bloggedy blog

:: Thursday, October 07, 2004 ::

Punk Rock Countdown: No. 3
"People Who Died," by the Jim Carroll Band
All great cultures honor their dead. The punk subculture is no exception. The Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died," from the album Catholic Boy (see? there's a spiritual angle to the work already), is a celebration of Jim Carroll's many friends who died on the mean streets of New York. The gritty reallities of their tragic deaths is celebrated -- and mourned -- with a solid rock backbeat. Four quick barre chords kick off the song, then poet Jim Carroll rattles off a litany of friends who have passed on:

Teddy sniffing glue he was 12 years old
Fell from the roof on East Two-nine
Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug
On 26 reds and a bottle of wine
Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old
He looked like 65 when he died
He was a friend of mine

No maudlin dirges for Jim Carroll and his band. This song is a pure celebration of his friends' short, tragic lives.

An audio clip of "People Who Died" is available on this web page (scroll down until you get to the "songs" section.

:: Andrew 07:24 + ::
...

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