Good Clean Fun, rated T for teen

Last Friday, I went with a group of friends to my first club in Gainesville. I won't go into detail about the experience (because it has nothing to do with music), but I would like to mention an interesting little tidbit. Before entering the club, they checked my ID and saw I was under 21 (not that I was hiding the fact, or anything). Because of that, they Sharpied a big "X" on the back of both my hands. At that moment, I thought to myself, "This is so straight edge!"

Straight edge is a hardcore punk movement whose music reflects a lifestyle of virtuous living. It has its origins in the 46-second song "Straight Edge" by 80's D.C. rockers Minor Threat. Like any punk anthem, this song is about revolution, and that revolution is against all forms of excessive and sadistic living.

I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and f*** my head
Hang out with the living dead
Snort white s*** up my nose
Pass out at the shows
I don't even think about speed
That's something I just don't need

I've got the straight edge

I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
'Cause I know I can cope
Laugh at the thought of eating ludes
Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never want to use a crutch

I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge

Straight edge is more a subculture than a subgenre. The music (almost always hardcore punk) is a medium through which listeners can enter a world devoid of promiscuity, violence, alcoholism, recreational drug use, discrimination and harm to animals. Straight edge took the "Just Say No" PSAs to heart and piggy-backed on the punk culture as a signal to youths that they can still have fun while not following the crowd.

This may seem like a contridiction: how can you be "hardcore" and "morally upright" at the same time? Just like I explained before with Christian metalcore, music is music and just because something sounds "bad" or has been given negative connotations from the public (like what Lil' Jon did to rap) doesn't mean it is bad. This being said, I wouldn't recommend straight edge to a 9-year-old, but I think parents would rather have their teens listening to Gorilla Biscuits ("New Direction") than Suicidal Tendancies ("Institutionalized").

I'm not so learned in this area of music. The only straight edge that is in my library is Crouching Tiger, Moshing Panda by Good Clean Fun which I found by accident one day when searching for the Mexican punk band Panda (also stylized as PXNDX in the straight edge wannabe manner). Other than the album art, it wasn't doing much for me. With high school long gone, I'm more into 70's progressive and less into songs about the dangers of driving while talking on the phone. Maybe I need the right friend to introduce me to the right bands... "Wonderful" is a wonderful song, though.

"Wonderful" by Good Clean Fun

As for the club scene, let's just say that my gang was without a doubt the most straight edge group of people there... but that's a story for another day.

I'm having the time of my life,
Kelvin