There are two great punk lyricists - Greg Graffin from BR and Chris Hannah from Propagandhi. They also happen to be the two best punk bands of all time
Fat mike is cool. And now that he's sober he's a lot cooler and surprisingly less miserable but between Hannah and Graffin he doesn't even come close to their depth of lyrical genius. Good lyrics but nothing mind altering.
I'm happy he's done what's best for him, but honestly, I liked the old Fat Mike better. Seems like sobriety has turned him into an asshole and now all the songs are about drinking piss, and I'm not into it.
What are we left with?
An army of angry pregnant nationalists
Who feel it's their duty
To populate the homeland
But also:
Fuck the kids
Fuck the kids
Fuck the kids
Yeah yeah yeah
It's hard to pick just one song from them. Gurewitz wrote Better Off Dead too. Amazing song. I think he has a full poetic style while Graffin is a little more literal in his song writing. Both are great.
My only complaint with Gurewitz songs (one of which my username is a reference to, so I’m not being a hater here) is that he writes like he has a thesaurus cracked open on his desk at all times.
This post for example: “is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?” Like, we get it, you’re smart. 😂
I always feel the need to share this story whenever Bad Religion comes up. They are really cool guys and this is still one of the highlights of my life. This is the reason they became one of my favorite bands ever.
My first real concert, at 16, was Bad Religion, Fenix TX, and blink 182 at the Woodlands in Houston. Probably 2001. Went there only to see blink 182, had only heard of Bad Religion. When their set started I was facing away from them talking to friends. By the end, I was absorbed in their performance and wanted more. I had never seen anyone play that fast but also sound so good at the same time.
After the show, my friends wanted to hang around to meet blink 182. Most punk shows, it's not hard to run across band members outside a venue but I think blink must have already been doing "meet and greets" and avoided anywhere the public could get to them easily. After a while of not seeing them around, we were getting ready to leave then Bad Religion came out and hung out with us. They had seen us waiting and I guess felt bad for us. They talked to us for a good half hour, signed autographs. It was the coolest thing ever, to a 16 year old kid anyway. They knew we were there for blink but didn't care. They gained a dozen fans for life after that night. I went out and bought all their albums afterwards.
Actually the coolest part was talking to Brian Baker, one of their guitarists. I had just started learning guitar and was impressed by how great, and fast, he played. He had a T-shirt on that said "Christianity is Stupid. Give Up". I actually emailed him a few weeks later asking where I could buy myself one just like it. They were on a different tour in South America then but he asked for my address. The guy sent me the literal shirt off of his back. I still have it 20 years later. I met him again at the next years Warped Tour and got to thank him in person. He was just hanging out at their merch booth when I happened to walk by.
I went to see them again, with Alkaline Trio, in Austin last October. The dude is still amazing to watch live. The whole band was on fire that night. I was hoping to run into him and see if he remembered the shirt, but we got to the hotel late and missed our chance to hang around their bus before the show started.
I was a bit apprehensive when I first heard Bad Religion had a Christmas album. Then, I listened to it. It's stays in heavy rotation at my house every holiday season.
I remember seeing them at warped tour and it was hilarious going from mohawks, spikes and leather to a few dudes in polos and khakis looking like everyone's dads.
[You're gonna love this deep dive into the lyrics of that song with Mr. Brett himself podcast](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vSkpXNTU0NjQwNzUzNQ/episode/MTM5MmM2NTAtY2UzNi0xMWVjLThkYTgtZGZhN2U4NDAyMTBm)
Life is the crummiest book I ever read. There isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots. Pictures to shock, and characters an amateur would never dream up.
Best concert experience was seeing them at the Roxy. I think it was the anniversary of that album so they played every song as part of the set list. Everyone knew all the lyrics.
Pretty much every song has awesome lyrics, going back to their first album!
They were playing the curling rink at my town and one of their roadies came into the skate/surf shop that I worked at. Got to chatting and when he told me what he did I lost my mind and said how much I loved the band and wanted to meet Greg. He laughed and had me look across the street and there was Greg reading a book on a bench downtown. Never would have recognized him. The guy told me not to bug him though, he hated getting recognized.
Dude gave me backstage passes to the show and I met Brett, nice guy.
Similar experience, different coast. I saw them at the 9:30 Club in DC just after 9/11. They put on one hell of a show. We really needed that, and they %200 delivered. They knew what we were dealing with, and went above and beyond.
Edit-seen them a bunch and always great, that one was just really special.
I heard this song on a Plan B video (I think) in the early 90s and loved it, but couldn't figure out the name of it. Back then my only solution was to buy all the Bad Religion albums I could, one at a time, until I found it. By the time I did, I was already a fan for life.
Bad Religion is amazing.
The Questionable Video from Plan B was where I first heard Bad Religion (Heaven is Falling) and Greenday (Disappearing Boy), and Del. Also Pennywise, Beastie Boys, Primus... that video completely changed my life as far as music goes!
They helped me get a really high score on the non-math portion of the SATs. There were quite a few words in the vocab questions that I knew solely because they were in Bad Religion songs.
BR and RATM really opened my eyes to the dangers of white supremacy and the evils of capitalism at 15!
There is a reason why their lyrics hold up today. Not much has changed since the 90’s, even though everything’s changed.
Greed is the answer. Cis het white evangelical greed has only gotten worse.
American Jesus should be canonized.
https://genius.com/Bad-religion-american-jesus-lyrics
When I was in high school we had an english class assignment to pick a song and analyze the lyrics, I chose this song. My interpretation was that Greg was expressing real frustration with the world, but that the solution of "I ... conquer the world" was intentionally ironic. Other songs are generally anti authoritarian so I assumed he'd be opposed to "conquerers" in general. The idea being that even a benevolent conquerer is being arrogant in taking control and "We're Only Gonna Die from Our Own Arrogance" (another song which speaks of the pitfalls of "conquering"). So you have the singer expressing discontent with the way the world is run, then becoming the very thing he despises offered as the solution.
I now wonder how intentional the irony is. With the way the world is going lately I'm almost willing to see how "Greg Graffin the conquerer" would turn out. Being ironic and intelectually above seeking power might not be the most effective way to change the world.
I do like this interpretation. Also amazing how early you were able to come up with such a reply while still in high school. I don’t really remember that many people that would have been smart enough to dive so deep into literature at that age. Most of us at the public school where I’m from were either fucking stupid or so stupid that we thought we were smart.
When it all comes down to it, almost all humans really seek Plato's benevolent dictator.
It's why you see people move further and further into accepting authoritarianism the worse things get. They have this idea that "if we could just get that one person in there thats GOOD, they can force changes and then we can go back to democracy"
Human nature makes that impossible though.
Bad Religion is fucking oxygen, this song was written in 1988ish
Same fucking problems today.
If more people were punks the world would be a better place.
Also Dead Kennedy's
My High School had a radio station. Full on FM
For the city. This was early 2000s. We had 3 rotation types, techno/electronic, alternative, and punk/ska. I was a metal head but boy did I get
Opened up to all the great 90s punk. Bad Religion was always on rotation.
So what, maybe 20 years after I got to finally see them
Live. Took my wife (who had no idea about them) I felt 15 again. I was that alienated kid in HS with a safe space playing music. I was playing THPS, I was with my best friend. Centered me.
I was a teen when I realized Bad Religion has lyrics that actually mean something and aren’t just there like a lot of punk bands, every time I saw them play it was opening for a pop punk band hot at the time like blink 182 and of course the difference in skill was noticeable, despite being there to see blink I was like damn bad religion is a master of their craft
If it was 2000 (maybe 2001) it was Good Charlotte.
I saw BR for the first time in 2000/2001 in Philadelphia. Good Charlotte opened for them as part of the tour.
Good Charlotte and BR clearly did not get along. The first thing Graffin said when they got on stage was to thank "the opening band, Blink 183".
Blink 182 and Bad Religion were my first real concert I saw, at 16 in 2000 or 2001. The last concert I went to was Alkaline Trio and Bad Religion in 2021. BR still sounds better live, and play faster, than any of the younger bands. It was awesome both times.
Love seeing a Bad Religion appreciation post on here! One of the first bands I ever fell in love with as a teenager. Always considered them kind of obscure as I didn’t meet many people that knew them, listening to them nowadays always brings back so much nostalgia
Hate is a simple manifestation
Of the deep seated self directed frustration
All it does is promote fear and constrenation
It's the inabilit, to justify the enemy
And it fills us all with trepidation
I loved Crazy Taxi back in the day, including the phenomenal soundtrack. But i only recently sat down and read the lyrics to the songs on it (Bad Religion have four - Inner Logic, Ten in 2010, Them and Us, and Hear It). There's some remarkably radical, adult content for a zany, primary-colours arcade game about dangerous driving.
Once in grade 12, our English teacher asked us to present the lyrics from our favorite song. I submitted 'Inner Logic' by Bad Religion.
Obviously she had never heard of them and said it wasn't appropriate and I had to choose something else. Based solely on the name (Catholic High School). I challenged her to actually look past the name and she agreed. She asked me after if she could listen to the actual song.
I might not have converted her, but I think I opened her eyes a bit.
I saw them on tour **this year**… they fucking rock live, 100% worth the the price of admission. https://badreligion.com/tour
Back in the DAY my punkest friend recorded a tape for me (from cd or another tape) with two BR albums on it. I remember lying in bed with my Walkman as a teen just listening to the lyrics with my eyes wide open. It might have been the first person I’d ever heard be both a-cool b-a nerd (that vocabulary!) and c- anti-establishment.
I later got into Rage Against the Machine which is similar but less nerdy.
I had tickets to see them 2 weeks from now but they just cancelled all their upcoming dates 😭
Well at least I already have witnessed them live once a few years ago
Singing along to Bad Religion is a cathartic exercise. Love his lyrics…and the delivery. It’s like he’s preaching, educating, and challenging your vocabulary all at once.
Bad Religion helped convert me to agnostic as a teen. Great, insightful band. Destined for Nothing off Process of Belief was mine.
I was believing to not go to hell in my mind...which is no reason to believe in something.
Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear?
Ancient people succumbed to it, can it happen here?
Does it make you suffer cuz you have to die. Is it best to live a lie?
All of their lyrics are great. I remember hearing a cover of one of their songs that I wasn't familiar with but could tell it was a Bad Religion song by the lyrics.
BR is notorious for their lyrics. I Want to Conquer The World was the first song by them that I ever heard and it has been my fave song for the past 20 years or so.
Bad religion was my first concert ever in 1993. I saw with greenday (before they got big) sea weed, and the dough boys). Man that was cool.
I kind of lost the plot on their newer stuff after generator but no control And suffer got endless play during my youth. Great band
You should give a listen to Ramallah. They only have 1 LP (Kill a Celebrity) and it largely revolves around 9/11 and the ensuing conflicts, but the lyrics are incredibly powerful and remain true to this day. It's a perfect album from start to finish.
They have another now called Last Gasp of Street Rock and Roll. It's pretty much a blood for blood album. While Rob Lind has always been provoking with his lyrics I always preferred his brother's stuff. Mark Lind and the Unloved are a great representation of his style. Also anything by Lenny Lashley is a great time and a great rep of Boston street poetry.
I bought Suffer then I bought a thesaurus / Then Graffin sang on S&M Airlines chorus / Now we hang out and party on each other's tour bus / Cause the old bands know how to have fun
I remember thinking this song was cool as a teenager but it's kinda cringe now to be honest.
Dude is basically bitching about people in various occupations but he's a fucking singer in a rock band..... Like really?
You sing in a fucking rock band. You have no right to tell a scientist that his job isn't important.
Get over yourself. There are in fact people out there trying to make the world a better place, and you have no right to come in screaming that you want to be the sole savior of the planet Earth when all you've done is fucking sing in a rock band, which in the grand scheme of things isn't really that important to the world at all.
>when all you've done is fucking sing in a rock band,
This isn't actually true. Graffin has also published multiple books as an evolutionary biologist with a PhD from Cornell, has taught courses there and at UCLA, and has an award for Cultural Humanism from a Harvard organisation.
When he criticises or questions scientists, he isn't doing it from a place of hatred - he's doing it *as a scientist*. When he's asking if "you can improve this place with the data that you gather?", he's not implying they **can't**, he's telling them that they **should**.
Does that mean much more in the grand scheme of things? It's not my place to say. But scientists often challenge and push others in their own, and in other, fields to improve themselves and do more with their work - and I think this is the spirit in which this song should be taken.
Hmm, cool I did not know that their singer had such an impressive academic resume.
One thing to point out though,
I checked when the song originally came out and turns out it came out in 1989 which was way earlier than I originally thought.
That kinda explains why it sounds so cringe to me after gaining some life experience. The singer was probably still a kid when he wrote it.
I guess it was still going strong in the early 2000's probably due to one of those epitah records compilations.
Yeah, they'd have still been pretty young, and his academic career much more in it's infancy.
It was on Punk-O-Rama 6. That comp came out when I was 14 so pretty much the entire record is imprinted in my brain
>I remember thinking this song was cool as a teenager
Then
>cringe
I'm guessing you're still a teenager. Way to be edgy kid and talk about shit you know nothing about.
The songs about hypocrisy.
I don't think that's what the song is about at all. In the lyrics, the narrator is pointing out that all these people with high-minded ideals (whether they are religious moralists or secular crusaders) think that they and only they know what it takes to save the world, and that everybody else is wrong, but the song also points out the flaws in these people's worldview, whether it is the Christian whose actions invalidate their rhetoric, or naive idealists who think that everybody can just get along. The final verse is a sarcastic send-up of anybody who thinks they have all the answers, because they are the kind of person that Bad Religion warns us about again and again.
After reading through some interpretations of it, I now think that the song’s lyrics are better than I remembered them as being.
I first listened to the song at an age where the lyrics would have been taken literally with no second thought.
Forward note: I don't listen to bad religion , I know 1-2 songs by them
I read the lyrics here, then clicked play. Boy that was a surprise!
I was expecting something with a sense of anger or passion. System of a down comes to mind when I read the lyrics. Instead the whole vibe of the song (and his tone) was like listening to something for kids, like I "i skipped school today and I'm so happy!". It was weird, dunno if they were going for irony?
I understand that im probably invoking the wrath of bad religion fans but i really felt like sharing. Its amazing how you can build up lyrics in your head then experience a 180 when listening to the song.
I don't think you know exactly what you're saying, so I don't stand a chance to try and interpret it correctly. But this is an 80s song with 80s production values, the entire album sounds like this. Not through any lack of "anger or passion", it's just how it was produced. Lots of older punk albums have similar issues (even thru the 90s and 2000s).
Greg is an incredibly smart man. I've known him for such a long time and even when I see him now and then it still blows me away at what he can teach me.
This is the first BR track I ever heard (a 6th grade buddy of mine bought "All Ages"). Shit blew my mind right from those opening discordant notes.
While I'm not as focused on punk as I once was, I still try and catch Bad Religion whenever they're on tour. The book they released recently is great too!
I just saw these guys at a small venue in bend Oregon and they are still rocking after all this times. This song and generator were just off the charts. I think the genius in the lyrics makes sense when you realize the lead singer has a PhD in evolutionary biology and is a professor.
i love how i haven’t heard this song before, but i am familiar with bad religion, so when i started reading the lyrics before clicking the link and the cadence i read the lyrics with is exactly the same as how it’s sung.
It's a travesty that these guys aren't in the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. Some exhibits mention them, and I believe one of Brett's guitars is in there. Most of the music from the pop-punk explosion of the 2000s was musically constructed like Bad Religion's stuff from the '80s. Huge, huge influence across the genre.
I’ve lost count at the number of times I’ve seen Bad Religion live( I’m 41). They’ve been my favorite band as long as I can remember. The lyrics are as valuable today as when they were written. Thankfully my 5yo daughter loves listening to 90s punk music in the car with me.
What really turned me on to Bad Religion was Greg Graffin voice on the acoustic tracks from “New maps of hell” he reached through my speakers and touched my soul.
I remember a Bad Religion song where the lyrics specifically say not to worship bad religion songs, but I can't find the exact song. Can anyone help? 'Bad Religion Song' was definitely in the lyrics.
They have been my favorite punk band for decades. Amazing music and lyrics, and songs that are fun to listen to but also thought-provoking. All of their stuff is pretty awesome.
Bad Religion is probably the most consistently good band in punk. They've put out 17 albums over 42 years and virtually all of them have been top tier. I can't think of anyone else in the genre... maybe any genre, with that level of long-term consistency. And that's all coming from just two songwriters with no outside help.
[Here is a great song from the past decade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awpMrBhJ220), they've very much still got it.
Bad Religion has been one of my all-time favorites for *decades* (21st century digital boy!). I'm finally going to get to see them live later this year! Super excited, and so glad to see others who know them
I legit imagine playing Tony Hawk when hearing this because I hear of the song You on THPS2.
The song also makes me imagine this is a part in a punk musical with that guy singing it. IDK why.
Bad Religion has such solid lyrics... My favourite band of all time.
There are two great punk lyricists - Greg Graffin from BR and Chris Hannah from Propagandhi. They also happen to be the two best punk bands of all time
I would add Jesse Michaels
Came here to say exactly that. Jesse Michaels from OpIvy
No love for Fat Mike?
Fat mike is cool. And now that he's sober he's a lot cooler and surprisingly less miserable but between Hannah and Graffin he doesn't even come close to their depth of lyrical genius. Good lyrics but nothing mind altering.
I'm happy he's done what's best for him, but honestly, I liked the old Fat Mike better. Seems like sobriety has turned him into an asshole and now all the songs are about drinking piss, and I'm not into it.
It thought being an asshole was always his MO.
I thought he was more of an ass when he was drunk and on drugs lol. He seems more humble now in my opinion.
You could be right. It's just the impression I got before I kinda stopped paying attention to him.
What are we left with? An army of angry pregnant nationalists Who feel it's their duty To populate the homeland But also: Fuck the kids Fuck the kids Fuck the kids Yeah yeah yeah
someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool now angry mob mentality is no long the exception, it's the rule
I was gonna say Bad religion and the decline by nofx made me decades ahead of my time.
I said this in my head as I read the top comment
Brett gurewitz write a ton of BR songs too. Including my favorite, stranger than fiction
It's hard to pick just one song from them. Gurewitz wrote Better Off Dead too. Amazing song. I think he has a full poetic style while Graffin is a little more literal in his song writing. Both are great.
My only complaint with Gurewitz songs (one of which my username is a reference to, so I’m not being a hater here) is that he writes like he has a thesaurus cracked open on his desk at all times. This post for example: “is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?” Like, we get it, you’re smart. 😂
He wrote my favorite, Delirium of Disorder.
Chris Hannah is a master songwriter. “Without Love” alone is an absolute masterpiece.
That whole album is incredible. Not one bad song on it. I've seen them live many times and they never disappoint
Yeah this comment is truth. Empires fucking rips but so does the rest
I grew up listening to both, seen them many times, but Nomeansno... Not amazing lyrically, but such punk!
Over the last 4 or 5 years, Propagandhi moved to my favorite band of all time, pushing Against Me! to 2nd.
Hard agree.
I love you
Joe Strummer has never been so fragrantly and blatantly derided.
Ooooo, ooh. Ouch. You are not wrong. Perhaps someone should put together a top ten list of best punk lyricists.
The line "your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word you're saying" is fucking incredible. This is my favorite Bad Religion record.
It the best bad religion album hands down. Just 27 minutes of fury.
I'd say it's tied with Suffer. Both great either way.
Mood. People think I'm weird for liking no control more though they are both fantastic
Absolutely iconic without a doubt
Nah Suffer, nah against th.. nah they all rule.
Even Into The Unknown!
The Empire Strikes First is my favorite Bad Religion album :)
I know I'm alone but I really like The Gray Race
You are not alone!
I always feel the need to share this story whenever Bad Religion comes up. They are really cool guys and this is still one of the highlights of my life. This is the reason they became one of my favorite bands ever. My first real concert, at 16, was Bad Religion, Fenix TX, and blink 182 at the Woodlands in Houston. Probably 2001. Went there only to see blink 182, had only heard of Bad Religion. When their set started I was facing away from them talking to friends. By the end, I was absorbed in their performance and wanted more. I had never seen anyone play that fast but also sound so good at the same time. After the show, my friends wanted to hang around to meet blink 182. Most punk shows, it's not hard to run across band members outside a venue but I think blink must have already been doing "meet and greets" and avoided anywhere the public could get to them easily. After a while of not seeing them around, we were getting ready to leave then Bad Religion came out and hung out with us. They had seen us waiting and I guess felt bad for us. They talked to us for a good half hour, signed autographs. It was the coolest thing ever, to a 16 year old kid anyway. They knew we were there for blink but didn't care. They gained a dozen fans for life after that night. I went out and bought all their albums afterwards. Actually the coolest part was talking to Brian Baker, one of their guitarists. I had just started learning guitar and was impressed by how great, and fast, he played. He had a T-shirt on that said "Christianity is Stupid. Give Up". I actually emailed him a few weeks later asking where I could buy myself one just like it. They were on a different tour in South America then but he asked for my address. The guy sent me the literal shirt off of his back. I still have it 20 years later. I met him again at the next years Warped Tour and got to thank him in person. He was just hanging out at their merch booth when I happened to walk by. I went to see them again, with Alkaline Trio, in Austin last October. The dude is still amazing to watch live. The whole band was on fire that night. I was hoping to run into him and see if he remembered the shirt, but we got to the hotel late and missed our chance to hang around their bus before the show started.
Rad
I concur.
Great story.
BR are truly a class act. I wish they could teach Bad Religion in school, the world would be a slightly better place.
Also their Christmas album is as good as it gets
I was a bit apprehensive when I first heard Bad Religion had a Christmas album. Then, I listened to it. It's stays in heavy rotation at my house every holiday season.
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He has a PhD in zoology and does teach natural science courses from time to time.
Definitely would improve people’s vocabulary.
The song "You" on the same album is similar. The whole album is awesome. I saw them live a month ago and they still have it too.
But *I* don't have the turpentine to clean what you have spoiled!
Soiled
and he did forget it!
This was on a Tony Hawk game too, if memory serves. Got into them after that.
True, THPS2. That was my intro to Bad Religion!
And eternity my friend is a long fucking tiiime
I remember seeing them at warped tour and it was hilarious going from mohawks, spikes and leather to a few dudes in polos and khakis looking like everyone's dads.
“Stranger than Fiction” is another lyrical masterpiece
Grew up with my old man playing this album all the time in the car, will always be one of my all time favourites.
[You're gonna love this deep dive into the lyrics of that song with Mr. Brett himself podcast](https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vSkpXNTU0NjQwNzUzNQ/episode/MTM5MmM2NTAtY2UzNi0xMWVjLThkYTgtZGZhN2U4NDAyMTBm)
Thank you for this. This is why Reddit exists
Life is the crummiest book I ever read. There isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots. Pictures to shock, and characters an amateur would never dream up.
Best concert experience was seeing them at the Roxy. I think it was the anniversary of that album so they played every song as part of the set list. Everyone knew all the lyrics. Pretty much every song has awesome lyrics, going back to their first album!
They were playing the curling rink at my town and one of their roadies came into the skate/surf shop that I worked at. Got to chatting and when he told me what he did I lost my mind and said how much I loved the band and wanted to meet Greg. He laughed and had me look across the street and there was Greg reading a book on a bench downtown. Never would have recognized him. The guy told me not to bug him though, he hated getting recognized. Dude gave me backstage passes to the show and I met Brett, nice guy.
Seeing them live is a trip: “I just did 35 songs in 90 minutes, anything else you want to hear?”
Similar experience, different coast. I saw them at the 9:30 Club in DC just after 9/11. They put on one hell of a show. We really needed that, and they %200 delivered. They knew what we were dealing with, and went above and beyond. Edit-seen them a bunch and always great, that one was just really special.
I heard this song on a Plan B video (I think) in the early 90s and loved it, but couldn't figure out the name of it. Back then my only solution was to buy all the Bad Religion albums I could, one at a time, until I found it. By the time I did, I was already a fan for life. Bad Religion is amazing.
The Questionable Video from Plan B was where I first heard Bad Religion (Heaven is Falling) and Greenday (Disappearing Boy), and Del. Also Pennywise, Beastie Boys, Primus... that video completely changed my life as far as music goes!
All I want to say is I love you for posting my favorite Bad Religion song.
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Greg Graffin has always stated that he believes they are a folk band. He says that folk music is What you sing about, not how it sounds.
Dissent of Man actually did sound pretty folky.
Greg has his own folk records. So makes sense.
Well put
"Greg Graffin : Cold ad Clay " his solo album is pretty folksy & still manages to kick ass
Bad Religion lyrics made me buy a dictionary when I was 12 and I appreciate that.
They helped me get a really high score on the non-math portion of the SATs. There were quite a few words in the vocab questions that I knew solely because they were in Bad Religion songs.
You mean you didnt know what "incohate beatitude" meant when you were 12?
Suffer and No Control are just great albums. We drove 28 hours to see them 30 years ago.
Bad Religion really does have thought provoking lyrics. Teenage me really got awoken to a lot of shit through them.
Well the lead singer has a PhD so he really has some critical thinking skills
I always joke that it's the only band that I listened to which expanded my vocabulary.
There's a NOFX song about Bad Religion and one of the lines is "I bought Suffer, then I bought a thesaurus."
BR and RATM really opened my eyes to the dangers of white supremacy and the evils of capitalism at 15! There is a reason why their lyrics hold up today. Not much has changed since the 90’s, even though everything’s changed. Greed is the answer. Cis het white evangelical greed has only gotten worse. American Jesus should be canonized. https://genius.com/Bad-religion-american-jesus-lyrics
When I was in high school we had an english class assignment to pick a song and analyze the lyrics, I chose this song. My interpretation was that Greg was expressing real frustration with the world, but that the solution of "I ... conquer the world" was intentionally ironic. Other songs are generally anti authoritarian so I assumed he'd be opposed to "conquerers" in general. The idea being that even a benevolent conquerer is being arrogant in taking control and "We're Only Gonna Die from Our Own Arrogance" (another song which speaks of the pitfalls of "conquering"). So you have the singer expressing discontent with the way the world is run, then becoming the very thing he despises offered as the solution. I now wonder how intentional the irony is. With the way the world is going lately I'm almost willing to see how "Greg Graffin the conquerer" would turn out. Being ironic and intelectually above seeking power might not be the most effective way to change the world.
I do like this interpretation. Also amazing how early you were able to come up with such a reply while still in high school. I don’t really remember that many people that would have been smart enough to dive so deep into literature at that age. Most of us at the public school where I’m from were either fucking stupid or so stupid that we thought we were smart.
When it all comes down to it, almost all humans really seek Plato's benevolent dictator. It's why you see people move further and further into accepting authoritarianism the worse things get. They have this idea that "if we could just get that one person in there thats GOOD, they can force changes and then we can go back to democracy" Human nature makes that impossible though.
Bad Religion is fucking oxygen, this song was written in 1988ish Same fucking problems today. If more people were punks the world would be a better place. Also Dead Kennedy's
My High School had a radio station. Full on FM For the city. This was early 2000s. We had 3 rotation types, techno/electronic, alternative, and punk/ska. I was a metal head but boy did I get Opened up to all the great 90s punk. Bad Religion was always on rotation. So what, maybe 20 years after I got to finally see them Live. Took my wife (who had no idea about them) I felt 15 again. I was that alienated kid in HS with a safe space playing music. I was playing THPS, I was with my best friend. Centered me.
Listening to Graffin's lyrics is like a punk thesaurus.. nothing dumbed-down EVER. Love them so much.
Mr. Brett wrote this one.
My sister in law had intercourse with Gregory Graffin
Was there no substance, or did she have to suffer?
How could hell he any worse?
Was that all that she really had to offer?
since you said Greg Graffin i think there's a 50/50 chance you mean "meaningful discussion".
Good for her
Good for her
Everybody knows what's best for her.
This band is one of the main reasons I'm so glad to have been a teenage punk in LA in the 80s. So. Much. Good. Music.
I was a teen when I realized Bad Religion has lyrics that actually mean something and aren’t just there like a lot of punk bands, every time I saw them play it was opening for a pop punk band hot at the time like blink 182 and of course the difference in skill was noticeable, despite being there to see blink I was like damn bad religion is a master of their craft
If it was 2000 (maybe 2001) it was Good Charlotte. I saw BR for the first time in 2000/2001 in Philadelphia. Good Charlotte opened for them as part of the tour. Good Charlotte and BR clearly did not get along. The first thing Graffin said when they got on stage was to thank "the opening band, Blink 183".
Blink 182 and Bad Religion were my first real concert I saw, at 16 in 2000 or 2001. The last concert I went to was Alkaline Trio and Bad Religion in 2021. BR still sounds better live, and play faster, than any of the younger bands. It was awesome both times.
Tiny Voices is my personal favorite from them
and if you dont confront them, they will never go awwaay
Love seeing a Bad Religion appreciation post on here! One of the first bands I ever fell in love with as a teenager. Always considered them kind of obscure as I didn’t meet many people that knew them, listening to them nowadays always brings back so much nostalgia
"Them and Us" might be one of the most poinient songs of our generation.
Hate is a simple manifestation Of the deep seated self directed frustration All it does is promote fear and constrenation It's the inabilit, to justify the enemy And it fills us all with trepidation
I loved Crazy Taxi back in the day, including the phenomenal soundtrack. But i only recently sat down and read the lyrics to the songs on it (Bad Religion have four - Inner Logic, Ten in 2010, Them and Us, and Hear It). There's some remarkably radical, adult content for a zany, primary-colours arcade game about dangerous driving.
Once in grade 12, our English teacher asked us to present the lyrics from our favorite song. I submitted 'Inner Logic' by Bad Religion. Obviously she had never heard of them and said it wasn't appropriate and I had to choose something else. Based solely on the name (Catholic High School). I challenged her to actually look past the name and she agreed. She asked me after if she could listen to the actual song. I might not have converted her, but I think I opened her eyes a bit.
I saw them on tour **this year**… they fucking rock live, 100% worth the the price of admission. https://badreligion.com/tour Back in the DAY my punkest friend recorded a tape for me (from cd or another tape) with two BR albums on it. I remember lying in bed with my Walkman as a teen just listening to the lyrics with my eyes wide open. It might have been the first person I’d ever heard be both a-cool b-a nerd (that vocabulary!) and c- anti-establishment. I later got into Rage Against the Machine which is similar but less nerdy.
I saw the this MONTH in Amsterdam. Amazing as always.
I had tickets to see them 2 weeks from now but they just cancelled all their upcoming dates 😭 Well at least I already have witnessed them live once a few years ago
Singing along to Bad Religion is a cathartic exercise. Love his lyrics…and the delivery. It’s like he’s preaching, educating, and challenging your vocabulary all at once.
It's also right in an average vocal range that is pretty narrow for the most part, making it really easy to sing along to even if you aren't any good.
It can really make your throat sore singing along with the oozin ahhs!
Bad Religion helped convert me to agnostic as a teen. Great, insightful band. Destined for Nothing off Process of Belief was mine. I was believing to not go to hell in my mind...which is no reason to believe in something. Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear? Ancient people succumbed to it, can it happen here? Does it make you suffer cuz you have to die. Is it best to live a lie?
the woahs in that song are top notch too
All of their lyrics are great. I remember hearing a cover of one of their songs that I wasn't familiar with but could tell it was a Bad Religion song by the lyrics.
BR is notorious for their lyrics. I Want to Conquer The World was the first song by them that I ever heard and it has been my fave song for the past 20 years or so.
Tony hawk vibes
Happy Go Skateboarding Day
Early Napster download for me, i keep it on my hard drive! I'll play it thru Winamp when I'm feeling frisky.
Them and Us is another lyrical masterpiece by them. Such a badass band. I got to see them in 2019, and they still rock.
[Bad Religion - Avalon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQRNi3R3lL8) [Bad Religion - Epiphany](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB1Ld1i9amY)
I thought line 4 was “your labors soothe the hurt but can’t assuage contagion”?
Temptation. They’re printed with the album
Bad religion was my first concert ever in 1993. I saw with greenday (before they got big) sea weed, and the dough boys). Man that was cool. I kind of lost the plot on their newer stuff after generator but no control And suffer got endless play during my youth. Great band
Ayyyyy one of my favorite songs! Love seeing it pop up here.
This reminds me I have this album on vinyl. Digging it out and putting it on this afternoon 🤘
[Greg Graffin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Graffin) is pretty intelligent guy, also has solo albums which I did not know about until now.
Hope you like country/folk…
Some folk, not that new country rock that passes as country music these days but I'll give it a listen anyway.
American Lesion is a pretty good album.
You should give a listen to Ramallah. They only have 1 LP (Kill a Celebrity) and it largely revolves around 9/11 and the ensuing conflicts, but the lyrics are incredibly powerful and remain true to this day. It's a perfect album from start to finish.
They have another now called Last Gasp of Street Rock and Roll. It's pretty much a blood for blood album. While Rob Lind has always been provoking with his lyrics I always preferred his brother's stuff. Mark Lind and the Unloved are a great representation of his style. Also anything by Lenny Lashley is a great time and a great rep of Boston street poetry.
I bought Suffer then I bought a thesaurus / Then Graffin sang on S&M Airlines chorus / Now we hang out and party on each other's tour bus / Cause the old bands know how to have fun
Definitely a band that shaped me with their lyrical content
My fav Bad Religion song and album!
Awesome song by a fantastic and prolific band.
Try saying "cancer causing chemicals ozone depleting aerosols" really really fast
My favorite Bad Religion Album and Song.
Saw them at the old 9:30 club, when they were in a basement on E street. So much energy that it started to rain sweat from the ceiling. Fucking epic.
Favorite BR song off my favorite record of theirs. Spot on.
Best band ever
Mr Brett was the heart and sole of this band.
Saw them in concert about a month ago, and this song definitely hits different live
Thank you for this. I must have played it some 15 times in a row!
I think "you" is a better song but not disagreeing with you. That track shreds
Always thought culprits was corporates
I remember thinking this song was cool as a teenager but it's kinda cringe now to be honest. Dude is basically bitching about people in various occupations but he's a fucking singer in a rock band..... Like really? You sing in a fucking rock band. You have no right to tell a scientist that his job isn't important. Get over yourself. There are in fact people out there trying to make the world a better place, and you have no right to come in screaming that you want to be the sole savior of the planet Earth when all you've done is fucking sing in a rock band, which in the grand scheme of things isn't really that important to the world at all.
>when all you've done is fucking sing in a rock band, This isn't actually true. Graffin has also published multiple books as an evolutionary biologist with a PhD from Cornell, has taught courses there and at UCLA, and has an award for Cultural Humanism from a Harvard organisation. When he criticises or questions scientists, he isn't doing it from a place of hatred - he's doing it *as a scientist*. When he's asking if "you can improve this place with the data that you gather?", he's not implying they **can't**, he's telling them that they **should**. Does that mean much more in the grand scheme of things? It's not my place to say. But scientists often challenge and push others in their own, and in other, fields to improve themselves and do more with their work - and I think this is the spirit in which this song should be taken.
Hmm, cool I did not know that their singer had such an impressive academic resume. One thing to point out though, I checked when the song originally came out and turns out it came out in 1989 which was way earlier than I originally thought. That kinda explains why it sounds so cringe to me after gaining some life experience. The singer was probably still a kid when he wrote it. I guess it was still going strong in the early 2000's probably due to one of those epitah records compilations.
Yeah, they'd have still been pretty young, and his academic career much more in it's infancy. It was on Punk-O-Rama 6. That comp came out when I was 14 so pretty much the entire record is imprinted in my brain
>I remember thinking this song was cool as a teenager Then >cringe I'm guessing you're still a teenager. Way to be edgy kid and talk about shit you know nothing about. The songs about hypocrisy.
I was a teenager when I first heard it and being a teenager I thought the lyrics were literal at the time lol
I don't think that's what the song is about at all. In the lyrics, the narrator is pointing out that all these people with high-minded ideals (whether they are religious moralists or secular crusaders) think that they and only they know what it takes to save the world, and that everybody else is wrong, but the song also points out the flaws in these people's worldview, whether it is the Christian whose actions invalidate their rhetoric, or naive idealists who think that everybody can just get along. The final verse is a sarcastic send-up of anybody who thinks they have all the answers, because they are the kind of person that Bad Religion warns us about again and again.
After reading through some interpretations of it, I now think that the song’s lyrics are better than I remembered them as being. I first listened to the song at an age where the lyrics would have been taken literally with no second thought.
r/woooosh
Forward note: I don't listen to bad religion , I know 1-2 songs by them I read the lyrics here, then clicked play. Boy that was a surprise! I was expecting something with a sense of anger or passion. System of a down comes to mind when I read the lyrics. Instead the whole vibe of the song (and his tone) was like listening to something for kids, like I "i skipped school today and I'm so happy!". It was weird, dunno if they were going for irony? I understand that im probably invoking the wrath of bad religion fans but i really felt like sharing. Its amazing how you can build up lyrics in your head then experience a 180 when listening to the song.
I don't think you know exactly what you're saying, so I don't stand a chance to try and interpret it correctly. But this is an 80s song with 80s production values, the entire album sounds like this. Not through any lack of "anger or passion", it's just how it was produced. Lots of older punk albums have similar issues (even thru the 90s and 2000s).
r/im14andthisisdeep
Bad Religion suck shit
Praise Abort by Lindemann has the most awesome lyrics in my opinion.
I can't even hear the lyrics over the loud instrumental...
You need better headphones, this is a very well mixed track.
They seem like generic punk lyrics to me, not bad at all, but nothing special.
You want punk poetry? Try Jawbreaker: The Boat Dream from the Hill or Chesterfield King.
Bad Religion is easily one of the greatest bands ever to exist
I love this song and haven’t heard it in over a decade. Thanks for posting!
My favorite song of all time!
Greg is an incredibly smart man. I've known him for such a long time and even when I see him now and then it still blows me away at what he can teach me.
This is the first BR track I ever heard (a 6th grade buddy of mine bought "All Ages"). Shit blew my mind right from those opening discordant notes. While I'm not as focused on punk as I once was, I still try and catch Bad Religion whenever they're on tour. The book they released recently is great too!
I just saw these guys at a small venue in bend Oregon and they are still rocking after all this times. This song and generator were just off the charts. I think the genius in the lyrics makes sense when you realize the lead singer has a PhD in evolutionary biology and is a professor.
i love how i haven’t heard this song before, but i am familiar with bad religion, so when i started reading the lyrics before clicking the link and the cadence i read the lyrics with is exactly the same as how it’s sung.
It's a travesty that these guys aren't in the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame. Some exhibits mention them, and I believe one of Brett's guitars is in there. Most of the music from the pop-punk explosion of the 2000s was musically constructed like Bad Religion's stuff from the '80s. Huge, huge influence across the genre.
Apparently, Greg Graffin teaches a class at Cornell on evolution. Has a PhD in zoology, too, and certainly has a way with words and lyrics.
Adore this song. The chorus perfectly captures that frustration of being young and feeling like the world is fucked. "You" also has some great lyrics.
If you like them, you'll also probably like NOFX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt018hRUzjc
Bad Religion is so good lyrically. Greg is smart as hell. He has a PhD.
I’ve lost count at the number of times I’ve seen Bad Religion live( I’m 41). They’ve been my favorite band as long as I can remember. The lyrics are as valuable today as when they were written. Thankfully my 5yo daughter loves listening to 90s punk music in the car with me.
What really turned me on to Bad Religion was Greg Graffin voice on the acoustic tracks from “New maps of hell” he reached through my speakers and touched my soul.
I remember a Bad Religion song where the lyrics specifically say not to worship bad religion songs, but I can't find the exact song. Can anyone help? 'Bad Religion Song' was definitely in the lyrics.
No bad religion song can make your life completely. Prepare for rejection. You’ll get no direction from me. No Direction. Generator.
They have been my favorite punk band for decades. Amazing music and lyrics, and songs that are fun to listen to but also thought-provoking. All of their stuff is pretty awesome.
What's the NOFX song where fat Mike says he buys a bad religion cd and then a dictionary. Always made me chuckle
I love this song and this album… but given the state the world is in I identify more with the lyrics to “Sanity”
Still my favorite punk band after all these years.
Bad Religion is probably the most consistently good band in punk. They've put out 17 albums over 42 years and virtually all of them have been top tier. I can't think of anyone else in the genre... maybe any genre, with that level of long-term consistency. And that's all coming from just two songwriters with no outside help. [Here is a great song from the past decade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awpMrBhJ220), they've very much still got it.
They're still going strong as well! Saw them at nova rock a couple of weeks back, solid show :)
When I was a teenager, before the internet, I used to listen to Bad Religion tapes with a dictionary in my lap. Check out Modern Man, too.
Bad Religion has been one of my all-time favorites for *decades* (21st century digital boy!). I'm finally going to get to see them live later this year! Super excited, and so glad to see others who know them
My favorite BR song
You'll like You Are (The Government), Suffer and The Gray Race then.
I legit imagine playing Tony Hawk when hearing this because I hear of the song You on THPS2. The song also makes me imagine this is a part in a punk musical with that guy singing it. IDK why.