In 1999, a band from southern California released a single CD, with one single song on it. That song, by NOFX, is called the Decline. Written about all that is wrong with society today, The Decline is an 18 minute masterpiece. It is for that reason that it is Scream's song of the month! Where are all the stupid people from and how did they get to be so dumb bred on purple mountain range feed amber waves of grains to lesser human beings, zero feelings Blame it on human nature, man's destiny blame it on the greediocracy the fear of God, the fear of change, fear of truth add the bill of rights substract the wrongs - there's no answers memorize and sing star spangled songs - when the questions aren't never asked Is anybody learning from the past we're living in united stagnation Father what have I done, I took that 22. A gift for me from you to bed with me each night, kept it clean and polished it well. Cherised every cartridge every shell Down by the creek under brush under dirt there's a carcass of my second kill down at the park under stone under pine there's the carcass of my brother william brother where have you gone to I swear I never thought I could see so many times they told me to shoot straight, son't pull the trigger squeeze, that will insure a kill, a kill is what you want to kill is why we breed the christians love their guns the church and NRA pray for their salvation prey on the lower faiths the story book's been read and every line believed the curriculum's been set logic is a threat reason searched and seized Jerry spent some time in Michigan a 20 year vacation after all he had a dime a dime is worth a lot more in Detroit a dime in California just a 20 dollar fine Jerry only stayed a couple months it's hard to enjoy yourself while bleeding out the ass asphyxiation is simple and fast it beats 17 fun years of being someone's bitch Don't think Drink your wine Watch the fire burn his problems,not mine Just be that model citizen I wish I had a schilling for every sensless killing I'd buy a government. America's for sale and you can het a good deal on it and make a healthy profit, or maybe tear it apart you start with assumption, that a million people are smarter than 1 Serotonin's gone she gave up drifted away Sara fled thought process gone she left her answering machine on the greeting left sproken sincere messages no one will ever hear 1O,OOO messages a day a million more transmission's lay dead victims of the laissez faire 10,000 voices 100 guns, 100 decibels turns to one, one bullet one empty head now with serotonin gone The man that used to speak performs a cute routine feel a little patronized don't feel bad, they found a way inside your head and you feel a bit misled it's not that they don't care, the television's put a thought inside your head like a Barry manilow jingle, I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony a symphonic blank stare. It doesn't make you mcare not designed to make you care they're betting you won't care They'll place a wager on your greed. A wager on you pride why try to beat them when a million others tried We are the whore intellectually spayed We are the queer disfunctionally raised One more pill to kill the pain One more pill to kill the pain One more pill to kill the pain Living trough conformity One more prayer should keep me safe One more prayer to keep us safe One more prayer to keep us safe There's gonna be a better place Lost the battle lost the war lost the things worth living for lost the will to win the fight one more pill to kill the pain the going gets tough the tough get debt don't pay attention pay the rent our next of kins pay for your sins a little faith should keep us safe Save us The human existence is failing resistance essential. The future written off. The odds are astro- nomically against us only moron and genius would fight a losing battle against the super ego when giving in is so damn comforting And so we go on with our lives we know the truth but prefer lies lies are simple. Simple is bliss. Why go against tradition when we can admit defeat. Live in decline. Be the victim of our own design with status quo built on suspect why would anyone stick out their neck fellow members of club we've got ours. I'd like to introduce you to our host he's got his and I've got mine. Meet the Decline.
Ever since NOFX released their EP The Decline a couple years ago, it still ignites waves of compliments
regarding its exciting aspects. People are still dumbfounded by the clear CD concept and the 18-mintue song, plus
the music is so good that some have called it NOFX's best release yet. As Scream's resident NOFX worshipper, of course I loved the album, and I'm glad to see the band is still putting out
great music. In all the hype about the record though, I haven’t heard much said about the lyrics, which I
proudly feel are some of the best lyrics of any punk record EVER released. They cover a variety of political issues
that Fat Mike often privately addresses but hasn’t communicated so bluntly through NOFX. In my opinion, this
is the most brilliant criticism of modern America’s problems that I’ve come across, and below are
some of the lines that sent rushes through my body.
For anyone who has seen the statistics comparing handgun fatalities worldwide, America continually outdoes other
nations by staggering differences. Guns are the ultimate symbol of individual power in our country – they’re
the main reason most people obey a police officer’s orders and not an unarmed "rent-a-cop" equipped
with a badge and a uniform. This is no coincidence, for guns have been embedded in American culture from the beginning,
whether it’s the clause in the Constitution ensuring our right to bear arms or our idolization of shoot-em-up
Western movies only a few decades ago.
Guns are a problem in America, and there’s no denying it. We don’t have to look far for incidents of elementary
school kids shooting their classmates or ghettos where gang members blow each other away on a daily basis. NOFX is
very blunt on their advice for the situation – make guns illegal. The quotation above mocks the socialization of
American youths to believe that guns are okay, and makes the obvious point that often goes unnoticed – to shoot
something with a gun implies that something’s dying on the other end. Fat Mike has made no secret of the fact that he
believes lobbying should be illegal as well, which is particularly applicable in this situation. Unfortunately, the
National Rifle Association is an extremely influential organization in Washington, D.C., and has been very successful
in keeping anti-gun legislation from having any success.
On the issue of guns in America, I’m in complete agreement that we should get rid of them. The natural pro-gun
response of people needing guns for protection is total bullshit – if we got rid of lunatics running around with the
guns, we wouldn’t need protection from them. There are plenty of other weapons out there for those who feel the need
to carry something, but knives and brass knuckles don’t distance the killer from the victim as much as a gun does.
With a handgun, the shooter pulls a small metal tab that sets a hammer into motion and explodes a projectile towards a
victim who is usually not in contact with the killer. Knives and brass knuckles on the other hand require the attacker
to physically assault the victim in close proximity, in which case human instinct is more likely to kick in and restrain
the aggressor. In other words, guns make killing too easy, and thus can take away the shooter’s realization that
they are directly harming another person by their actions. On the surface, it seems like making guns illegal is the
answer consistent with this view, but there’s a very convincing argument that such legislation really wouldn’t
make a difference; after all, many guns used in crimes are obtained illegally in the first place, and chances are that a
person willing to shoot another individual isn’t very law abiding anyway. On this issue, I regret to admit that I
don’t know what the proper method is for getting guns out of the hands of the public (sorry, I don’t have
all the answers). I do know that as long as we include guns in American culture, we will continue to have disturbingly
high homicide rates, and I agree that cutting out lobbyists is a damn good place to start.
(On a related note, NOFX does more than talk the talk. They are part of Fastmusic Records’ upcoming PAX benefit
release, which supports an organization fighting gun violence.)
Marijuana legalization is just a ploy for potheads to get easier access to weed, right? Hell no, and this belief is one
of the most harmful thoughts floating around the American political environment today. Until a few months ago, I was
one of the many who believed that the Partnership for a Drug Free America undertakes a noble quest of saving American
youths from the harms of drugs like marijuana. However, I came across some information that had never been brought to my
attention – marijuana’s harms have been repeatedly disproved in federal studies. Suddenly, I became incredibly
confused, for what is the Partnership for a DFA saving us from if marijuana doesn’t put holes in our brains? After
extensive research into the subject, I came to the frightening realization that the War on Drugs had less to do with
citizens’ safety than with enforcing the moral beliefs of those in power. As someone who isn’t really a fan of
pot or potheads, I suddenly understood that marijuana should be legalized. After all, if smoking weed isn’t
harmful, why are we throwing enormous numbers of people behind bars on marijuana possession charges? Even though arrests in
parts of California might only result in "a twenty dollar fine", NOFX points to the injustice in sentencing an
individual to a "20 year vacation" for possession of a "dime" of pot. Although I’m not sure how I
feel about NOFX’s radical view that all drugs should be legalized, I enthusiastically support their argument
that marijuana should be legalized. As long as pot is illegal, we are creating criminals out of often otherwise upstanding
citizens, and restricting public access to a drug that is less harmful than many of the substances we prescribe legally
through our medical system. Suddenly, the mysteries of why our prisons are overcrowded and why we’re so eager to throw
fellow Americans behind bars come to light, and the fight for marijuana legalization becomes a much more important issue
than some hippie in Berkeley trying to get a hit.
(There’s much more to this issue than what I've addressed here, but I plan to focus specifically on this dilemma in
the next Lethal Injection issue. Many of you may be very surprised about the real facts about marijuana policy – I
know I was.)
This quote sums up the whole eighteen minutes: with all the shit wrong in America today, you’d think the public would
stand up and fight until these injustices were corrected. Unfortunately, that only applies to a small part of the population,
who are usually dismissed as "radicals" and not taken seriously. NOFX points out that rather than standing up
and fighting the problems with society, modern Americans look for ways to hide and distract their attention away from the
issues: whether it’s psychiatrist-prescribed pills, brain-numbing TV shows, or praying to an almighty deity to fix
our problems for us. While we sit idle and watch our society turn to shit, we allow our interactions, relationships, and
rights to all decline.
Not too long ago, the generation that mostly makes up our parents today was not afraid to stand up to anyone. The fact
that we remember the 60’s as an embarrassing orgy of sex and drugs reflects the modern viewpoint that the time for
protest is over. The public still constantly complains about their "rights" being violated, but rarely do you
see them do anything about it. When Americans hear about a protest against sweatshop labor, they roll their eyes and wish
the individuals would quit disrupting their shopping. When the government makes decisions that screw most of the population,
Americans choose to concentrate on more exciting issues like the president’s sex life. What has happened to the
American personality? Why have we stopped embracing the rebels that have stood up to the problems our country’s history,
whether it was slavery or discrimination? We need to stop thinking that protest and rebellion belongs in certain decades or
radical locations – it only takes a few dedicated individuals to rekindle the fire in the fight against injustice.
And you thought NOFX was only about being funny…
