Band of the Week: Bad Religion - Song #5: The New America

Greetings.

The Band of the Week for this week (1/16/12 - 1/20/12) is Bad Religion. I'll be the first to admit that I have never been a huge fan of punk rock. I really admire the dissent and the attitude behind it, but frankly, most of the actual music just isn't to my taste. Except for Bad Religion. They are, hands down, my favorite punk rock band. I love that Greg Graffin, their lead singer, has a PhD from Cornell and is a part-time college professor. Their lyrics are poignant, and their music, while ferocious, is a lot more complex than most of the other punk bands that I've heard. I also love that it features rich vocal harmonies and prominent lead guitar work. Today's song is the title track from the first BR album I ever owned: The New America. Lyrically, it's a bit optimistic for a punk song, but it stood out instantly as one of my favorite songs from this album. It rings especially true for me today in light of my frustration with corporate America (specifically eBay) - in fact, that frustration was what made me chose Bad Religion as the Band of the Week, so, I guess, thanks, eBay, for inspiring me to hate you so much and bringing this wonderful angst music to the forefront of my mind. It's going to be a fun week! Just so y'all know, it's hard to find actual videos for BR songs, so a lot of times these entries will just be youtube links to the song with a picture of the album cover or something else. I've also decided to include the lyrics today:

The New America

Do you know the cost of future misery?
Have you lost your sense of sustainability?
We are just a step away from realizing
What we strive to be,
But we've got to break out from this insulated
Blind and lame senility.

Wake up the new America!
Whoa
Transcend the mass hysteria!
Whoa
Change is the thing you're wary of!
Whoa
We need a new America!
Whoa

Laurels, human triumph, bestowments from the past -
Victories don't mean a thing if they don't last.
We are just marching t'ward extinction
With blinders on our eyes;
Jeopardizing everything we've learned
and come to realize. You call that wise?!

Open your eyes America!
Woah
See through the lies they tell to us!
Woah
Confront the fears that worry us!
Woah
We need a new America!
Woah

We don't have to be afraid to reinvent.
We've got to start to build, progress, and implement;
For when we take our fill, and never pay the price,
We only build ourselves a fleeting false-paradise.

Yeah, you can live in staunch denial,
And mark me as your enemy,
But I'm just a voice among the throng who want
A brighter destiny - and sing with me:

We are the new America!
Woah
This is the new America!
Whoa
We are the new America!
Whoa
This is the new America!
Whoa

Let's go!