lost in a sea of combat boots, flush the bouncers with wasted youth
when did punk rock become so safe, when did the scene become a joke
the kids who used to live for beer and speed now want their fries and coke
cursing and flipping birds are not allowed, in fact let's keep noise levels down

Must separate the church and skate

why don't we put pads on the kids, helmets, head gear and mouth pieces
Then we could pad the floor and walls, put cameras inside bathroom stalls
We make sure only nice bands play, make every show a matinee
Teach kids to be all they can be, and we could sing my country tis of thee sweet land of liberty

when did punk rock become so safe
i know it wasnt Duane or Fletcher, who put up the barricades
Like a stake in the heart, somehow we got driven apart

i want conflict i want dissent, i want the scene to represent
our hatred of authority, our fight against complacency
stop singing songs about girls and love, you killed the owl you freed the dove
confrontation and politics replaced with harmonies and shticks
when did punk rock become so tame, these fucking bands all sound the same
We want our fights we want our thugs, we want our burns we want our drugs
where is the violent apathy, these fucking records are rated G

When did punk rock become so safe



Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28

Track duration: 02:50


The Separation Of Church And Skate song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:btw just for the record fat mike and nofx and most of the other well known grandfathers of punk are about individual freedom as long as it is not detremental to anybody else, they believe in the freedom to take drugs or not too aslong as that freedom is understood, it's about respecting what is worth respecting, alot of people think it's just don't respect anything, it can look like that because very few things in this world are worth respecting, they are about peace, morality, individualism that doesn't harm the collective society. the point is individualism now is being sold as individualism but letting people do whatever the hell they want doesn't allow a society to function, there are boundries, but you can have wide boundries aslong as there is respect , morality and honesty, alot of the time the punk scene was so hated and attacked that they lashed out violently or abusively in defense of what they belived in, unfortunately it made people think its just a place of thugs who care about nobody, it's not true at all, if anything they care more
    Flag resist360on June 05, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i've been lucky enough to go to a few of the old school punk bands where the security guards just gave up and let us do what we wanted, tom gable from against me just told one of them to let us jump on the stage and shit if we wanted too same with the nofx, millencolin, rise against and pennywise show i was at. i'm in australia btw. thee song is great but, personally i don't mind a song here and there about girls and love but some many of these so called "punk bands" have made their careers on saying nothing but shit we have heard for years, plus the fact that what that mentality in culture is doing to iimpressionable minds is crazy, 13 year olds think that behaviour like that or songs about love are normal, all they become obsessed with is love and buying outfits to look like gc, i liked gc and blink and sum 41 back in the day before i was exposed to the real good stuff like nofx and bad religion and descendents etc but after a while it just wears thin, it doesnt make you think, it doesnt help society progress. the music industry may have launched sex pistols but the public not only liked them they liked the message, hence all through the 80's the indy labels took up because punk bands didnt want to be signed major and major labels only wanted them to make money of them, if the music industry infiltrates punk and turns it main stream like it has it would have been fine but the message and meaning changed, the lables couldn't shut punk down so they got involved and moulded it into something new and unrecognisable, its sad, but kepp up the good fight, there is plenty of good meaningful bands out there who are punk and not punk its just much much harder to find them, war on errorism changed me from a pop punk wanabie who felt i had to fit in into a guy who sees the world for what it is, full of fuckwits
    Flag resist360on June 05, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I don't need to post another interpertation, plenty out there. I hate it when people say you can't be punk because of your age. Especially when they think that they are punk. Hell, I'm 13 and I'm more punk than most of the others out there. Parents try to stop me and almost made me perfect, but I listened to a couple of punk rock bands and I was gone. Now I've got a closet full of firecrackers, dynamite, knives, etc. And combat boots. Never forget the combat boots. Now last of all, there are people who are posting who have a problem with punk rock. That's fine. What's not fine is when instead of actually doing shit about it you go on here and just post shit. Punk rock has survived the church, therefore we have survived god. If god can't get rid of us, what the hell makes you think just posting shit on here is gonna help? Am I supposed to just say you're right and forget punk rock? What a joke. I'm done now, back to freedom and the stuff that's actually fun.
    Flag echoes122on May 13, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:That one line: "You killed the owl you freed the dove", I take it as modern day punk bands have forgone truth, as well as what's real and 'punk' in order to sing about not just peace and love, but to sing about it in ignorant bliss. That's my take on it at least, any thoughts?
    Flag FatAjax28on December 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Pretty good song but the lyrics are totally stupid. The question in this song is: "when did punk become so safe?" But the actually questions would be: "when did punk become so bitter and angry?"
    The whole punk genre wasn't supposed to be about anarchy, politics, angry, mohawks and that stuff. The Ramones wanted to keep rock n roll alive because of the music back in the 70s was all about endless solos, 10 minut songs and drugs-influenced music. (psychedelic)
    Bring rock n roll back to the popularity by playing easy, catchy, fast rock songs. THAT is the roots of punk rock, not the political/social lyrics which later bands like Sex Pistols added to the songs. I'm saying now what Joey & Johnny Ramone said here.
    Watch from 7:10 if you dont want to see the whole video, Johnny: youtube.com/…
    Joey: artistwd.com/joyzine/music/ramones/…

    Of course politics is part of the punk rock scene now too, but it was never the roots, so saying bands like blink-182 aren't real punk bands is just bullshit. Listen to their first 3 albums (Cheshire Cat, Buddha & Dude Ranch) and you'll notice that blink was punk rock in the beginning. I agree Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, All Time Low and w/e are more like pop-pop-punk aka Powerpop, but blink-182 was definitely a punk band.

    And the reference to 'skate-punk' in this song is even more stupid. Skatepunk is the most similar to the roots of punk rock. Bands like Lagwagon, Descendents, Screeching Weasel, Teenage Bottlerocket, Millencolin and stuff like that just go on with what the Ramones started. Keep Rock N Roll Alive by playing positive, easy, fast, catchy, rock n roll songs.

    Oh yeah, forgot to mention: NOFX is awesome though ;-)
    Flag Goelianon November 11, 2011   Link
  • +3
    General Comment:OVERALL this song is amazing, but everytime I listen to it I want to get up and walk out of work. I want to go back to high school days causing all kinds of trouble and not thinking about any consequences.

    I wish I could just punch a hole through my door for no reason whatsoever.

    "the kids who used to live for beer and speed now want their fries and coke," pisses me off. I want to live for that stuff AGAIN, but I can't because then I'd be out of a job. You might think I might not need my job, but I want my fries and coke.
    Flag nickv999on August 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Before this song came out a whole bunch of churches around my neighborhood started building skate parks in and out side of the church. If you tried to skate on the park you were forced to go to the service. Then they started havin "punk" bands play christian music at the services and stuff... me and my friends always snuck off a few mins before the service started then came back after it was all over. then this song came out so we always thought thats what mike was talkin bout.. the tittle separation of church and skate is obviously a play on separation of church and state. most of the rest is easier to figure out what hes singing about.. how tame the punk movement has gotten no one sings bout politics or religion anymore no one has messages anymore.. its all about girls, misery, and worthlessness.. and hes clearly upset cause the punk scene used to mean something it was a brotherhood and sisterhood of people with the same ideals and beliefs..
    Flag Markusthelegendon August 15, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment:Wow, you can really tell Mike and Melvin are pissed by the way they sing this song!
    Flag SalviSkankeron April 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song isn't talking shit about skaters at all and the church doesn't represent punk. this song is singing about how kids used to do mad drugs and kick ass but the gay ass christian punk bands started ruining it for everyone and how we need to change that shit
    Flag JFOODon March 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Last time i went to a nofx show they refused to play because the venue didnt put barricades mike said he wont play until the barricades were up, so maybe he forgot about this song, but im pretty sure they played it that ninght.

    .tan,proud and stupid.
    Flag keekeenon February 04, 2010   Link

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