Last night was a very boring night at work. Wandering
aimlessly around the car park I have wasted a huge portion of my life in I was
listening to a new playlist I had recently created which I quite cleverly named
Songs That Make Me Want To Sing Out Loud, catchy right? On that playlist there
are forty or so songs that the more astute of you might have worked out indeed make me want to sing out loud. Obviously I resist because screaming along with
the calls of “Baby Lets Go Out Tonight” from To Know The Night Is To Live In It
Forever by Leagues Apart would make
me look quite silly. While I was listening and trying my very best not to sing
out loud I got thinking about what makes the perfect punk rock song.
Obviously I don’t have the smallest bit of musical ability;
I’m so useless I can barely clap my hands along to a simple beat so this is
only the view of someone who really enjoys listening to music rather than
someone who has the real skill and talent to write an entire song so some of my
views might be on the naive side.
I think most people would agree that you can usually decide
whether or not you like a song by the opening few seconds. The intro to any
songs is vitally important to making it great; it really needs to hook the
listener in, especially in the modern world where there is an almost unlimited
amount of music you can choose from at just the click of a button. When I think
of some of my favourite songs they all make me want to sing, dance or throw my
fists in the air from the very start. I could list hundreds of examples but I
will speak of just a couple. The first being the classic Less Than Jake song Gainesville Rock City from 2000’s Borders and
Boundaries (typing that I can’t believe that album is fifteen years old). As
soon as those keys turn, the engine starts and those horns blast that instantly
recognisable riff you know it’s time to dance. The introduction to Gainesville
Rock City actually lasts for a third of the song and really builds brilliantly
for an explosive final two thirds of the song. Another great example of a great
intro comes from The Menzingers. The
short introduction from A Lesson In The Abuse Of Information Technology from
their debut album with the same name from the get go gets your fists in the air
and you screaming your lungs out. The simple guitar riffs followed by the
screaming of “I Supply My Own Divide Morality, I Dye Everything Shades Of Grey”
instantly grab your attention and have you hooked throughout the song.
Without a doubt a massive part of what makes any song great
is the lyrics. The world of punk rock is blessed with some incredible
lyricists. No subject matter is ignored, songs are written about love,
politics, standing up for yourself, mental health, rebellion, the music scene,
life on the road, growing up and everything else in between. In my opinion Off With Their Heads leader Ryan Young
is the best lyricist in the world. When you read his lyrics you will discover
the subject matter is incredibly dark but you cannot help but feel uplifted
when you’re singing along with them. One great example is the song Nightlife
from 2013’s Home. The words in the second verse really stand out to me, “Don’t
Wanna Be Like This, Anxious And Or Angry Or Hopeless And Upset All Of The Time,
Unable To Get Back The Feeling I Lost Somewhere Along The Line, I Wear It All
On My Sleeve And Everyone Sees No Matter How Hard I Try, I’ve Never Felt Worse
In My Whole Life.” There is something incredibly cathartic about singing those
lines that actually make you feel better about yourself. New Yorks Iron Chic are a band who are brilliant
at writing catchy and meaningful fist in the air lyrics. The song I Always Never Said That from 2010s Not Like This (reviewed here) features the lines “So Let’s Agree We’ll
Always Laugh, Not Miss The Joke And Do What We Can, To Take It All With A Grin,
And Not Be So Fucking Humourless.” First class lyrics about not getting all the
bad times that life throws at you get you down and always trying to stay
positive. Another great lyricists I’ve discovered recently is the German folk
sing John Allen. His song Lessons I Have Learnt from his recently released album Sophomore (reviewed here) is
extremely uplifting. Two lines towards the end of the song really put a big
grin on my face. They are “And If You’re Out There Somewhere Listening To That
Song, And If It Makes You Smile Try And Sing Along.” This is a great uplifting
couple of lines about the power of music and how it can move you. Something all
of the best songs can do, move you.
Being moved is another ingredient in making a great song
perfect. It can be done with personal lyrics, relating to the song in some way
or just serving as a reminder of a great memory. The Street Dogs song Punk Rock & Roll is a song that always moves
me. Whenever I hear that song I always remember the goose bumps I felt after
seeing them play it live for the first time. It was this perfect moment of a
room full of strangers coming together joining as one little community to sing
about something they all loved so much. Another song that’s always moved me is
What If Punk Never Happened by The King Blues. The song/poem tells a story on what the world would be like if there
was no such thing as punk rock and the final verse is one of the most inspiring
pieces of work I have ever heard. Listening back to it now I get goose bumps
(though that could be because I’m still sitting in my pants at 3pm and it’s a
tad chilly). Itch’s words show just how much you can learn from the world of
punk rock, they go – “Punk Rock Has The Power To Change The World, It Lies In
Every Single Punk Rock Boy And Girl, So Don’t Let Anyone Tell You You’re Not Worth
The Earth, These Streets Are Your Streets, This Turf Is Your Turf, Don’t Let
Anyone Tell You You’ve Got To Give In, Cos You Can Make A Difference, You Can
Change Everything, Just Let Your Dreams Be Your Pilot, Your Imagination Your
Fuel, Tear Up The Book And Write Your Own Damn Rules, Use All That Heart, Hope
And Soul That You’ve Got, And The Love And The Rage That You Feel In Your Gut,
And Realise That The Other World That You’re Always Looking For, Lies Right
Here In Front Of Us, Outside This Door, And It’s Up To You To Go Out And Paint
The Canvas, After All, You Were Put On The Earth To Do This, So Shine Your
Light So Bright So All Can See, Take Pride In Being Whoever The Fuck You Want
To Be, Throw Your Fist In The Air In Solidarity, And Shout Viva La Punk, Just
One Life, Anarchy.”
Another big part of the ingredients of a great song is the
ability of sing loud and sing proud along with it. Florida’s Against Me! are masters at the sing
along punk rock anthem. Having had the immense pleasure of seeing them live
this past November I realised just how many of their songs make you want to
sing as loudly as possible no matter what the subject matter. The song We Laugh At Danger And Break All The Rules was the first Against Me! song I ever fell in
love with, largely because of brilliant chorus and the moment towards the end
of the track when the music drops out and there is a great moment of just gang
vocals bellowing out the chorus before one big final blast. It really feels me
with energy every time I hear it. Dropkick Murphys are another band you really excel in the art of the sing along punk
rock anthem. The Celtic punk rockers who boast seven members in their line up
all contribute vocals during choruses and this really helps give their music an
everyman feel of everyone in the room being equal. If you go all the way back
to their 1998 debut Do Or Die and follow their musical path past 2005s The
Warriors Code, which features the big hit Shipping Up To Boston and keep going
to their last album, 2013s Signed And Sealed In Blood, so many of their songs
feature massive choruses that everyone gets involved with. This has got to be a
big reason why the Dropkicks are such a popular live band.
Whilst I was talking about Against Me! I spoke about a song building
towards a big finale. This is something I really love in a song. Similar to
electronic music when a beat drops and the party really kicks in it’s the same
in a punk rock song when the music slows down and slowly builds into one final
last party. Two songs spring to mind straight away when I think of great
building moments. The first is Change On Me by Washington punks RVIVR. This fantastic song about changing and growing
for the better features a very long musical interlude and slowly builds towards
a massive final chorus. Even though the music never drops out the lengthy time
between vocals really adds to a sense on anticipation and importance for that final
vocal blast on the track. The other is Australia’s The Smith Street Band. I can’t think of any other band who can take
you on such a roller coaster of highs and lows with their music. The epic I Love Life from 2014s Throw Me In The River (reviewed here) as an example of how
to build a song into a massive full blown party of a ending. The song starts at
a very high tempo as front man Wil Wagner storms through the opening couple of
verses before a middle section of building begins. There is a pounding drum
beat, rumbling bass and duelling guitars, as the song builds more musical layers
are added including keyboards before you get to the point of climax the whole
song just erupts into one joyous event which includes a massive chorus and some
lovely harmonious “oh-oh-ohs.”
So there we go, that’s what I think makes the perfect punk
rock song. The short version is, hook me in, give me something to care about,
make me want to dance and build towards something big.
Now listening to Good Nurse by The Constantines
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