NOFX – Franco Un-American

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Send "Franco Un-American" Ringtone to Cell

I never thought about the universe, it made me feel small
Never thought about the problems of this planet at all
Global warming, radio-active sites
Imperialistic wrongs and animal rights! No!

Why think of all the bad things when life is so good?
Why help with an 'am' when there's always a 'could'?
Let the whales worry about the poisons in the sea
Outside of California, it's foreign policy

I don't want changes, I have no reactions
Your dilemmas are my distractions

That's no way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco, Franco Un-American

I never looked around, never second-guessed
Then I read some Howard Zinn now I'm always depressed
And now I can't sleep from years of apathy
All because I read a little Noam Chomsky

I'm eating vegetation, 'cause of fast food nation
I'm wearing uncomfortable shoes 'cause of globalization
I'm watching Michael Moore expose the awful truth
I'm listening to Public Enemy and Reagan Youth

I see no world peace 'cause of zealous armed forces
I eat no breath-mints 'cause they're from de-hoofed horses
Now I can't believe; what an absolute failure
The president's laughing 'cause we voted for Nader

That's no way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
No way to go, Franco Un-American
Where can we go, Franco Un-American

I want to move north and be a Canadian
Or hang down low with the nice Australians
I don't want to be another 'I-don't-care-ican'
What are we gonna do Franco, Franco Un-American

Send "Franco Un-American" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28, edited by Quirkel

Track duration: 02:27


Franco Un-American song meanings
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108 Comments

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  • 0
    Translation:What does "Franco Un-American" reffer to, please?
    Flag alune12on February 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Obviously, the meaning of this song has been interpreted many times over. Lots of people mentioned Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Reagan Youth, and Michael Moore when they talked about the change in Fat Mike. But no one really mentioned Public Enemy! Don't forget about Chuck D, Public Enemy's lead MC. When I first heard Franco Un-American I was so impressed that Fat Mike is a fan of Public Enemy. I've loved both bands for many years and I've always wondered if Chuck D was aware of the reference. Both bands are very similar when it comes to their views on politics and the music industry. The music is very different, though. If you have ever liked a hip hop song, please give Public Enemy a chance! They have like 13 albums of unbelievably great hip hop music. And I'm not talking about pop music for the masses. This is true hip hop with a real message made by people who put as much work into it as NOFX. I think Fat Mike probably mentioned them in this song because he had heard a PE song that was released around the same time. It is called Son Of A Bush. Not a bad place to start if you wanna get to know some PE. If you have never heard them, keep in mind that their first 7 albums were released by Sony-Def Jam and they are great! But in 1999 they were the first commercial band to ever release an album completely over the internet with no record label at all. Quite ballsy. They abandoned all commercialism and started REALLY making a statement since they no longer had to follow the guidelines of "standards and practices." Chuck D was already on these types of subjects back when Bush's dad was president.

    One of my favorite lines written by Chuck D-

    "Dictators
    Human haters
    Hand on the bomb , mass debaters
    Finger on the button- infiltrators
    Make love! Fuck war!
    Peace will save us!"

    Sorry. I know this isn't the Public Enemy forum but I thought the song meaning for Franco Un-American was done to death here. I didn't have anything to add to that. But the Public Enemy reference in this song was the only line that wasn't brought up repeatedly. So, I felt the need to bring it up.
    Flag kanoe13on July 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:We think that this song talk's about youth apathy, about the politic and about the problems of the planet.
    In the past, the singer didn't care about anything, he only cared about his country where everything was perfect for him and the rest is "foreign policy". Probably, he just liked to do trivial things, just having fun. Then he was lazy, ignorant, dull, small-minded, selfish... And if he thought about the problems of this planet, he would feel small.
    One day, when he read some Howard Zinn he changed totally. Now he cares about these issues. He's a committed activist. In the present, he is confident, aware, critical, informed and firm.
    Finally, he doesn't want to be another "I don't-care-ican", because "that's no way to go".
    Flag AndreJoaoTochaJoaoCastilhoon May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Franco un-american in our opinion is an interesting song. It talks about a teenager that doesn’t care about the world, he only wanted to have fun, was lazy, ignorant, dull, small-minded, didn’t want to change and many more things. One day he decided to read some Howard Zinn, which influenced him to change. Since that day he started to worry about the world, he was more aware, informed, critical, firm, active, committed. He even became a vegetarian. In the end of the song he refers to “I-don’t-care-ican”, this means he doesn’t want to be an American that doesn’t care about the world.
    In our judgment we think that the song reports the attitudes of teenagers nowadays, because they don’t care about the world, and do things that harm the environment without realizing it, such as polluting the environment.
    We can conclude our review by saying that we liked it:).


    Stephanie Espadilha and Stephanie Silvestre from Coimbra, Portugal.
    Flag stephanieespadilhaon May 10, 2012   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General Comment:The song is a clear criticism of the US government and youth apathy. It tells us the story of this passive young boy who, at first, didn’t care about anything at all, except for himself, until the day he read Howard Zinn which completely changed him. From that moment on he started to care about the world and all the issues related to it, like fast-food, greenhouse effect, politics, pollution, animals cruelty, etc. And more important, he started to be active, doing things to solve these problems.

    Alexandre and Vasco from Coimbra, Portugal.
    Flagged aleximper96on May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:We think that the message of the song is about the relationship between young people and world affairs. Initially, the singer didn’t know anything about the problems of the world and he had a passive attitude. But, one day, he read a book. It completely changed his mind. He started to look at the world in another way and he became politically active.
    Flag DanielaCrisJoon May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song is very cool, because it shows us what is happening nowadays!
    People don't care about the problems of our society: environmental problems(pollution like greenhouse effect), extinction of animals, etc...
    Sometimes it is the story of a book that is changed, but in this case it is a book that changes the story!
    This is an example that should be followed by all people that are passive!
    Flag marciasilvaon May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:The music is a narrative song, that is, the band (NOFX) tries to transmit a real story.
    The real problem in this song is politics, especially the U.S. Government.
    The song talks about a person that never thought about the problems of the planet (he was a passive person and completely apathetic), but then the singer read many books and listened to some songs and he changed his attitude – he became an active person. Now, he is a vegetarian and he tries to compensate for all the years he didn’t care about the world (he says he started feeling depressed because of it).
    We think that teenagers don’t worry much about the world around them, because they think that if a person doesn’t care, it doesn’t make a difference. However, this idea is completely wrong, because one person can make a difference. Teenagers spend too much time with the new technologies and forget about the world, forget that the world they live in needs them to care of it.
    Flag BiancaAndSofiaAndJessicaon May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Hi. I think this song is original and it criticizes American politics.
    This is a song young Americans can identify with because it talks about youth apathy.
    I really like this verse:
    "Why help with an 'am' when there's always a 'could'?"
    In my opinion, this means that the singer could be at home, he could go shopping, he could stay with friends, so, why would he help? For him, helping envolves sacrifice because he could do something else. But in the end, it is rewarding to "be" present.
    Flag ceciliamonizcadimalindaefofinhaon May 10, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:We like the song very much because it teaches us a very important lesson: care about our planet problems. The song tells us a story about a guy that didn´t care about the problems of the planet at all and after he read Howard Zinn, he starts to care, and he changes his behavior. He became vegetarian, he criticizes he government a lot and he says that he would like to move north, to Canada, or south, to Australia. He knows that most population don’t care about these problems at all, like he didn’t before and he says «I don’t want to be another ‘’I-don´t-care-ican’’», because he doesn´t want to be like the others.
    Flag guimanelon May 10, 2012   Link

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