Random Punk/Hard Drive

Trying to decide on a particular, specific artist today left me hedging and undecided. So, I did the opposite and picked three from the literally thousands of single tracks on my disk. Somehow, they all seem to fit together.

Birth, School, Work, Death
When it all gets you down, doesn’t it seem that the Godfather’s title here sums it all up in a bleak sort of way? This was great slacker music in the mid 80’s when it came out, filled with angst, ennui and curl your lips into a sneer while wearing only black at the local hop attitude days.

Yeah I been high and I been low
And I don't know where to go
I'm living on the never never never
This time it's gonna be forever

I'll live and die don't ask me why
I wanna go to paradise
And I don't need your sympathy
There's nothing in this world for me

I Wanna Be Your Dog
Iggy at his finest. This is why they call him the Godfather of Punk. I actually was trying to muster up the gumption to feature his album “Blah, Blah, Blah” (which is my favorite by him – sure, it goes against all that is Iggy sacred, but I live with it), but see the above commentary.

Iggy here is raw, decisive, primal, alpha-male gritty, derogatory and one can almost see him onstage mocking himself and the audience with shattered glass bottles slashing his chest and the blood oozing down to his waist and the stage floor.

So messed up I want you here
In my room I want you here
Now were gonna be face-to-face
And Ill lay right down in my favorite place

Love Is All Around
Joan Jett is one of my all-time guilty pleasures. What’s not to love about a razor sharp woman who is tits-to-the-wall rock and roll and has sustaining power to boot? Beginning with her days as one of the talented ones in The Runaways, Joan keeps belting out gem after gem of no allegiance rock. She actually did a fantastic version of Iggy’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog” on her album “Up Your Alley”.

Here, she takes the gentle mewing of the Mary Tyler Show theme and jets it into a statement of empowerment for all women, turning it into a brash statement of encouragement and determination.

How will you make it on your own?
This world is awfully big, girl this time you're all alone
But it's time you started living
It's time you let someone else do some giving

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all

The Godfathers: Birth, School, Work, Death (17)
From : Birth, School, Work, Death: The Best of the Godfathers [1984]

Iggy Pop: I Wanna Be Your Dog (17)
From: A Million in Prizes: The Anthology [2005]

Joan Jett: Love Is All Around (23)
From: Fit to Be Tied: Great Hits by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts [1997]