Lyrics

It’s Called Rock n Roll

1954 Bill Haley and His Comets
Came to rock us around the clock
The kids went crazy and jumped out of their seats
When Bo Diddley strummed that hambone
They were hopping to the beat
With the moondog wailin’ over the airwaves
A revolution was sounded
That could never be grounded
“roll over Beethoven” was the anthem of
the kids on the street

the call of young rebels rang out across the globe
from London to Berlin, Sydney to Tokyo
Stockholm, Beirut, Rio de Janeiro
The kids of the world flew the flag of rock and roll
One generation united, passions ignited
They couldn’t get no… hey, hey, hey
“Kick out the Jams”
Was the message from the kids on the street

It’s called Rock n Roll

We want the truth, we want the real
Cause we’ve got soul and we’ve got feel
We’re the kids who won’t be told, who won’t be controlled
Undermined, bought out, packaged and sold
We’re still fucking in the back seats, jumpin’ to the up-beats
Bringin’ the riots down to the city streets
And our insurgency is something
They can’t control
It’s called Rock n Roll

In 1950s America, all of the narrow minds and the misanthropic cultural, political and economic tyrants holding segregation in place couldn’t stop the advance of a youth culture that insisted the kids should be united. The cultural power of rock n roll, a music that combined the traditions of country and blues and gospel, took the world by force. Skeptics claimed it could never last and conservatives said that it was a deviation from the natural order, but rock n roll endured, a truly powerful art form associated from its inception with rebellion and multicultural cross-pollination. It spread rapidly across the globe, mingling with indigenous sounds wherever it went, proving its cultural power to adapt while still maintaining its exuberance and the essence of youth rebellion.

Every time rock n roll became stagnant, overly institutionalized and sanitized, a new generation would come along and kick it a new asshole, reclaiming it for themselves and taking the piss out of the accountants and lawyers who knew nothing about music, but controlled the world’s recording industries. In the 1960s rock re-emerged, along with new rock-influenced forms of funk and jazz, as a driving force behind the various protest and revolutionary movements throughout the world, shaking the world order from its very roots and spawning hundreds of sub-genres, including heavy metal, hip-hop and punk rock; and eventually all of their sub-genres too.

Independently created and produced music spread throughout the world, carrying the spirit of rock n roll to the masses of youth who, to this day, engage in multifarious forms of artful rebellion and continue to use rock music to inspire themselves to action!

¡viva rock n roll!

(Marek Vermin)

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