I met a guy the other night who used to be straight edge, and said that within his group of straight edge friends, if one of them slipped, the others would beat the shit out of him.
So that's the story. I have Minor Threat's In My Eyes on my mp3 player, and I've always been amused when it's come on, but now that I know they're totally serious, it's not going to be fun anymore.
At my high school the straight-edge and punk cliques fought all the time, but these groups tended to attract more thuggish characters, so.
Don't forget the restriction on eating animal products. No sex, no drinking, no smoking, no bacon: if Apostropher is the Hero, straight-edge is the Enemy.
My favorite thing about straight edge are the guys who get the straight edge tattoos ("Nailed to the X!") and then discover how much fun can be had with booze, drugs, and sex.
Every now and then I run into a college pal of mine and give him the cross-arm "X" salute, only to get a middle finger in return.
The ones I'm thinking of just liked to thump people, preferably rival gang members, but including each other and random guys on the street. As far as I know they were not a threat to women, except maybe their girlfriends, or older people. It was sort of odd the way a militant youth-culture group directed all of their violence against other youth, but most violent subcultures seem to attack mostly each other.
I never really met a violent straight-edge skin. There were (are?) racist skins in the Twin Cities, and they had a rep for violence. There were also some skins who were just really into ska, and they sometimes tried to come off as Two-Tone thugs.
I was under the impression that straight-edge hardcore was as hard as the neonazi punks, but diametrically opposed. I thought, though this may be erroneous, that straight edge was actually something of a reaction to neonazi skinheads. A statement that they're just as hard, or harder, but virtuous. Straightedgers shouldn't give beatdowns that aren't justified by behavior, whereas neonazi skinheads were prejudiced against inherent qualities.
Also, wasn't Alice Cooper something of a precursor to straightedge?
You are forgetting the best lyrics of all time from Straight Edge Revenge:
I'm as straight as the line that you sniff up your nose, I'm as hard as the booze that you swill down your throat, I'm as bad as the shit you breathe into your lungs, And I'll fuck you up as fast as the pill on your tongue.
Anyone have any memory of a conflict within hardcore punkdom between Snackers and Skippers? I was sort of peripherally hardcore for a while and my friends and I had this Snackers (think a punk-rock Fat Freddy Freak) vs. Skippers (essentially straight edge guys who were identifiable by liking to get where they were going by skipping) joke but I was never clear on its relationship to reality.
27: I thought, though this may be erroneous, that straight edge was actually something of a reaction to neonazi skinheads
Neonazi skinheads are pretty adaptable that way. There were nazi straight-edgers from pretty early in the game AFAICT, though as JE notes, they don't tend to be straight-edge all that long on the whole.
31: Anyone have any memory of a conflict within hardcore punkdom between Snackers and Skippers?
Any perceived connection between skinheads (esp. neo-nazi ones, which are different in kind from most punk skinheads) and straightedge is purely coincidental. There were some racist skinheads in the early DC scene, but most got pushed out of the scene or ended up with serious drug problems, so I wouldn't say there's a causal relationship. In Boston, there was more of a concilliatory attitude between racist groups and straightedge cliques, but the connection is by no means global. Most kids I've known that were involved in being straightedge are just looking for an alternative to wicked keggers at the Quarterback's house.
Regardless of whether you drink or not, though, "In My Eyes" is an incredible song.
I met a guy the other night who used to be straight edge, and said that within his group of straight edge friends, if one of them slipped, the others would beat the shit out of him.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:27 AM
I tried just getting high on life, but you build a tolerance to it sooo quickly.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:29 AM
Withdrawal is surprisingly peaceful, though.
Posted by Tia | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:32 AM
Is it wrong that my nose scrunched so when I read "foggies"? That's kind of precious.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:38 AM
So that's the story. I have Minor Threat's In My Eyes on my mp3 player, and I've always been amused when it's come on, but now that I know they're totally serious, it's not going to be fun anymore.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:43 AM
[redacted]
Posted by [redacted] | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:48 AM
Because then they might smile, and their little stern straight-edge faces would crack.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:49 AM
[redacted]
Posted by [redacted] | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 9:49 AM
That is a classic, but for exquisite subtlety of lyrics, you can't beat:
(I) Don't smoke
Don't drink
Don't fuck
At least I can fucking think
I can't keep up,
Can't keep up
Can't keep up
Out of step with the world
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:05 AM
Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do?
Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do?
Subtle innuendos follow,
There must be something inside he's hiding.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:15 AM
Mr. Ant was kind of lax on the third edge of the "no drugs, no booze, no sex" triangle.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:27 AM
Well, a lot of 14-years-olds actually can score drugs and booze, so straight-edge wasn't really a solution in search of a problem for everyone.
As I remember, straight-edge guys tended toward the Nazi/SHARP skinhead zone, and liked to beat people up.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:27 AM
A high school art teacher of mine once told me of a cheer devised by some of his classmates at his high school in Norfolk, VA:
(It should be noted that for native residents, the "l" in Norfolk is silent, and the second "o" sounds more like a "u".)Posted by My Alter Ego | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:33 AM
12, meet 1.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:35 AM
Joe, I think JE's claim is that the straight-edges also liked to beat up rival gangs of punks?
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:36 AM
BLACK COFFEE
Who are you with, where have you been
Imagination turns thoughts, reason can't change
Staring at the walls, think I know what I see
Anger and coffee, feeling mean
Drinking black coffee, black coffee, drinking black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, drinking black coffee, drinking black coffee, staring at the...
Stab through my heart, stab through my heart, stab through my heart
But its all in my mind, mind, mind, mind Just in my mind, mind, mind, mind
Its just in my mind, yeaaaaaaaaa
My heart is pounding, as stare at the wall
Its my turn to be jealous, now I don't stand for it all
In fact I'm pretty stupid, I'm feeling small
Anger and coffee, feeling mean
Drinking black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, drinking black coffee, drinking black coffee, staring at the...
Stab through my heart, stab through my heart, stab through my heart
But its all in my mind, mind, mind, mind Just in my mind, mind, mind, mind
Its just in my mind Yeaaaaaaaa
Drinking black coffee, drinking black coffee, drinking black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, drinking black coffee, drinking black coffee, staring at the...
Stab through my heart, stab through my heart, stab through my heart
But its all in my mind, mind, mind, mind Just in my mind, mind, mind, mind
Its just in my mind, yea
If the night goes on, paranoia adultery
Why should I be so stupid, when I can't really see
The other side of the wall, is eating away at me
Anger and Coffee, feeling mean
Drinking black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, black coffee, black coffee, staring at the wall
Black coffee, drinking black coffee, drinking black coffee, staring at the...
Stab through my heart, stab through my heart, stab through my heart
But its all in my mind, mind, mind, mind
Its just in my mind, mind, mind, mind Its just in my mind
Posted by Joe O | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:51 AM
"No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark."
The straightedgers are turning Japanese!
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:57 AM
At my high school the straight-edge and punk cliques fought all the time, but these groups tended to attract more thuggish characters, so.
Don't forget the restriction on eating animal products. No sex, no drinking, no smoking, no bacon: if Apostropher is the Hero, straight-edge is the Enemy.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 10:58 AM
I've never even heard of straight-edge. They sound sort of dull, in between fights.
Posted by Cala | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:01 AM
If we rock together, why can't we walk together?
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:01 AM
Oh man, they don't rock together. Punk doesn't give a fuck; straight-edge is very concerned.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:03 AM
My favorite thing about straight edge are the guys who get the straight edge tattoos ("Nailed to the X!") and then discover how much fun can be had with booze, drugs, and sex.
Every now and then I run into a college pal of mine and give him the cross-arm "X" salute, only to get a middle finger in return.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:03 AM
The ones I'm thinking of just liked to thump people, preferably rival gang members, but including each other and random guys on the street. As far as I know they were not a threat to women, except maybe their girlfriends, or older people. It was sort of odd the way a militant youth-culture group directed all of their violence against other youth, but most violent subcultures seem to attack mostly each other.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:04 AM
I never really met a violent straight-edge skin. There were (are?) racist skins in the Twin Cities, and they had a rep for violence. There were also some skins who were just really into ska, and they sometimes tried to come off as Two-Tone thugs.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:12 AM
The straightedge skins I knew of seemed to have a short shelf-life and just turned into boozers.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:29 AM
'Smasher, you said it. Straight-edge is very, very concerned.
It kinda takes the fun out of Fugazi concerts when Ian starts lecturing, as he inevitably does.
Posted by Matt #3 | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 11:41 AM
I was under the impression that straight-edge hardcore was as hard as the neonazi punks, but diametrically opposed. I thought, though this may be erroneous, that straight edge was actually something of a reaction to neonazi skinheads. A statement that they're just as hard, or harder, but virtuous. Straightedgers shouldn't give beatdowns that aren't justified by behavior, whereas neonazi skinheads were prejudiced against inherent qualities.
Also, wasn't Alice Cooper something of a precursor to straightedge?
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 12:19 PM
Pertinent webcomic.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 12:22 PM
Gratuitious.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 12:24 PM
You are forgetting the best lyrics of all time from Straight Edge Revenge:
I'm as straight as the line that you sniff up your nose, I'm as hard as the booze that you swill down your throat, I'm as bad as the shit you breathe into your lungs, And I'll fuck you up as fast as the pill on your tongue.
Posted by Josh | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 1:07 PM
Anyone have any memory of a conflict within hardcore punkdom between Snackers and Skippers? I was sort of peripherally hardcore for a while and my friends and I had this Snackers (think a punk-rock Fat Freddy Freak) vs. Skippers (essentially straight edge guys who were identifiable by liking to get where they were going by skipping) joke but I was never clear on its relationship to reality.
Posted by Jeremy Osner | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 5:46 PM
Comment 7 is one for the ages.
Posted by Jeremy Osner | Link to this comment | 01-25-06 5:48 PM
27: I thought, though this may be erroneous, that straight edge was actually something of a reaction to neonazi skinheads
Neonazi skinheads are pretty adaptable that way. There were nazi straight-edgers from pretty early in the game AFAICT, though as JE notes, they don't tend to be straight-edge all that long on the whole.
31: Anyone have any memory of a conflict within hardcore punkdom between Snackers and Skippers?
Ummm, no...
Posted by Doctor Slack | Link to this comment | 01-26-06 12:43 PM
As good a time to de-lurk as any:
Any perceived connection between skinheads (esp. neo-nazi ones, which are different in kind from most punk skinheads) and straightedge is purely coincidental. There were some racist skinheads in the early DC scene, but most got pushed out of the scene or ended up with serious drug problems, so I wouldn't say there's a causal relationship. In Boston, there was more of a concilliatory attitude between racist groups and straightedge cliques, but the connection is by no means global. Most kids I've known that were involved in being straightedge are just looking for an alternative to wicked keggers at the Quarterback's house.
Regardless of whether you drink or not, though, "In My Eyes" is an incredible song.
Posted by cb | Link to this comment | 01-26-06 8:07 PM