechanism of modern civilization, had left me and most of my law school friends feeling disoriented, if not flat crazy.
The Ramones shattered my prison, burst my chains, and invited me to march down the streets of the metropolis with them, the lords of everything we had thought lost. My dignity restored, a new vision of liberty dawning in my mind, I seized the rude implements of modern life and plunged forward. Into the smog, into the traffic, into the core of the monster, my mind blazing, my stereo cranking, the world cleansed by radiocative sounds. The Ramones accelerated the rhythm of my being until I caught up with the adversary, then ratcheted me into to hyperdrive and blasted me far beyond the distant horizon. The song, “I'm Not Afraid of Life” was a great anthem that every city dweller could appreciate.
I'm Not Afraid Of Life
I am not afraid of life
of the poor man's struggle
of the killer's knife
I am not afraid of life
of an insane rage
of the minimum wage
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
But I see an old lady with a shopping bag
and I wonder is life a drag?
I am not afraid of pain
but it hurts so bad
I feel so mad
no one see the truth
there's nothing to gain
a life goes down the drain
don't want to die at an early age
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
But I see a street crazy shivering with cold
is it a crime to be old?
there's the threat of the nuclear bomb
we know it's wrong
we know it's wrong
is there a chance for peace?
will the fighting ever cease?
mankind's almost out of luck
a maniac could blow us up
I am not afraid of life
I am not afraid of life
but I get down on my knees and I pray
is there hope for the world today ?
Well certainly the madness that afflicts the world, as described in this beautiful song, has not diminished. The Ramones touched on all of the issues that were driving us crazy then, and are still driving us crazy today. Is it a crime to be old? Is life a drag? Is there hope for the world today? Will some maniac blow us up? Are we almost out of luck?
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