I Was a Teenage Anarchist

I'm all for changing sounds and experimenting with different things, but my problem has more to do with what this site is about: the lyrics. I know people change as they get older blah blah blah but this is a giant "fuck you" to his past, his friends, and his old fans. "The politics were too convenient." Honestly? That's the worst excuse ever. I would've rather him say "the cash was too easy" of all things..

From watching some interviews with Tom about this new record and the way AM! has gone in the past few years I think he is saying "fuck you" to his former friends and former fans because he felt that he was ostracized for insignificant reasons. Here is one of the interviews youtube.com/watch <br /> <br /> Tom talks about people he has known for years and "Now they won't even say hi to me in a public place...because my band is on a major label." "If that's what punk rock meant, than I don't want any part of it."<br /> <br /> I couldn't agree more about that statement or those in the song. When "punk" kids (or whatever 'scene') view the world through a binary ideological lens than they become no different than those who contribute to the mainstream polarization of the two parties. It likely was a business related decision to sign to a major label, but what I think most "punk" kids don't understand is how complicated life starts getting out of highschool, especially 4 years out. You want to play music for a living and have a family, and be able to go to the dentist, and send your kid to college, or travel. You don't want to be 30 and trying to impress angsty teens about how legit you are.<br /> <br /> The lyrics "it was a mob mentality" hit the nail on the head. There is no room for individuality in ideologically driven groups (e.g. anarchists) when the principles of the ideology are so limiting that they cannot allow the synthesis of other viewpoints. <br /> <br /> More power to him (and the rest of the band) for growing up and having the strength to follow their own identities. And I dig the sound of the album too.<br />

I understand the two views expressed above. I really do. I understand that AM! looks to be doing both of these things. I problem this the song has to do with the lyrics "was an anarchist" Why not fault the scene for not be anarchist? Why piss on it and deliver to everyone their worst fears. I hear this song and I think it means "Yeah, I'm a sell-out. Deal with it." This is the worst attitude to take. I get that the working class have very little options to live the good-life, but there is a way to do this and not come off as part of the problem. Hell! Green Day is more punk (for me meaning has more integrity) than AM!<br /> <br /> If he really wanted to he could continue the class war by pointing out that anyone who makes there money with their back or their brain is a worker...that everyone has a boss...that the capitalist will sell you the rope you hang him with...starting his one minor label...continuing to push new bands... supporting on-line piracy.... basically using his new found ability to reach larger audiences to continue to promoting subversive thought... <br /> <br /> I could give a funk if AM! is on a major...So were nearly ALL of the first wave punk bands at some point...What I hate is a turning of the back to class antagonism.

does anyone remember a dude named bob dylan? he was called a "protest singer". he was thrown into the role of "the voice of a generation", something he never wanted. he completely changed his sound and his fans FLIPPED SHIT. they called him a sell out, they said they hated him. i like that. he did what he wanted to do and didn't let anyone shape his music into what they wanted it to be. an artist makes ART. if you don't like it, don't listen. every great band changes their sound, gets signed to a bigger label, and lose all their "fans" who, as tom says in this song, are too rigid. punk rock isn't about anarchy, it's about expression. it's about being listened to and empathized with. knowing that people out there feel and think the same way that you do. i love this song, and i'm excited to see AM! develop as a band and as people. bands/artists that don't develop get old fast (ex: eminem. we get it, you're angry). if you don't like this song, this song is about you.

I agree. I'm listening to this CD and at best I would call it a satire on radio rock? I mean what the fuck? I miss the heartfelt screams and at least searching for a former clarity still had some heart. New wave was the breaking point.

Mech, you hit the nail on the head perfectly.<br /> <br /> I honestly feel bad for AM! They're obviously wanting to go in new directions, as Gabel's taste in music is broadening and changing, but the punk kids will constantly be here to remind them that they feel abandoned.

i am in my mid twenties, actually, and i completely understand the point of view that this song was written from. everyone can think back to their younger, more idealistic days. however, not everyone writes songs about it. against me has taken more flak than any other recent band that i can recall about "selling out" and compromising their ideals, and i think it's absurd to think that tom wasn't thinking about that when he wrote this song. my comment was really more flippant than anything, of course it's "about" more than just an apology, but i sincerely doubt he wrote it simply because he found himself gripped in nostalgia one evening.

I'm going have to argue your point of "little do they know anarchism doesn't have to be all revolution and setting the world on fire, anarchism can be anything you want it to be, that's the beauty of it "<br /> <br /> Because Gabel fully realizes the simplicity and, for a lack of a better word, hypocrisy of anarchy when he says ;<br /> "I was a teenage anarchist<br /> But the politics were too convenient"<br /> <br /> He knows how easy it is to be an anarchist, the rules are supposed to be defined by yourself, yet when they put out something radio friendly they've "sold-out" and broke the rules of anarchy. I think Gabel is just sick and tired of having to explain his actions to everybody, like in Unprotected Sex with Multiple Partners <br /> "Coordinate the marketing, label, publicity, touring.<br /> Consult on, timing and presentation.<br /> Go ahead put this in context.<br /> It's 3 points on production, 15% to management, <br /> 10% to the agent, 5% to legal representation.<br /> We call it our insurance plan to stretch the inevitable as far as we can.<br /> Gotta make your money while you got the chance, <br /> do whatever it takes to sell this."<br /> <br /> Gabel doesn't feel the need to defend himself anymore.<br /> <br /> Which some may say is real anarchy.

I'm not really a believer in negative posts but I felt I should at least put something it response to the "little do they know" when really the whole song strikes me as being about knowing exactly what you're talking about. This song is an attack on the punk rock anarchist scene not on anarchism in general. The only people who should be taking offense at this song are all those planet-x fest jerks playing sloppy covers of "Sink Florida Sink" drinking a King Cobra waiting for their ride to the hostel.

I think you missed the point. hes not saying thats what anarchy is, just thats how it is perceived by "teenage anarchists." As someone who went through what he did, and seem to have matured in the same way, I look back, and its true. If I saw someone try to dress like a punk, but didnt like them, they were a poser. If they were an anarchist, but not my friend, they were a poser. And my answer for everything was violence. SOAD came out with the song BYOB, and in the chorus he says "why dont the presidents fight the war?" Seemed to make sense to me at the time. Let the fucker die. Now I look back at a lot of my philosophies and I see a bunch of flaws. And I notice that if you didnt fit in, you were a sell out. A part of the man.