we take what we can get / the hell out of this town
January 12, 2016 11:24 AM Subscribe
I want to make a playlist of songs from pop-punk bands that HATE THIS TOWN. Their town. Every song must have at least one line about how much they can't wait to get out of their hometown. Any sort of garden variety town hating is appreciated (I have seen the supercut of bands saying "this town," what I am looking for are specific bands/song titles).
Oh man, this is going to be fun.
I'll just drop History of a Boring Town by Less Than Jake to open the bidding.
posted by General Malaise at 11:28 AM on January 12, 2016
I'll just drop History of a Boring Town by Less Than Jake to open the bidding.
posted by General Malaise at 11:28 AM on January 12, 2016
How pop do you need your punk to be?
I've always loved the line from Against Me!'s "We Laugh At Danger (And Break All The Rules)":
Mary, there is no hope for us
If this GM van don't make it
across the state line
we might as well lay down and die
Because if Florida takes us
we're taking everyone down with us
posted by gone2croatan at 11:29 AM on January 12, 2016 [6 favorites]
I've always loved the line from Against Me!'s "We Laugh At Danger (And Break All The Rules)":
Mary, there is no hope for us
If this GM van don't make it
across the state line
we might as well lay down and die
Because if Florida takes us
we're taking everyone down with us
posted by gone2croatan at 11:29 AM on January 12, 2016 [6 favorites]
Also Less than Jake, but hating an entire state: Never Going Back to New Jersey
posted by workerant at 11:30 AM on January 12, 2016
posted by workerant at 11:30 AM on January 12, 2016
I swear I'm not reliving some late 90s Vans Warped Tour, but Soul Coughing's The Incumbent really hates New York.
posted by workerant at 11:33 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by workerant at 11:33 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
This Town by the Go-Go's, which takes a sarcastic tack.
The soundtrack for the movie Suburbia ended with Gene Pitney's Town Without Pity, which is not itself pop-punk but fit very well with all the other pop-punk songs.
posted by ejs at 11:38 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
The soundtrack for the movie Suburbia ended with Gene Pitney's Town Without Pity, which is not itself pop-punk but fit very well with all the other pop-punk songs.
posted by ejs at 11:38 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Weakerthans: One Great City!
posted by ryanshepard at 11:38 AM on January 12, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by ryanshepard at 11:38 AM on January 12, 2016 [12 favorites]
Lou Reed (as Andy Warhol) on Pittsburgh: "Smalltown"
posted by thetortoise at 11:41 AM on January 12, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by thetortoise at 11:41 AM on January 12, 2016 [3 favorites]
AM Taxi's Dead Street:
Everybody knowsposted by Etrigan at 11:43 AM on January 12, 2016
There's no way out of here
Everybody's trying but we just can't leave
We got pushed about
And the end's not what it seems
Packing our bags to kiss it goodbye
In our wildest dreams
Dirty Old Town by Pogues
New York is Killing Me by Gill Scott-Heron
posted by smirkette at 11:49 AM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
New York is Killing Me by Gill Scott-Heron
posted by smirkette at 11:49 AM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
The dwarves, Salt Lake City.
posted by boo_radley at 11:51 AM on January 12, 2016
posted by boo_radley at 11:51 AM on January 12, 2016
I love this song category! I made a playlist of town-hate songs years ago, so I'm sure I have a few, I just have to think on it a little. Off the top of my head:
Fuck This Town - Robbie Fulks
Hate It Here - Wilco
No Children - Mountain Goats (more about hating a person, but also some town hate involved)
posted by triggerfinger at 11:53 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Fuck This Town - Robbie Fulks
Hate It Here - Wilco
No Children - Mountain Goats (more about hating a person, but also some town hate involved)
posted by triggerfinger at 11:53 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not exactly "pop" but I immediately thought of Kerosene by Big Black.
posted by ZipRibbons at 11:55 AM on January 12, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by ZipRibbons at 11:55 AM on January 12, 2016 [4 favorites]
"I hate Winnipeg" (actually called One Great City) by the Weakerthans really has a great chorus for this, but no line about leaving.
posted by jessamyn at 11:56 AM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn at 11:56 AM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ah, Gil Scott Heron - he left New York for D.C. which he also wrote a great kiss off to:
Washington, D.C.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:58 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Washington, D.C.
posted by ryanshepard at 11:58 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
For Good Again - The Devil Makes Three
The song begins:
Gather around you people now to the tale that I tell
About the last time my friend moved he decided to move to hell
They call it Crestline California USA
For God in his wisdom burned it down one beautiful day
And the chorus:
Thats why I say gather around you people now
Get your money out to lend
We're all leaving town for good again
For good again
posted by expialidocious at 11:59 AM on January 12, 2016
The song begins:
Gather around you people now to the tale that I tell
About the last time my friend moved he decided to move to hell
They call it Crestline California USA
For God in his wisdom burned it down one beautiful day
And the chorus:
Thats why I say gather around you people now
Get your money out to lend
We're all leaving town for good again
For good again
posted by expialidocious at 11:59 AM on January 12, 2016
"The rain falls hard on a humdrum town
This town has dragged you down"
-The Smiths, William, it was really nothing
posted by chevyvan at 12:10 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
This town has dragged you down"
-The Smiths, William, it was really nothing
posted by chevyvan at 12:10 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Liza Forever Minnelli by The Mountain Goats
"Never get away never get away I am never ever gonna get away from this place"
posted by MsMolly at 12:10 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Never get away never get away I am never ever gonna get away from this place"
posted by MsMolly at 12:10 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
chevyvan, you reminded me: Everyday is Like Sunday by Morrissey as well.
posted by smirkette at 12:14 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by smirkette at 12:14 PM on January 12, 2016
Rancid — Olympia WA
Hanging on the corner of 52nd and Broadwayposted by John Cohen at 12:17 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Cars passing by, but none of them seem to go my way
New York City, well I wish I was on a highway
Back to Olympia
Trouble Town, by Jake Bugg
If there's a beating in the street
If there's a feeling of defeat
You're the one it happens to
Stuck in speed bump city
Where the only thing that's pretty
Is the thought of getting out
posted by msbubbaclees at 12:26 PM on January 12, 2016
If there's a beating in the street
If there's a feeling of defeat
You're the one it happens to
Stuck in speed bump city
Where the only thing that's pretty
Is the thought of getting out
posted by msbubbaclees at 12:26 PM on January 12, 2016
Not sure if this is exactly what you want, because it's a bit more nuanced and scathing than "I hate this place & wanna get out of here! But This Place is a Prison by The Postal Service is awesome.
posted by peep at 12:29 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by peep at 12:29 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
"The Young Crazed Peeling" by the Distillers has a section about Brody Dalle growing up in Melbourne. I remember thinking she didn't particularly like the city, but there are no lines about leaving that I remember. Best I can do off the top of my head.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:37 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by kevinbelt at 12:37 PM on January 12, 2016
More pop than punk - Beth Hart, "LA Song"
posted by lock sock and barrel at 12:42 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by lock sock and barrel at 12:42 PM on January 12, 2016
The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring counts, I think. Also, Hey Suburbia by Screeching Weasel. There's a fair number of Clash songs about London, but if you'd like a relatively obscure cut, here's City of the Dead.
Still scrolling through my last.fm, I see Shit's Fucked by the Copyrights, in case you're curious how people feel about being from Carbondale, Illinois. Fuck You, Aurora by the Alkaline Trio also seems pretty straightforwardly responsive.
Maybe marginal since it's as much "being on the road sucks" as "this sucks", but I'll throw in This Day's Seen Better Bars by Red City Radio.
On the extremely not pop-punk but extremely "this place is terrible" end, there's Ryan Adams's Tennessee Sucks and Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain's Nothing Ever Happens.
Plus, if you want the even smaller unit of "this part of town", there's Grand Theft Autumn by Fall Out Boy.
posted by Copronymus at 12:45 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Still scrolling through my last.fm, I see Shit's Fucked by the Copyrights, in case you're curious how people feel about being from Carbondale, Illinois. Fuck You, Aurora by the Alkaline Trio also seems pretty straightforwardly responsive.
Maybe marginal since it's as much "being on the road sucks" as "this sucks", but I'll throw in This Day's Seen Better Bars by Red City Radio.
On the extremely not pop-punk but extremely "this place is terrible" end, there's Ryan Adams's Tennessee Sucks and Welsh rap group Goldie Lookin' Chain's Nothing Ever Happens.
Plus, if you want the even smaller unit of "this part of town", there's Grand Theft Autumn by Fall Out Boy.
posted by Copronymus at 12:45 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Oh, wait!
We Gotta Get Out of This Place by the Animals, if they can count as sorta proto-punkish, which I would argue.
The "getting out" part is turning out to be the toughest requirement for me. (And I totally forgot that part when I suggested that Elvis Costello. He does not explicitly express a desire to leave.)
posted by ernielundquist at 12:46 PM on January 12, 2016
We Gotta Get Out of This Place by the Animals, if they can count as sorta proto-punkish, which I would argue.
The "getting out" part is turning out to be the toughest requirement for me. (And I totally forgot that part when I suggested that Elvis Costello. He does not explicitly express a desire to leave.)
posted by ernielundquist at 12:46 PM on January 12, 2016
Ghost Town by the Specials is scathing though they don't specifically say they want to leave.
Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat is all about leaving behind the homophobia of a suburban town.
posted by penguin pie at 12:49 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat is all about leaving behind the homophobia of a suburban town.
posted by penguin pie at 12:49 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Doesn't quite meet your specific criteria, but Hello City by the Barenaked Ladies has pretty solid fuck-this-town bona fides.
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:50 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by prize bull octorok at 12:50 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Blatz - Berkeley is my Baby (and I Want to Kill It)
Blatz - Fuk New York
The Criminals - The Angry Ouija Board Has Sent Us to Destroy the City of Berkeley California So Run for Your Fucking Life
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:00 PM on January 12, 2016
Blatz - Fuk New York
The Criminals - The Angry Ouija Board Has Sent Us to Destroy the City of Berkeley California So Run for Your Fucking Life
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:00 PM on January 12, 2016
Summerland by Everclear might meet your requirements.
posted by Candleman at 1:01 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by Candleman at 1:01 PM on January 12, 2016
I am an idiot and I promise I'll stop. Instead of the possibly incorrect This Town, I should have suggested Last Boat Leaving, which is on the same album that the incorrect answer was. (It is a slow song, but it is quite sneery.)
posted by ernielundquist at 1:03 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by ernielundquist at 1:03 PM on January 12, 2016
Billy Bragg, "Northern Industrial Town":
And on payday they tear the place down
With a pint in your hand and a bash 'em out band
Sure they'd dance to the rhythm of the rain falling down
In a northern industrial town
And it's not pop-punk, but I'll take the opportunity to mention Leadbelly's The Bourgeois Blues, about the racism of 1930s Washington DC.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:04 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
And on payday they tear the place down
With a pint in your hand and a bash 'em out band
Sure they'd dance to the rhythm of the rain falling down
In a northern industrial town
And it's not pop-punk, but I'll take the opportunity to mention Leadbelly's The Bourgeois Blues, about the racism of 1930s Washington DC.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:04 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
God I Hate This Town - Smaller
Woeful Small Town - Faerground Accidents
posted by misteraitch at 1:22 PM on January 12, 2016
Woeful Small Town - Faerground Accidents
posted by misteraitch at 1:22 PM on January 12, 2016
How about a bit of punk poetry? Chicken Town by John Cooper Clarke. Takes a little while to kick in, bear with it.
Seems like it's based on "Bloody Orkney" by Hamish Blair. Also not pop-punk, but there you go.
posted by ZipRibbons at 1:32 PM on January 12, 2016
Seems like it's based on "Bloody Orkney" by Hamish Blair. Also not pop-punk, but there you go.
posted by ZipRibbons at 1:32 PM on January 12, 2016
Oh this question will have me busy for weeks.
I immediately thought of the song with the crowd sing-along chorus that actually includes "I hate this town."
The song is more about being in a girlfriend's town and hating it, but it's really fun to sing this:
And I would fly my ass back home
To Franklin and Chicago
And you would never see my face again
I hate this town and I hate your friends
I hate this town and I hate your friends!
How about the Replacements' Fuck School?
Maybe Avail - I will listen to them soon.
It's pretty un-trendy to hate your town right now.
posted by littlewater at 1:33 PM on January 12, 2016
I immediately thought of the song with the crowd sing-along chorus that actually includes "I hate this town."
The song is more about being in a girlfriend's town and hating it, but it's really fun to sing this:
And I would fly my ass back home
To Franklin and Chicago
And you would never see my face again
I hate this town and I hate your friends
I hate this town and I hate your friends!
How about the Replacements' Fuck School?
Maybe Avail - I will listen to them soon.
It's pretty un-trendy to hate your town right now.
posted by littlewater at 1:33 PM on January 12, 2016
The Pogues' "NW3" is a great twist on this. For when Dublin and London fuck you over.
posted by thetortoise at 1:46 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thetortoise at 1:46 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Songza has a playlist just for you. But only until the end of the month, when it'll be swallowed by Google.
posted by craven_morhead at 1:55 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by craven_morhead at 1:55 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Courtney Love isn't really pop-punk, or actually even from there, but Olympia is pretty damning about Olympia, WA and all of its residents.
posted by tinkletown at 2:02 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by tinkletown at 2:02 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Just to clarify, I am looking for *pop punk* songs about *hating a town.* Thanks! It's okay if they don't necessarily express a desire to leave - that might be too specific. regular punk is okay, too, as long as it leans pop
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:17 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:17 PM on January 12, 2016
Oh man, can't believe I didn't immediately think of this, since it's the first line of the song:
A Day to Remember - All Signs Point to Lauderdale
posted by General Malaise at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
A Day to Remember - All Signs Point to Lauderdale
posted by General Malaise at 2:32 PM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not really a pop punk song, but a song by a pop punk band: Ash - Someday
posted by theraflu at 2:49 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by theraflu at 2:49 PM on January 12, 2016
The Supersuckers: Glad Damn Glad
On my way, and I think it's great
I'm going back to my home state
but when I pull into town, the memory hits
the reason I left, this dump's the shits
I'm glad, damn glad I don't live here
posted by pdb at 2:56 PM on January 12, 2016
On my way, and I think it's great
I'm going back to my home state
but when I pull into town, the memory hits
the reason I left, this dump's the shits
I'm glad, damn glad I don't live here
posted by pdb at 2:56 PM on January 12, 2016
OK, not punk, but certainly shares the heart of punk. And, not exactly pop, but sometimes leans that way. So how in the name of all that is right in the world did we get 49 comments without even a nod to:
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
It's really hard not to take this personally, people. This is my youth you are ignoring.
posted by she's not there at 2:58 PM on January 12, 2016
Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
It's really hard not to take this personally, people. This is my youth you are ignoring.
posted by she's not there at 2:58 PM on January 12, 2016
The Demics - New York City
I'm getting pretty bored
And I want to get out
I'm getting pretty angry, Man
And it's no good to shout
Will I catch a bus
Or will I catch a train
I need out now baby
Cuz I'm going insane
....
I'm getting pretty tired
Of going downtown
You know the same trip everyday
It's kinda bringing me down
Will I get out
Well I wonder how
I gotta get it movin' Man
I gotta move it right now
*The Demics definitely wanted to go to NYC; unclear to me whether they wanted to leave London, Ontario or Toronto (also Ontario).
posted by cotton dress sock at 3:03 PM on January 12, 2016
I'm getting pretty bored
And I want to get out
I'm getting pretty angry, Man
And it's no good to shout
Will I catch a bus
Or will I catch a train
I need out now baby
Cuz I'm going insane
....
I'm getting pretty tired
Of going downtown
You know the same trip everyday
It's kinda bringing me down
Will I get out
Well I wonder how
I gotta get it movin' Man
I gotta move it right now
*The Demics definitely wanted to go to NYC; unclear to me whether they wanted to leave London, Ontario or Toronto (also Ontario).
posted by cotton dress sock at 3:03 PM on January 12, 2016
Psych! I'm back because something just reminded me of The Boomtown Rats Rat Trap.
Obviously, the song, like me, is too old to be officially classified as pop punk, but it totally is.
And it does seem to be about a guy who doesn't like the town he lives in very much:
Billy don't like it living here in this town
He says the traps have been sprung long before he was born
He says hope bites the dust behind all the closed doors
And pus and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores.
There's screaming and crying in the high rise blocks
It's a rat trap, Billy, but you're already caught
But you can make it if you want to or you need it bad enough
You're young and good looking and you're acting kind of tough
Anyway it's Saturday night, time to see what's going down.
Put on the bright suit, Billy, head for the right side of town
It's only 8 o'clock but you're already bored
You don't know what it is but there's got to be more
You'd better find a way out, hey kick down the door
It's a rat trap and you've been caught
posted by ernielundquist at 3:44 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Obviously, the song, like me, is too old to be officially classified as pop punk, but it totally is.
And it does seem to be about a guy who doesn't like the town he lives in very much:
Billy don't like it living here in this town
He says the traps have been sprung long before he was born
He says hope bites the dust behind all the closed doors
And pus and grime ooze from its scab crusted sores.
There's screaming and crying in the high rise blocks
It's a rat trap, Billy, but you're already caught
But you can make it if you want to or you need it bad enough
You're young and good looking and you're acting kind of tough
Anyway it's Saturday night, time to see what's going down.
Put on the bright suit, Billy, head for the right side of town
It's only 8 o'clock but you're already bored
You don't know what it is but there's got to be more
You'd better find a way out, hey kick down the door
It's a rat trap and you've been caught
posted by ernielundquist at 3:44 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Less than Jake does the "I hate this town" thing a lot, in addition to what others have already mentioned: Look What Happened, The Upwards War and the Down Turn Cycle, 24 Hours in Paramus.
posted by axiom at 4:04 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by axiom at 4:04 PM on January 12, 2016
Reversing Falls - Curse This Place
posted by release the hardwoods! at 4:06 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by release the hardwoods! at 4:06 PM on January 12, 2016
The answers to this quiz are a list of the 34 songs in the Pop Punk Bands Who Hate Their Town supercut; you can hit Play -> Give Up to skip to the list, and it's a pretty good resource that hits a lot of the high points for the trope.
Relevant but not listed:
All Time Low - The Reckless and The Brave
Looking out at a town called Suburbia
Everybody's just fighting to fit in
Little rats running mazes, having babies
It's a vicious little world that we live in
[...]
Still I'm leaving
Got a van, got a chance, got my dignity
Got a dream, got a spark, got somewhere to be
Take a breath, say goodbye
To their precious little world
(And say goodbye to me)
Boys Like Girls - The Great Escape
Paper bags and plastic hearts,
all our belongings in shopping carts
It's goodbye,
but we've got one more night
Let's get drunk and ride around
and make peace with an empty town
[...]
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
Watch it burn
Let it die
'cause we are finally free tonight
Fall Out Boy - The Carpal Tunnel of Love
Stomp out this disaster town
You'll put your eyes to the sun and say,
"I know you're only blinding to hold back what the clouds are hiding"
Fall Out Boy - The Worlds Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys in A Broken Down Van)
This might just be a waste of time
There's no one I'd rather waste
my time with than all my best friends
So start the car up
[...]
Tip our glasses to no direction, yeah
Start the van
Get me out of this one horse town
Waste this night
Jarrod Alonge/Sunrise Skater Kids - Pop Punk Pizza Party (parody of this trope and related tropes)
I'll never see Baltimore again!! ever again!!
[...]
I'm getting out of this town with my friends
October Fall - If We're All Alone Aren't We In This Together?*
Start up the engine
Lets get out by heading away from here
And there's no next year for me here
Take hits and pass it
And let all the ashes fall to the floor
*this is a pop punk band but this track isn't really genre
The Wonder Years - Cul-de-sac
I've been holding on like poison ivy
Out of cold suburban concrete
From this careless urban sprawl
I'm letting go
posted by tabbyMage at 4:26 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Relevant but not listed:
All Time Low - The Reckless and The Brave
Looking out at a town called Suburbia
Everybody's just fighting to fit in
Little rats running mazes, having babies
It's a vicious little world that we live in
[...]
Still I'm leaving
Got a van, got a chance, got my dignity
Got a dream, got a spark, got somewhere to be
Take a breath, say goodbye
To their precious little world
(And say goodbye to me)
Boys Like Girls - The Great Escape
Paper bags and plastic hearts,
all our belongings in shopping carts
It's goodbye,
but we've got one more night
Let's get drunk and ride around
and make peace with an empty town
[...]
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
Watch it burn
Let it die
'cause we are finally free tonight
Fall Out Boy - The Carpal Tunnel of Love
Stomp out this disaster town
You'll put your eyes to the sun and say,
"I know you're only blinding to hold back what the clouds are hiding"
Fall Out Boy - The Worlds Not Waiting (For Five Tired Boys in A Broken Down Van)
This might just be a waste of time
There's no one I'd rather waste
my time with than all my best friends
So start the car up
[...]
Tip our glasses to no direction, yeah
Start the van
Get me out of this one horse town
Waste this night
Jarrod Alonge/Sunrise Skater Kids - Pop Punk Pizza Party (parody of this trope and related tropes)
I'll never see Baltimore again!! ever again!!
[...]
I'm getting out of this town with my friends
October Fall - If We're All Alone Aren't We In This Together?*
Start up the engine
Lets get out by heading away from here
And there's no next year for me here
Take hits and pass it
And let all the ashes fall to the floor
*this is a pop punk band but this track isn't really genre
The Wonder Years - Cul-de-sac
I've been holding on like poison ivy
Out of cold suburban concrete
From this careless urban sprawl
I'm letting go
posted by tabbyMage at 4:26 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines rolling on
But when you get to the porch, they're gone on the wind
So Mary, climb in
It's a town full of losers, I'm pulling out of here to win
Yeah, I know, it's not even close to pop-punk, but Bruce should get more than one honorable mention (thanks, she's not there)! Thunder Road.
I went back to Ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of Ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And Muzak filled the air
From Seneca to Cuyahoga falls
Said, a, o, oh way to go Ohio
There's definitely no love here. My City Was Gone. The Pretenders.
I know that I have suggestions that are closer to the mark, and the names are frustratingly hovering right on the periphery of my consciousness. I almost catch them, and they flit away.
posted by kanewai at 6:09 PM on January 12, 2016
They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines rolling on
But when you get to the porch, they're gone on the wind
So Mary, climb in
It's a town full of losers, I'm pulling out of here to win
Yeah, I know, it's not even close to pop-punk, but Bruce should get more than one honorable mention (thanks, she's not there)! Thunder Road.
I went back to Ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of Ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And Muzak filled the air
From Seneca to Cuyahoga falls
Said, a, o, oh way to go Ohio
There's definitely no love here. My City Was Gone. The Pretenders.
I know that I have suggestions that are closer to the mark, and the names are frustratingly hovering right on the periphery of my consciousness. I almost catch them, and they flit away.
posted by kanewai at 6:09 PM on January 12, 2016
Hey, great question.
One Great City is a go-to song in this genre, and Winnipeg is pretty easy to hate, but the Weakerthans also have a beautiful track called My Favourite Chords, which touches on a more abstract kind of urban loathing.
(As an aside, the lyrics of all Weakerthans songs are brilliant little bursts of poetry).
The Deathbridge in Lethbridge by The Rural Alberta Advantage. Fast, urgent and about fucking Lethbridge. You'll beg for Winnipeg after Lethbridge.
Junkie Song, by the Be Good Tanyas, is about Vancouver. Sad in a beautiful way, and sung by one of the most gorgeous voices in music.
Depreston, by Courtney Barnett. Just a perfect dissection of suburban emptiness. It's not so much about getting the hell out as it is about not wanting to get the hell in.
Cayetana's song, Scott Get the Van, I'm Moving, doesn't mention a specific town, but I think it might have the vibe you're looking for nonetheless.
Every day is like Sunday by Morrissey qualifies, I think.
It's depressing, but Grace Cathedral Hill by the Decemberists always struck me as a song of longing about getting out of San Francisco.
Pearl Jam has a very short, simple song called Untitled, all about getting the hell out.
(The perfect 1990s encapsulation of this sentiment, in my opinion, is Summerland by Everclear).
Jason Webley's balled, Disappear, is one of my favourite let's-just-go-I-don't-care-where songs.
Interstate by the Refreshments is more about running away than about hating a particular place, but it's a pretty great song.
Hope at least some of these fit the bill.
posted by Fireland at 7:28 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
One Great City is a go-to song in this genre, and Winnipeg is pretty easy to hate, but the Weakerthans also have a beautiful track called My Favourite Chords, which touches on a more abstract kind of urban loathing.
(As an aside, the lyrics of all Weakerthans songs are brilliant little bursts of poetry).
The Deathbridge in Lethbridge by The Rural Alberta Advantage. Fast, urgent and about fucking Lethbridge. You'll beg for Winnipeg after Lethbridge.
Junkie Song, by the Be Good Tanyas, is about Vancouver. Sad in a beautiful way, and sung by one of the most gorgeous voices in music.
Depreston, by Courtney Barnett. Just a perfect dissection of suburban emptiness. It's not so much about getting the hell out as it is about not wanting to get the hell in.
Cayetana's song, Scott Get the Van, I'm Moving, doesn't mention a specific town, but I think it might have the vibe you're looking for nonetheless.
Every day is like Sunday by Morrissey qualifies, I think.
It's depressing, but Grace Cathedral Hill by the Decemberists always struck me as a song of longing about getting out of San Francisco.
Pearl Jam has a very short, simple song called Untitled, all about getting the hell out.
(The perfect 1990s encapsulation of this sentiment, in my opinion, is Summerland by Everclear).
Jason Webley's balled, Disappear, is one of my favourite let's-just-go-I-don't-care-where songs.
Interstate by the Refreshments is more about running away than about hating a particular place, but it's a pretty great song.
Hope at least some of these fit the bill.
posted by Fireland at 7:28 PM on January 12, 2016 [2 favorites]
Copyrights Expatriate Blues, entire song:
I'm not home sick, I'm sick of home
Now I know when I'm back home I'll just be visiting
Now I know that my return won't be for long
When I'm gone this bedroom town just keeps on sleeping
The same sleep every year just like when I was here
I hate it with a smile, I miss it with a sneer
You might as well mine everything they have done.
posted by littlewater at 8:35 PM on January 12, 2016
I'm not home sick, I'm sick of home
Now I know when I'm back home I'll just be visiting
Now I know that my return won't be for long
When I'm gone this bedroom town just keeps on sleeping
The same sleep every year just like when I was here
I hate it with a smile, I miss it with a sneer
You might as well mine everything they have done.
posted by littlewater at 8:35 PM on January 12, 2016
Descendents - This Place
(This place sux!)
NOFX - Leaving Jesusland
More about hating everywhere than just hating one place
Chixdiggit - I Hate Basketball
Hating your town because they don't love hockey.
posted by littlewater at 9:20 PM on January 12, 2016
(This place sux!)
NOFX - Leaving Jesusland
More about hating everywhere than just hating one place
Chixdiggit - I Hate Basketball
Hating your town because they don't love hockey.
posted by littlewater at 9:20 PM on January 12, 2016
The Matches - Destination Nowhere Near
Lyrics | Spotify
"Got to get back out of this old town now where my parents hate me"
posted by radioamy at 9:50 PM on January 12, 2016
Lyrics | Spotify
"Got to get back out of this old town now where my parents hate me"
posted by radioamy at 9:50 PM on January 12, 2016
Actual punk / pop-punk suggestion: Avail - South Bound 95: "boredom in a mobile home in nowhere u.s.a. somehow gotta make it home to rich!mond! v!a! ..."
posted by salvia at 11:59 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by salvia at 11:59 PM on January 12, 2016
(You might also see if Operation Ivy's Big City or Bad Town are at all in the ballpark. One's about inequality and the other is about violence in the scene, so probably not. )
posted by salvia at 12:03 AM on January 13, 2016
posted by salvia at 12:03 AM on January 13, 2016
Not punk, but...
Walcott - Vampire Weekend
Fast Car - Tracy Champman
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 7:52 AM on January 13, 2016
Walcott - Vampire Weekend
Fast Car - Tracy Champman
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 7:52 AM on January 13, 2016
It wasn't their home town, but the Bottle Rockets sure hated Indianapolis.
posted by leapfrog at 11:08 AM on January 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by leapfrog at 11:08 AM on January 13, 2016 [1 favorite]
Whole region of hate:
dow jones and the industrials: "can't stand the midwest"
Hollywood punks that hate the east, tangentially related to "this town" hate
Randoms - Let's Get Rid Of New York
posted by wcfields at 11:23 AM on January 13, 2016
dow jones and the industrials: "can't stand the midwest"
Hollywood punks that hate the east, tangentially related to "this town" hate
Randoms - Let's Get Rid Of New York
posted by wcfields at 11:23 AM on January 13, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
Bowling For Soup - My Hometown
posted by Captain_Science at 11:28 AM on January 12, 2016 [1 favorite]