"Lust For Life" by Iggy Pop

By Chris

I remember the movie Trainspotting, because that's where I first heard "Lust for Life." I was 15 years old sitting in my suburban mall's movie theater. I was a socially awkward teen, full of angst and raging hormones. I felt alienated from my Abercrombie wearing peers with their love of Dave Matthews Band, classic rock, and gangsta rap. As Iggy pounded his way into my head with declarations of over indulgence and raw emotion, I knew this was what I'd been looking for. The funny thing about coming to that conclusion right then and there was that I saw the movie with my mom, younger sister, and younger brother. I had lied to my mom in order to get her to take me to it. I told her that it was an action movie, and starred Sylvester Stallone. Afterward, I felt bad for exposing my then 9 year old sister to graphic depictions of sex, drugs, and violence. But it was worth it.

What I associate with that song is me coming out of my shell. I remember my best friend and I getting into punk. "Lust for Life" got me started going to local shows at VFWs, and churches. Of course, there was hair dye, silk screening, mail order, and drinking. There was getting sent to the office for wearing shirts that were inappropriate for school. However, when I got out of high school, and went onto college in the city, my interest in punk faded. I ran out of what was driving me in that direction, and my dedication to punk was replaced by interest in other types of music.

Listening to "Lust for Life" twelve years later, I like the song, but it doesn't have the same punch. I remember "Lust for life" as my go to song for when things were tough and I was upset. It was a reminder not to take things too seriously. Yet as much as I loved that song and despite all the music critics who talk about how important punk is... I'm still a bit embarrassed by my punk phase. Mainly its because I wish I would've went through it faster. I'm kind of a slow learner in terms of what makes me happy. A bit stubborn, too. My senior year in high school, I remember a supervisor at a fast food restaurant I was working at giving me a backhanded compliment. We were having one of those "philosophical" conversations that's painful to recall. At some point in the conversation I declared that I was a punk. He told me he was surprised, because I seemed to have more going for me than that.

"Down" by 311

by Neal Dusedau

I have a confession to make. In 1995 I told my friends that my greatest wish was for grunge to finally die and let my incredibly novel idea for the next wave of music take over. You guessed it, I prayed for a day when rap and rock would mix together to create the ultimate form of music. To this day, I still blame myself for what my simple request did to the world.

But at the time it made sense-- I was in need of more bands like Rage Against the Machine. If I could do it over, I'd never pray for what happened to the late 90s music scene, but I swear, at the time I couldn't predict what was going to happen. And it all started with 311.

311 was the answer to my prayers. When "Down" first hit the radio in July of '96, I bought the album and then I bought their t-shirt to celebrate my wish come true. Could this just be the beginning of a trend? Were there more bands mixing power cords and rap? I needed to find them. Ah! Sublime! they scratched on their records. Not quiet rapping, but still pretty good, the forces of rap and rock were mixing.

I spent the summer after freshman year working at our town's local day camp. I walked the mile to camp every morning with my yellow Sony discman in my hand playing the 311 album. And while "All Mixed Up" and "Stay Home" were good, they didn't rock (and rap) me like "Down" did. I had never heard such cranked up crunching guitars. I think they gave me the energy to deal with obnoxious eleven-year-old campers refusing to participate in the sport, game, or craft of the day.

"Down" was the kind of song that ballplayers play when they're at bat. It rocks really hard without being divisive. It's poppy while being aggressive and the rap lyrics are offensive to exactly no one. So how do I feel about it now? I want to say it sucks, but that wouldn't be honest since I just listened to it 4 times in a row without smashing my face apart. I guess it's kind of a good song-- but the kind that's only good if you haven't listened to it since 1996.

During the summer of '96 I tired of 311 faster than my campers tired of track & field day (Run! Run! Run all of your energy out before lunch-- nope, they were way too smart to fall for that). Soon after 311 left my life, I realized my prayer had been answered and I was satisfied. The combination didn't exactly work, but it was a worthy experiment. Thanks for the help, God!

The story should end there. Everything was back to normal. Nope, I'm a Jew dealing with an old testament God. How dare I not relish the rap and the rock mixed together? Throw it away after a few months? Not on God's watch. The following summer Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ was released and my perfect dream became the state of music's worst nightmare. Limp Bizkit took over and led the way to a bunch of bands that I don't remember except to say they were much worse than 311 and made you change the radio station twenty seconds into any of their songs.

Makes me think that if I had prayed for world peace, all war would have ended, but then the overpopulation that would ensue would starve us all. Too extreme?