THE CHOICES WE MAKE . . . . .AND MUSIC

A few years ago now (it seems like an eternity) I had a decision to make. I would be graduating from Uni with a Law degree (and an Arts degree) and had been asked to apply for a job with a medium sized law firm and been offered a job by a local solicitor to work with him. I could also have applied for one of the big law firms. Sure, in all three cases the jobs would be boring, but in a few years I could be raking in the money.

There was just one problem. My conscience. Such work seemed frivolous, or even downright evil (corporate law? Conveyancing? Ugh). Thus I had a decision to make. Take a job that would pay me potentially great money, but that I knew wasn’t right? Or choose to do something else more in line with my beliefs even though it wouldn’t likely pay well?

I chose the second option; I went to work in the Union movement, and while the pay isn’t horrible, it isn’t great either; I try to avoid people I went to uni with because I don’t want to hear about how much they earn. And for the most part I don’t have regrets about my decision; I enjoy my work and find it rewarding.

However there are times when things get to me and I wonder about my decision; I look at the world and see how little difference I am making and think "Why should I give a shit when nobody else does? Maybe I should see if I can start a career in corporate law and earn shitloads of money; I mean I have had more than a few lawyers tell me I am smart enough to do it." As a big movie buff, I see wide-screen Plasma Televisions and wish I could buy one, but it isn’t going to happen on my salary. Or, in an extremely rare moment for me, I saw a multi-coloured blazer the other day that looked great (because it, and anybody wearing I,t would stand out as being different, and not a sheep), but it cost $380 and I can’t afford a $380 blazer. This causes me even more consternation, and even a sense of regret.

Melbourne punk Band Blueline Medic (watch them live if you get the chance, so much energy) sum things up nicely in their song "Making the Nouvea Riche" :

You say I have to get a real life
But I'm not sure how that in making someone or other rich
Is any more real than making
A niche for yourself
I’m without a zack, a truth, a coin, a kopeck,
Or an elusive brass razoo
But my dear rationalist
Don't dream I couldn't care
I too grow quickly bored
Of the clothes I wear
So maybe I should go and get a real life
Real life scrapping a deposit together

I made my choice, full well knowing what it would entail. I could change my decision now, but it would destroy who I am and the things about me that I like.

Inevitably the feelings of regret pass, mainly with the help of Punk/Hardcore/Emo music, often while doing some weights to get all the aggression out of me.

The politics and emotion punk, and it’s off-shoots Hardcore and Emo, often reflect my politics, and my feelings of anger and despair. It’s also good to know that there are others out there that feel the same as me. That is why these are my favourite types of music, music that, surprisingly to most people, helps me relax.

Thus, even though it will make this post ridiculously long, I am going to include some my favourite political punk/emo/hardcore lyrics (not all the song, just my favourite parts). I recommend you listen to these songs.


PROPAGANDHI - "The Only Good Fascist Is A Very Dead Fascist"

Swastikas and Klan-robes. Sexist, racist, homophobes.
Aryan-Nations and Hammerskins: you can wear my nuts on your nazi chins!
God, I love a man in uniform!
(But, uh, before we get too intimate here, big fella):
what exactly are the great historical accomplishments of "your" race that make you proud to be white?
Capitalism? Slavery? Genocide? Sitcoms? Guns? War? Pollution? Addiction? NAFTA? Thigh-Master?
This is your fucking white-history, my "friend".
So why don't we start making a history worth being proud of and start fighting the real fucking enemy:
the white male capitalist supremacist.


RISE AGAINST – "Blood Red, White and Blue"

would God bless a murder of the innocents?
would God bless a war based on pride?
would God bless a money-hungry government? no

would God bless our ineffective court system?
God bless the sweatshops we run.
would God bless America?
God bless America


ALKALINE TRIO – "We’ve had enough"

In the darkness where the angels cry
Give us water, give us back our eyes
Our bed's this concrete floor, and it's all we have left to live for
A day we'll never face
We're only second-handed, sick, and lonely
Fighting back the tears and every urge to Van Gogh both our ears….

That said, we've had enough
Please turn that fucking radio off
Ain't nothing on the air waving the despair we feel
That said, we've had enough
Put "Walk Among Us" on and turn it up
Ain't nothing on the air waving the hatred we feel


BAD RELIGION – "Sorrow"
father, can you hear me?
How have i let you down?
I curse the day that i was born,
And all the sorrow in the world...
Let me take you to the herding ground,
Where all good men are trampled down,
Just to settle a bet that could not be won,
Between a prideful father and his son.
Well you guard me now for i can't see,
A reason for this suffering and this long misery.


ANTI-FLAG – "Turncoat"

States lies dressed up as evening news
We're tired of lies we want the truth
Broadcast by corpses courting you
We're tired of lies we want the truth
Most people they will never know
We're tired of lies we want the truth
With your or against you?

Then I am against you because you're a...
TURNCOAT! KILLER! LIAR! THIEF!
Criminal with protection of the law
TURNCOAT! KILLER! LIAR! THIEF!

Criminal with protection of the law
In your corner
Makes me wanna
Douse myself in gasoline!
Civil servants fall in line for you
Too brainwashed to see the truth
You use anyone you can!


NOFX – "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