Andrew's Song Analysis

LCD- Song I was the most familiar with. Many band members but the key ones are Pat Mahoney, Nancy Whang, Al Doyle, Gavin Russom and James Murphy. Started in. I know that James Murphy was heavily influenced by punk music but, in some ways, this song is one of the least punk. It is much longer than the average punk song at 5 minutes and 35 seconds (though this is short by LCD’s standards). It is from Sound of Silver, Released in 2007. Cover Art shows some sort of futuristic device in a grungy room. Embodies LCD in that it uses new technology to fill a grungy, raw environment. Clever lyrics as usual but not aggressive. About loving his city because it’s all he knows but preferring it when it was dirty and unsafe. He takes on Mayer Bloomberg and calls him, “a billionaire mayor who’s convinced he’s a king”. This is the most aggressive part of the song. Tempo changes dramatically but is never fast and is only briefly aggressive. Great production value because James is first and foremost a producer. That’s how he got his start with DFA Records (The Record Company he co-owns and runs with Tim Goldsworthy). Dance-Punk. James Murphy practically invented the genre as the producer of The Rapture in 1999 on their debut album, Mirrors. It is raw but makes you want to groove.  Overall: This is dance-punk as are almost all LCD Songs. It has obvious roots in punk but the song length, high production value, and subject matter it is not punk.

James Chance-Big Contributor to the No Wave movement, which is a movement that is hard to define but incorporates jazz and funk influences into a punk attitude. It is known for utilizing cacophony and prioritizing texture over melody. James was a sax player who was into free jazz and you can hear the jazz influence and the sax riffs. This song is a Michael Jackson cover and he is generally not considered conventional punk (though James obviously changes the style and arrangement drastically). It is form a live album recorded at the Aux Baines Douches in Paris. It was released on a French label in 1980 and then rereleased worldwide in 2005. Cover Art just shows James’ Face. Sound unproduced and live. Lyrics are pretty sensual though they sound more sensual when delivered by Michael. “Lovely is the feeling now, Fever Temperatures Rising Now”. It is still very aggressive and his vocals remind me a lot of conventional punk. The song is longer than average punk song at six minutes and sixteen seconds but the tempo is pretty fast. Because of the length of song, subject matter of lyrics, connection to Michael Jackson and jazz influence it is not punk but instead “No-wave”.

The Fall- The Classical- The Classical has a constantly changing lineup (they have changed their lineup 27 times at last count) but the only consistent member was Mark E. Smith. Very influential in both the punk and post-punk scenes. James Murphy Called them, “His Beatles”. First track on their well-acclaimed album, Hex Enduction Hour. (It was literally one hour long). Released in March 1982. 5 minutes and 16 seconds long. The lyrics are cryptic and at times offensive, “Where are the obligatory niggers? HEY THERE FUCKFACE!” Apparently this lyric cost the band a record deal with Motown records. The cover art is of a bunch of scribbles and pictures. It reminded me of a zine. The tempo is relatively fast and driving and the vocals are shouted and raw, but the bass is more noticeable and the instrumentation is more complicated than the average punk song. It was recorded in a proper studio in Iceland but there are no real production flourishes and the overall sound quality is not great. Though it is longer than the average punk song and The Fall often strayed away punk, this song is punk for its aggressive music and lyrics, zine-esque cover art, raw vocals and low of production value.

Adam's Individual Presentation

Cops are Punks- The Nails

Cops are Punks is a 2:37 long song. The song was released in 1977 from Screwball Records. The band is from Boulder, CO. The members of the band are Marc Campbell, George Kaufman, Douglas Guthrie, Mike Ratti, Dave Kaufman, and Steve O'Rourke. The Nails moved to New York and by the late 1970s had established themselves on the club circuit The song is a short, faced past song that is about how cops are punks. In the lyrics, they talk about how a cop busted your stash and he is going to sell it for some money. They also go on to talk about how cops dress in black and wear leather boots, which is similar to what punks wear. They’re mean and tough, they beat up drunks. I would call this song a new wave punk song, because although it talks about how cops are punks and what they believe a punk is, the music and melody of the song has electronic aspects to it like new wave songs do. There is a fake police siren that is screaming throughout the whole song. The song does have 4 chords and a fast pace drum melody. So although the message is punk, I’d call this song new wave.

Class War- The Dils

Class War is a 1:42 long song. The song was released in 1978 on the “Dils Dils Dils” LP. The members of the band are Chip Kinman, Tony Kinman, and Buddy Hate. They were one of the major bands in the early Los Angeles punk scene. They were known for having very melodic songs and they got the nickname "Punk Rock Everly Brothers".The song itself is a very fast paced song about the band wanting a class war. Some of the lyrics are “I wanna war, between the rich and the poor” and “Class war's gonna be the last war. Are the cowards ready For a class war? I'm not talking about a race war.” They are saying how they are ready and wanted a war between the classes. Between the rich and the poor, and how it’s not about between the whites and the blacks. They believe that a civil war is coming in America’s future but this time it will be between the classes, not the races. In addition to the production value of this song, I would say this is a very punk rock song, due mostly to the message. The message is what punk is all about: the lower class being forgotten about by the upper class. At this rate, the band really does believe there is going to be a class war.

Breakdown- The Buzzcocks

Breakdown is a 1:59 long song. Apparently they made a big deal about how it is not a 2 minute song and that it is a 1:59 long. The Buzzcocks were formed at the Bolton Institute of Technology which is now called the University of Bolton. The original members at the time Pete Shelley, Howard Devoto, Garth Davies (AKA Garth Smith), and Mick Singleton were all students at the time and formed the band and had their first gig. They heard about the sex pistols and really wanted to see them in concert, and after they did, they eventually worked with the band to become their opening act. The members of the Buzzcocks have changed over 11 times and have had 15 members in the band’s history but they are still around today with only one of the original members. They always have 4 members at one time. As for their song breakdown, I would say it is punk rock / pop punk. The only reason I would call it pop punk is because of their large commercial success for opening for the sex pistols. However, since this was one of their first songs before they really became mainstream, I will consider it more punk rock. The lyrics in the song are “Oh mum can I grow out of what's too big for me?” and “Living next to nothing - my never mind remains I'm gonna breakdown ...” he is asking him mom permission to finally be allowed to “grow out of what’s too big for him” aka grow up. I think he is sarcastically asking this in the song, as if he is asking for permission to grow up, but he is going to anyway. He says how they are living next to nothing, which shows how they were very poor and lived in the lower class and how he is finally going to break down.

Hannah's Song Analysis Presentation

Punk style song analysis

View more presentations from hyoung69

“Ghost Rider”/ Suicide:

            Suicide—formed in New York in 1970—was composed of vocalist Alan Vega and synthesizer/drum machine player (a sort of proto-dance-DJ?) Martin Rev. The band draws their name from a Ghost Rider comic titled, “Satan Suicide.” Although they never garnered much commercial success, Suicide was hugely influential to modern indie rock, post-punk, and electronic music. Musicians from The Jesus and Mary Chain to Bruce Springsteen cite the band as an influence, and in fact Bruce Springsteen has covered Suicide songs in the past. Suicide is largely notable for being the first band to advertise themselves as “punk music.”

The song “Ghost Rider” clocks in at 2:35, and is characteristic of the band’s subtle yet spastic style of music. Rev’s steady electro-groove changes little throughout the course of the song, providing the base for Vega’s random, jerky lyrical delivery. The length and lyrical content of the song (“America America’s killing its youth”) are certainly punk, and the band was notorious for their violent, confrontational performances. This, I think, “cancels out the synthetic nature of the song to make it solidly punk.

“Blue Monday”/ New Order

            Following the 1980 death of lead singer Ian Curtis, Joy Division was no more. However, the proto-Goth electro-rockers quickly re-emerged onto the music scene, reborn as New Order. Unlike the sulkier, more rock-influenced previous incarnation of their band, New Order embraced the synthesizer and, eventually, the dance floor.

            “Blue Monday,” released in 1983, is notable for being the best-selling 12” single of all time. This is largely due to its cutting edge, dance-floor ready beats and moody synthesizers. The vocals, in this song, are somewhat secondary to the beat, which is a style emulated by much modern electronic music. The song takes a whopping seven minutes and twenty-five seconds to complete its run, which is about five minutes too long for a punk song. “Blue Monday” is definitely an electro postpunk song. The lyrics are heavy, and seem to be offering a criticism of society and an older generation (“those who came before me/lived through their vocation/ from the past until completion/they will turn away no more”), but there’s nothing terribly punk about the style of the song or the band. New Order was hugely influential on the modern dance and electronic styles of music, as with many of their postpunk contemporaries.

“Love Meant to Die”/Jazz Destroyers

            There is virtually no information on the Jazz Destroyers available on the Internet, which speaks to the obscurity of the band. What I have gathered is that Jazz Destroyers come from the oddly-rock-and-roll city of Cleveland, and that they functioned in some capacity during the 1980s. They were composed of Dave E. McManus and James Ellis. Other than that, the band may or may not actually exist, as far as the Internet is concerned. The band obviously never achieved any sort of notoriety; it wasn’t really clear to me whether they actually even released an album.

            The song “Love Meant to Die” is a paltry 1:24 in length—perfect for a punk song. The song is composed of sloppy, horrible guitars with gargled, tuneless lyrics about death and society thrown over the top (“I tried so hard to live with a love that was meant to die,” “In the terminal of pretty dreams/everybody loves you when you’re lying”). The last twenty or so seconds of the song feature a distorted, harder instrumental breakdown as the song dissolves into chaos. The whole affair is rather punk, in my opinion. The band name is certainly punk enough—the concept of destroying jazz was something that punks were all over. The song also seems to be mocking jazz, in a way; the song features some random mouth noises that could be interpreted as perverted scatting. Additionally, the song is a bit of a distorted, disgusting mess—as was the punk scene in general, really.

Kailey Song Analysis

“Sobre As Pernas” was released in 1985 by the Brazilian punk band, Akira S & Garrotas Que Erraram as a single. The song has yet to be released on a CD despite their prelevlance in recent years. Weighing in at 4:37, this song is longer than most punk songs, however, we have seen a ten minute post punk song. This factor of length does not change the status of the song as punk. “Sobre As Pernas,” meaning “on the legs,” tells about hell and partaking in prostitution, a taboo and therefore punk subject. Akira S & Garrotas Que Erraram, or Akira S and the Girls Who Fucked Up, was a band during the punk movement in Sao Paulo, Brazil that began during the late 1970's. The cover art for the album it originally released on shows the outline of a man using a urinal, which may represent filth in the Sao Paulo punk community. “Sobre As Pernas” maintains poor production quality, unbalanced and experimental, which is another indication that it is a punk song.

“Stand by Your Manatee” is a song by Future of the Left, a more modern band debuted in 2006 under the same title. This song is from the album Travels with Myself and Another released on June 22, 2009, but leaked in April of 2009. This is a fairly short song at 2:08 long, according to Wikipedia. Its cover art depicts a void with two human silhouettes inside of a venn diagram which maybe showing isolation and a societal otherness. A couple of the lyrics from “Stand by Your Manatee” summarize its meaning. “You let your manatee down and then you drown. That's just the way with nature.” I think that this means that you need to “stand by your man” or else everyone is going down together, showing the constructive consciousness of the post-punk movement. The tempo is fast paced, but the production is fairly well-done and clean despite the rough playing of the instruments. I would classify this song as hardcore which is a further classification of punk music.

The Pogues song, “Turkish Song of the Damned” was released on their album If I Should Fall from Grace with God in 1988. The Pogues, fronted by Shane MacGowan, incorporated many different Celtic instruments in a folky rock feel, largely inventing Celtic Punk. The band showed post-punk experimental leanings in so doing. Aside from their Irish folk feel, The Pogues had a very punk rock attitude, MacGowan actually leaving the band in 1991 because of severe alcoholism. The cover art for If I Should Fall from Grace with God is ironic in that it shows The Pogues respectably and traditionally despite their celtic cavortings. Turkish Song of the Damned has a Turkish, traditional Irish feel and contains punk sacrilege in the lyrics,

“Nor the nails of the cross

Nor the blood of christ 
Can bring you help this eve.”

The tempo of this song is fast and drunken with a somewhat dirty production value. I would classify this song as punk given the attitude of the band, the overall message of the song, and most other factors we have used to classify punk music. 

Amanda Song Analysis

Bikini Kill

The song “Tell Me So” by Bikini Kill starts off with the playing of a few simple chords and the drums kick in and then the rhythm guitar and vocals come in and make the song come together. Kathleen Hanna starts to sing and the lyrics seem somewhat personal and it appears the Kathleen is angry and wants an answer to some question. Kathleen, along with Tobi, Kathi, and Karren all made powerful noises with their instruments and voices while also trying to make a statement and a movement towards riot girl punk. However, I felt that the whining voice of Kathleen was a little too much and felt as if a cat was screeching instead of actual lyrics coming into play. The song as a whole is only two minutes and twenty one seconds long, it Even if this particular song did not appear to be as punk rock as other songs, it still made an impact on the punk scene and helped a lot of girls find their place in the punk music world.

The Reatards

Jay Reatard was the pioneer of this band and did a majority of the work. The song, “I’m So Gone,” was off of the album Teenage Hate and is only a minute and thirty seconds. The shortness of the song makes it appealing and not so arrogant. The song starts off with a simple catchy riff and Jay screaming go and then the drums kick in and the lyrics just sound like shit but it makes the song complete and totally punk rock. With a few simple lyrics, this song makes the garage punk scene successful and has the attitude of not giving a fuck that punk was so familiar with. The song had a feeling of grime and filth that came with it and made the song sound so great. Overall, the song allowed me to envision the band just sitting around getting fucked up and just playing whatever they wanted to play and shoving it in everybody’s face. The lyrics, drums, and guitar are all pulled off perfectly and this song makes for the perfect garage punk song.

Minutemen

Minutemen’s song, “History Lesson,” is very chill and does not have the harshness that hardcore punk and garage punk have. There is a hint of ska in there and has the go with the flow, fun time, kind of sound. Mike Watt and D.Boon began playing in the late 70’s and early 80’s and soon became a leader in making independent music and not sticking to any labels. With only three main chords, Minutemen made the A, G, and B string sound perfect in this song and gave the view of the band sitting and smoking chilling with each other and jamming on the acoustic just fucking around and realizing that what theyre playing could actually be turned into an actual song. This makes the song so much better and more punk rock because it just goes to show that something that could seem meaningless could have an effect on people and on a genre of music, without the creators fully realizing it. In the end, the lyrics talk about them pretty much just playing music together and expressing their appreciation for punk rock and sharing their views with us. I would most definitely define this song as punk rock

Alec Wenzel Song Analysis

The Ramones: Needles and Pins

The song Needles and Pins by the Ramones is not a punks song. It’s a cover of a song released in 1963 originally written for singer songwriter Jackie Deshannon. The song length fits the criteria for a typical punk song by being a short to the point two minutes and twenty-two seconds, however the similarities end there.

Punk songs we are used to hearing are usually fast and aggressive, sporting distorted guitars and heavy hard hitting drum beats, but this song has none of those. The guitar parts in this song are chime-y and barely distorted and the drumbeat is a time keeping basic rock beat with very little embellishing. We defined the lyrics in punk songs as being decidedly more violent, angry, and with a directed message. In Needles and Pins the lyrics are a remorseful love story. The most violent the lyrics get is “she’ll feel those needles and pins, hurtin’ her, hurtin’ her.” These “needles” are a metaphor for the painful feelings he hopes she will feel when she realizes she made the wrong choice of in love, which is not your usual musical message in a punk song. The song tempo floats around a comfortable 120 beats per minute, which is a medium tempo, and not as fast or aggressive. The song name needles and pins has potential to sound like a punk song but the actual song proves differently. The production values are also decidedly not punk as it’s very clean.

I don’t consider this song punk. I believe it to be a pop tune. It was originally recorded as such and I don’t think The Ramones did much to change that aspect of it.

Jim Carroll: People Who Died

The song People Who Died was released in august of 1989 well after the full swing of the punk movement. The song is a long five minutes with many verses describing the deaths of close friends of his. This is a punk song based on the fast aggressive nature of the song. The lyrics were of course very detailed and gruesome depicting the deaths of many of his friends. These deaths include drug overdoses (bobby od’d on Drano on the night he was wed), Murder (Herbie pushed tony from the boys club roof), and suicide (Judy jumped in front of a subway train). The tempo of this song is very upbeat and the drums are fast and driving instead of laying down a groove. Song name is People Who Died, which could be considered offensive. The Production quality was clean but it did have a spontaneous vibe to it. Who is to say they didn’t just play it really well once and that was the track? I call this song punk because of the aggressive nature of the tune and the offensiveness of the lyrics.

Essential Logic: Fanfare in the garden

This song is clearly not punk. While the song length isn’t that long like most punk songs, that is where the similarities end. The song is not particularly fast or violent, and it lacks a driving rhythm from the guitar part or drum part. The production value is very clean; there are no mistakes to be heard and its extremely produced. I call this new wave and not punk because it lacks the fundamental parts of a punks song in the driving rhythm, high production value, and lack of offensive lyrics.

Angela Condellire's Song Analysis

Peter Hammill- Nadir’s Big Chance

“Nadir’s Big Chance” was released in 1975 on the album with the same name. Although this specific song can be considered punk, Peter Hammill himself is more often labeled as “progressive rock”, although he hates that title. His music tends to be longer and complex, often with mystical and science-like themes, which is very different from punk. However, this song is very different from many of his others. It is shorter, with not many lyrics, and not as complex. It is more immediate and aggressive. There are long times of just music, but it seems to work with the song. He says, “If the guitar don’t get ya, the drums will” and then he has his music and then he says “now is my big break,” so it in a way fit in with the story of the song.

The lyrics are also very punk. They are pretty real and talk about how he thinks glam rock sucks. “I’ve been hanging around, waiting for my chance/ to tell you what I think about that music that’s gone down/ to which you madly danced-frankly, you know that it stinks. I’m gonna scream, gonna shout, gonna play my guitar/ until your body’s rigid and you see stars. Look at all the jerks in their tinsel glitter suits pansying around.” It also has a violent aspect, “gonna scream, gonna shout, gonna play my guitar” which also fits in with punk style. He is saying how he is against glam rock and all the extra production and glitter and what not. He says, “ It began to seem that in order to be in a successful group, you had to have 23 banks of keyboards and a zillion lights and all that sort of thing.” So he was trying to say that it shouldn’t be all about that and that all of that is unnecessary.

This song was a big influence on many punk musicians and actually came out before the big surge of punk music. Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols has noted how much he liked Peter Hammill.

In this album, Hammill takes on the guise of “Rikki Nadir”, who is a “dumb garage rocker”, and this was Hammill’s chance to experiment and express that side of him, so this album, particularly this song, has some rawer and more punk-like elements. He acknowledges that this album is a bunch of different things, but the fact that he does whatever he wants and doesn’t want to be defined to any one thing makes him pretty punk in that aspect. While Peter Hammill is not exactly punk, “Nadir’s Big Chance” definitely is.

Public Enemy- Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos

Public Enemy released “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos” in 1988 on the album “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”. Just looking at the album title, you get a punk vibe, saying how they can’t be persecuted or held back by society or anybody for that matter. The song is 6:24, which is pretty long, and has lots of lyrics, however, it is a rap song, so that’s kind of expected. At the same time though, the lyrics have a very punk message of being against authority and not being oppressed, in this case, for being black. Their message calls for social change and brings attention to things that aren’t right in society. Public Enemy would otherwise be ignored or overlooked.

The music is well produced, but at the same time very simple and repetitive, which fits in with the punk style. It’s more about the message than the music. However, you can see punk aspects in production by the fact that when Flavor Flav is calling Chuck D in jail, he just went into another room and literally made a phone call and they recorded that for the song straight from the phone. That’s pretty raw, working with what you have and not being so highly technical. It’s well produced, but it’s not over produced.

This song is like many others in the punk culture because it is simple, angry, against authority, and wanting change. The musical outlet is a bit different than the rock punk, but it’s the same idea, just a different way of expressing it. This is a great example of hip hop’s answer to punk. So while this song in itself may not be considered punk, it fits into the punk style.

The Damned- Love Song

The Damned released “Love Song” on the album “Machine Gun Etiquette” in 1979. The album name is very punk, having both violence and a contradiction of etiquette with a machine gun. The song is short, only 2 minutes, and is very fast paced, with few lyrics, simple and repetitive music, and a lot of energy. The classic punk song considering those elements. This song is kind of poppy, and doesn’t have the typical punk message. Is it the love song for the punk kid? Where it’s not supposed to be mushy and dramatic, it’s just raw and real? Or is it supposed to be a parody of love songs, using ridiculous metaphors like “I’ll be the rubbish, you’ll be the bin”, to make fun of the cheesy love songs they hate. Or maybe it’s a bit of both. It’s hard to say.

It is safe to say though that this is definitely a punk song. Despite the fact that it may seem a little poppy, it still has all the elements that make up the typical punk song: simple, fast, energetic, and short. This song may seem a bit lighter both musically and lyrically, but that may just be showing the element of punk that’s about not being so uptight and worrying about everything, to just have fun and joke around and make fun of lame love songs.

Matt P's Song Analysis

"One Armed Scissor"
The band, At the Drive-in, formed in 1993 and released "One Armed Scissor" seven years later in September 2000. The song has a fast paced, urgency that carries through the entirety of the 3:46. I found out that the song title is actually a name for vodka mixed with Red Bull (which is pretty punk rock naming a song after an alcoholic drink) but is also a term for a knife. Continuing with the theme of knives, the song makes many references to blades, surgical procedures and general cuts. The production is not necessarily polished, but in an interview the band mentioned multiple takes which was unheard of in early punk. The song was popular in the mainstream and charted in both the US and the UK, which is another thing that can be used to argue that it is not punk. The lyrics of the song make many think that it is an Emo song/band. However, I think there is a little bit more to them that makes them fall under the general umbrella term of Punk rather than Emo.

“Thirsty and Miserable”
Black Flag is one of the bands that pioneered the Hardcore movement so it comes as no surprise that the song “Thirsty and Miserable” released in December of ‘81 comes in at a brisk 2:07. Henry Rollins’ vocals and the bands blistering speed give this fast paced song a manic feel that in a way contributes to the lyrics about drinking’s hopelessness. As we discussed in class, this could also be a metaphor for a thirst for something else that no matter what can be quenched. The production of this song is fairly dirty, the only parts of the drums heard is the crash of the cymbal and hi-hat, with the occasional snare drum rattle. This song is most definitely hardcore, even with the brief guitar solo and the occasional metal-inspired guitar flair, it keeps the song short and to the point and even conveys a common punk/hardcore idea of wanting something more –whether that be alcohol or knowledge or something else, it seems a punk is never satisfied.

“How Low Can a Punk Get?”
Bad Brains is another band that pioneered the Hardcore sound and their 1983 song, “How Low Can a Punk Get?” is a perfect example of their Hardcore musical stylings. The song is 1:50 and is fast paced with an almost frantic rush to it, as evidenced by H.R.’s lyrics being barely finished coming out of his mouth when he begins the next line, which makes me think there is some layering going on to make it possible for H.R. to do this, which would be sort of un-punk of them to do. However, I could be wrong and H.R. could just be a very talented vocalist. The lyrics are about getting caught up in schemes and plans that are usually doomed from the start. This reflects both punk’s nature to live in the now and our reading from Maskell that suggested Bad Brains were both forgetting/remembering the past while looking toward the future. I don’t think it was a necessarily optimistic view of the future but rather an acknowledgement that it’s there. While some of their other songs are reggae or dub, this song is definitely hardcore, not only because of the sound but also because the lyrics describe punk’s desire to live without plans or routines.

final project example

The document below shows my draft of the final project for this course. I will update this document as often as possible, and it is meant to offer a possibility of what this project may look like. Please consider that this is not the ONLY way that this project might look. Rather, I encourage a range of possible approaches to this assignment. 
pop punk and my dis/content