Out of Step (song)
| Out of step | |
|---|---|
| Minor threat | |
| publication | 1981 |
| length | 1:20 |
| Genre (s) | Hardcore punk |
| text | Ian MacKaye |
| music | Minor threat |
| Publisher (s) | Dischord Records |
| album | In My Eyes (7``) |
Out of Step is a song released in 1981 by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat . The song, along with Straight Edge, is considered to be the beginning of the American straight edge movement .
Text and interpretation
The first verse of the song begins with the author's self-description, which is often understood as imperative sentences . When the text was printed on the album Out of Step , due to this ambiguous character, after long discussions within the band, the English personal pronoun "I" ( German : "I") was inserted, but it is not sung:
Don't smoke
Don't drink
Don't fuck
At least I can fucking think
The second stanza also consists of four lines, of which the line “I can't keep up” was repeated three times.
I can't keep up (3x)
Out of step with the world
The structure of the song with the two stanzas is as follows:
Verse 1
2x Verse 2
Verse 1
2x Verse 2
Solo
2x Verse 2
Minor Threat had already given a name to a burgeoning branch of the hardcore punk scene with Straight Edge , an anti-drug song. Out of Step was interpreted to the effect that “straight edge” should also reject alcohol consumption and promiscuity . In particular, the line “Don't fuck” led to some discussions in the hardcore punk scene, and some understood it to mean completely renouncing the sexual act. According to MacKaye himself, however, he did not understand his song as a string of maxims , but rather in the sense of a personal code of conduct. He just wanted to express his state of mind at the time. It was only through early followers of the straight-edge idea, such as 7 Seconds and SS Decontrol , that the local Washington, DC scene became a worldwide movement and the song lyrics Out of Step became the so-called three-step formula of the movement.
publication
Out of Step first appeared on 7 '' In My Eyes in 1981 . A second version followed on the debut album named after this song in 1983. Due to the controversy surrounding this song, the band decided to record a short, spoken statement by MacKaye, which was placed over the old recording and faded over the solo. In this statement, MacKaye points out once again that he did not want to provide any rules of conduct, but only wanted to speak of three things "which seem to be incredibly important in the world, while [he] does not consider them to be particularly important ...".
occupation
- Singing: Ian MacKaye
- Guitar: Lyle Preslar
- Bass: Brian Baker
- Drums: Jeff Nelson
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Gabriel Kuhn: Straight Edge. History and politics of a movement . Unrast Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 978-3-89771-108-2 , pp. 8th f .
- ↑ Mark Anderson / Mark Jenkins: Punk, DC . Ventil Verlag, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-931555-86-0 .
- ^ Translation based on Gabriel Kuhn: Straight Edge. History and politics of a movement . 2010, p. 11 .