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Old Enough to Know Better

from The Hard Art of Living by Goldstein

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about

The Rocket:
Unlike most of the songs I write, this song did not start with a political agenda. I was clearly in a reggae frame of mind at the time, and built the song from the bottom up - first came the calm drums, then the main attraction, the bassline, and finally the haunting guitar. One of the things that makes this song for me is the repetitive, almost monotonous (in a good way) groove. The guitar solo was written in the space of 30 seconds, and the choruses were written for no other reason than to accentuate the groove. The decision to suddenly change from the slow groove to the fast punk section was dictated by a dissatisfaction with the initial final 1/3rd of the song. All in all, the song virtually wrote itself - each section just came out succinctly. There's nothing more you can ask for as a songwriter.

I haven't even mentioned lyrics yet, which demonstrates just how important the instrumentation is to this song. While it did not begin with a political agenda, it sure ended with one. I took inspiration from the quote "no one knows how old the human race is, but everyone agrees it's old enough to know better". We're single-handedly destroying this planet, and, in doing so, ourselves. The end of the world is a process not an event - and it's happening right now (a nice unused lyric there). The lyrics reflect the instrumentation of the respective sections - the lyrics during the main groove are passive and solemn, during the choruses they become more confrontational, and by the fast punk section we're straight up just calling those in power idiots and criminals. While the lyrics in this section are blunt and obviously written by someone very angry at the time (I was), I will not distance myself from them. There are those within our governments and parliaments that, despite all scientific evidence and pleas from the people they are supposed to represent, continue to encourage harm to the planet. This to me is nothing short of foolish and criminal.

_____________________________________________________

lyrics

Tiger:
Nobody knows,
Exact age of the human race.
Nobody knows.
Nobody knows when we first took
Step on the planet, started chopping it down,
Running all the animals into the ground.
The start of the end is a mystery to us,
We're fixated with knowing just because.

But there's one thing upon which we can all agree.
Human beings are not part of Earth's family.
Mother Earth is disappointed at a naughty child.
It's time to/we stop living in denial.

*Guitar solo*

We're taking apart the planet,
We're selling for what it's got.
We don't need to know our age
To know we're going wrong.
The air is polluted, the sea is a mess.
Our chances of survival are less and less.

But there's one thing upon which we can all agree.
Human beings are not part of Earth's family.
Mother Earth is disappointed at a naughty child.
It's time to/we stop living in denial.

James #2:
Breakout!
Breakout! Breakout of the vacuum!
Dictated by political disaster.
This ship is sinking! This ship is sinking!
Do not let them wreck this planet.
They're not listening! They're not listening!

We have to make our voices heard
Above the noise of ignorance and crime.
Nobody knows how old we are
But I can guarantee, we should know better now.

credits

from The Hard Art of Living, released March 18, 2016
Lyrics and music by The Rocket.

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Goldstein Leicester, UK

Goldstein were brought together by a unifying love of modern punk music. From their covers to their originals, you'll find the power-chords and speed endemic to old school punk, mixed with more melodic vocals and skilful playing present in modern punk. Of course, variety is the spice of life, and Goldstein aren't afraid to mix some ska, rap or Muse into their set to keep things interesting. ... more

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