On Saturday night I went to see Bad Religion at the House of Blues in Hollywood. Normally, I wouldn't think it's at all helpful to review a show or that one is worthy of reflection, but Bad Religion's show is worthy of not just reflection but praise. Bad Religion, as their name suggests, is a punk rock band launched in 1980 in the anti-conformist, anti-Reagan, vein of the Dead Kennedys. And no, they don't dig Jesus, or the Pope, or Moses, or Allah, or any faux-figurehead that has been the spark of wars in this world. They are anti-religion, not anti-theist.
Their logo has been, for decades, a cross with a circle and line through it. That was the reason I ever listened to my first Bad Religion record. I was entering an adolescence, exiting a childhood, of being beaten over the head with Christianity. Such blatant rejection of an institution I found to be bullshit was empowering. I remember clearly cruising through my BMG catalog (remember when you could buy 12 CDs for a penny? It seemed like a scam and it was, a little bit.) to find a CD by a band called "Bad Religion". I bought it. It was "No Control". It changed how I thought about, well, everything.
Very simply, Bad Religion taught me that it isn't just okay to have your own opinion, but it's an exalting and powerful thing to express it - but only if you do so flawlessly. Not everything I execute is perfect, but when it is, it is much more meaningful. It is easier felt and more strongly resonated. The thought, when expressed properly, can be an epicenter for aftershocks of the same thought.
You might have noticed that the Tea Party has utilized this same practice in the resonance of it's unhelpful, backwards tripe.
But I digress...Bad Religion would not have been able to do this for thirty years without deeply believing in what they are doing and doin' it, doin' it, doin' it well.
Today I was eating lunch with my fiancee and our good friend, Joe. They are in a band together. There has been much debate over whether or not their band will play Warped Tour next year. (If you're not familiar with Warped Tour, it's an annual punk/alternative music festival that tours the country for about three weeks each summer). As soon as my fiancee left to go to the ATM, Joe said to me, "Jab doesn't want to play Warped Tour next year and I don't understand why."
This led to my defending his stance that Warped Tour is politically harmful to small bands and venues and has generally destroyed the way people learn about bands. This is because it has monopolized exposure of said bands. Nobody that goes to Warped Tour now has ever considered that maybe they should check out their local venues at other times in the year to see the same bands. Which would help the local economy and bands on tour.
He retorted to my statement with, "But it gives smaller bands a chance to get exposure and make money, you gotta choose: do you wanna have fun or make money?"
"You won't find anybody in your band that doesn't want to make money," I said.
"What about Bad Religion?" Joe said. "They've been doing Warped Tour for years."
"Yes and they've always existed for something philosophically in addition to making money..." Then I had my argument-winning A-HA moment "...I think you'll be hard pressed to find any band that has existed for decades without having a mission beyond making money."
"I've found a lot of new bands at Warped Tour, I always check out the small stages," Joe finished off just as my fiancee came back from the ATM.
Joe's mission at Warped Tour is few and far between. Most are going to get drunk and see Paramore because the singer is hot, not to find new bands.
I think it's possible to live in this enviable world that Bad Religion exist in: being able to make money and communicate, flawlessly, ideas of a fair and secular world. Time after time, creating timeless songs that offer political observations that if considered, would make this world a better place.
If their mission and philosophy could be summed up, it would be in these words:
Faith in your partner, your fellow men, your friends, is very important, because without it there's no mutual component to your relationship, and relationships are important. So faith plays an important role, but faith in people you don't know, faith in religious or political leaders or even people on stages, people who are popular in the public eye, you shouldn't have faith in those people. You should listen to what they have to say and use it.
- Greg Graffin (Bad Religion vocalist)
I hope, with every fiber of my being, Joe and my fiancee's band can find this kind of mission and meaning. Making money, in whatever you do, is great. Making money doing what you love, and changing people's lives regardless of the venue in which you do it is even better.
Bad Religion Wikipedia Page
Bad Religion lyrics - "I Want to Conquer the World"
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