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