I didn’t always listen to Asian music. Okay, amend that, I didn’t always listen to as MUCH Asian music because once upon a time it was much harder to access. Napster was the best thing ever and the only reason I got my hands on ANY of it to begin with. And even then… not easy to find much beyond anime soundtracks.
So what DID I listen to? I was quite the little rocker and concert-goer. There is only two concerts I can think of that were general admission and I was not in the first two rows for. The rest…. I was the kid at the front of the general admission line who had been in line 5 hours before you ever thought of showing up ‘early’. (My friends have decided I have magic powers at rock concerts… my luck is ridiculous in a lot of ways.)
I’ve seen Papa Roach, Panic! at the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Lostprophets, Hawthorne Heights, AFI, and oh so very many more. Many of them I was lucky and saw them at their height. For instance I saw My Chemical Romance right after The Black Parade was released. (I actually got mild frostbite waiting for that show. Talk about dedication…)
But this post isn’t just a music post… it’s an inspiration post. Now that you know I was an alt rock girl in my late teens, the song I’m posting shouldn’t be TOO much of a shock from my Korean and Japanese dears… I hope.
This song is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But I LOVE the lyrics to it. (And yes, okay, everything about this song, but this album was just good almost as a whole in my opinion. I might not listen to near as much American rock or alt today, but this remains in my favorites.)
From First to Last was one of many bands that came and went. Had a brief flare of fame, held on for awhile, and left the spotlight. The type that actually put out more recordings than all but the ‘truest’ of fans knew. The album “Dear Diary, My Teenage Angst has a Body Count” is honestly about the only album of theirs I cared for.
The first song on that album is called “The One Armed Boxer vs. The Flying Guillotine”… thus the title of this post. I’m posting a video below that has the lyrics. They can be a bit difficult to understand in places if you do not already know the song and are not used to this type of vocals. (Okay, okay… screaming really.)
Give the song a chance, or the lyrics at the very least, and tell me… what do you get from it? In my mind it’s a resounding call to create, to follow the muse, and despite the seemingly broken audience of my generation and the one after…. don’t stop.
“How do I address a letter to my generation? ‘Sonny,’ she said, ‘save yourself the postage.’
How do I address a letter to my generation? ‘Sonny,’ she said, ‘sing it in person.”
Tagged: alt rock, from first to last, inspiration, screamo, sonny moore, writing
They remind me a lot of early 80′s punk bands. GBH, Suicidal Tendencies, Social Distortion, etc. There’s a line, I forget which song, but it says, ‘Don’t forget, I’m your future’. At the time (early 20′s) I thought it was hilarious and would say it to my mom when she got mad at me. Now that I’m older, I look at the kids today and think of that line in a whole new light. Because now, they’re MY future!
Cool post that makes you stop and think about things in a different way.