The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "After the Music Is Over" from While We're at It (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (1983-2003, 2007-present) released While We're at It, their tenth studio album, this very summer, June 2018.

"After the music is over,
When what needs to be has been said,
After the tears have all been shed,
When it's over, what is after that?…

"How can it be insanity has now become the norm?
Who knew you could just go from good so quickly to bad form?
To think you blink or turn your back and then turn back around
And everything is different, inside out, and upside down!

"After it is over, it will happen overnight,
When there's nothing left to sing about and nothing left to write,
We'll still have each other after all that has been lost,
There are hills still we can climb together and bridges to be crossed…

"After the music's over,
We will hear the music once again,
After the music's over,
We will hear the music again."

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "1-2-8" from Let's Face It (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: Of course, by this late date it's been twenty-one years since the release of the seminal Let's Face It.

"One, two, what's in the stew?
Three, four, no one's really sure.
Five, six, what's in the mix?
Seven, eight, this stuff tastes great!"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Less Than Jake, "Last One Out of Liberty City" from Hello Rockview (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary:

"I know, I know, I know,
I know just who I am,
And what's in my head
Is that I don't really give a damn
Just who you think I am,
Just who I am, just who I am (Just who I!)…

"The other day, this girl came up to me and asked
If she used to go to school with me, and kinda laughed,
And she said, wasn't I the guy
Her friends always called a waste of time?…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Hippos, "Asleep at the Wheel" from Forget the World (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary:

"I'm falling asleep, asleep at the wheel,
This feels like a dream, is this real?
I've had too much coffee to drink,
Caffeine's got to my brain, I can't think,
I don't think I'll make it this time…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "S.R. (the many versions of)" from Our Live Album Is Better than Your Live Album, Disc 1: More Shtick than You Can Shake a Stick At (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: "S.R. (the many versions of)" is part of the plentiful shtick (which, it is claimed, is more than at which one could shake a stick), the chorus of "S.R." represented in numerous musical styles, including: punk rock, the blues, disco, country, garage rock, old-school rap, death metal—

Scott: "It's terrifying!"
Aaron: "Yeah. That was scary & it got people too excited."
Scott: "I think they cheered the loudest for that one, so far."
Aaron: "Well, I think that was the best, that's why."
Scott: "Does that mean we're on a roll?"
Aaron: "I think we're on a roll. You know, this, this bit never gets old."
Scott: "It never does! Not for us anyway."

—& last & almost certainly least, emo.

Aaron: "I say we just cut it from the set list from now on."
Scott: "It's gone!"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "S.R." from Turn the Radio Off (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: In the salad days of 1998, when I'd espied barely the tip of the iceberg of ska, I had no idea that influential & much beloved ska bands had already come & gone. Suburban Rhythm broke up three years before their only album, the appropriately self-titled Suburban Rhythm, was released. At the time, when I first heard "S.R.," I had no idea who Suburban Rhythm were, though I intuited the basics from context clues.

"What ever happened to Suburban Rhythm?
Why did Ed and Scott quit?
Please don't go, Suburban Rhythm,
All the other bands are just shit…"

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Save Ferris, "Under 21" from It Means Everything (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: Hard as it is to believe, back in the Nineties even an old, old man such as your humble narrator was, in fact, under twenty-one years of age.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "365 Days" from Question the Answers (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary:

"I'm empty of answers,
Don't nobody search me.
The long neck's a twist-off;
You don't need a church key.

"I'm still full of questions,
But can't quite see clear.
Twist off another,
Twist off another,
Twist off another,
And bring on next year…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Today: SKAugust!

The Aquabats!, "Pinch and Roll!" from The Return of The Aquabats! (Captain Thumbs Up!)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Yesterday: SKAugust

Donnerstag, 23. August
Dance Hall Crashers, "Better Than Anything" from The Old Record (1989-1992) (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: It's not just rude boys who experience heartbreak. Rude girls are also unlucky in love.

"For so long I thought you were better than anything,
But now I realize that you're not the way you seem…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Edna's Goldfish, "This Is Not Here" from Before You Knew Better… (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: High melodrama, back at the turn of the millennium.

"Seems like I just learned to care,
I know that you will, but don't you dare,
Point your stare
In my direction,
The inflection
In your voice says things aren't working out,
But I've got some doubt.

"'Almost' is a dirty word when you're seventeen,
Regret can kill you when you turn twenty…

But I can't wait that long to hear what happens next
And it's been so long since I've been put to the test."

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Johnny Socko, "Man in Disguise" from Full Trucker Effect (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: "Man in Disguise" is an obscure ska cover by an obscure ska band, Johnny Socko, of an even more obscure ska song by an even more obscure ska band, BOP(harvey), from the antediluvian days of third-wave ska.

"…(gibberish) singing our style,
Here come the music, gonna play for you a while,
Gonna be fast, gonna be slow,
Gonna be songs you just don't know…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "Everything Sucks" from Turn the Radio Off (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary:

"There's a ska band on my street,
A little ska band, everything thinks that they're so fucking neat,
There was nothing on the radio,
Gonna make my own band, play my own show,
They don't work; so, I'm giving up again.

"She said she loved me 'cause I play guitar,
That's O.K., I didn't love her at all,
And I sing, giving up because—

"I know everything sucks, yeah!
I know everything sucks, whoa-o-o!
I know everything sucks, yeah!
And this is gonna be the last time you hear me complain!

"Well, I went down to the show,
Everybody was there, I didn't want to go,
(Here we go!)
'Cause everything they do is so fucking cool,
Every song is a hit and the girls like 'em, too,
I can't do that; so, I'm giving up again.

"I don't know why I learned to play guitar,
Nobody's gonna know who we are,
And I sing, 'Giving up because—

"I know everything sucks, yeah!
I know everything sucks, whoa-o-o!
I know everything sucks, yeah!
And this is gonna be the last time you hear me complain!

"She said, 'Someday, we'll get back together, maybe.'
She said, 'Someday, things will be much better, baby.'
But I don't believe her,
I don't think I need her anymore!…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Less Than Jake, "Automatic" from Losing Streak (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary:

"I think I think I know it all,
Can I be sure of the things I've grown to know about?
And can I say I know it all
When rules just guide me to blindly follow?

"Bad things are automatic when you see them everyday (everyday),
Is it the same routine
Or just my fucked up dream
That keep you walking mindless all the way?…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "Beer" (live) from Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album, Disc 1: More Shtick Than You Can Shake a Stick At (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: In advance, I'd selected another ska song as the R.B.D.S.O.T.D. for today, but then today turned out to be a terrible, terrible day, in the midst of which I found some slight solace in singing a few lines from "Beer."

"She looks like heaven,
Maybe this is hell,
Said she'd do it all again,
Promised not to tell…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

MU330, "Hang Tuff Hold Tight" from Chumps on Parade (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: The intentional misspelling of tough as "tuff" notwithstanding, the title needs a comma & thus should be "Hang Tuff, Hold Tight." Alternately, "Hang Tuff! Hold Tight!"

I espy the hand of Providence in today's R.B.D.S.O.T.D., specifically in its timing. I originally chose "Hang Tuff Holt Tight" to be Tuesday's SKAugust R.B.D.S.O.T.D., before the back-to-back inspirations to choose "Dr. D." & "Bad in Plaid." Unbeknownst to me when these decisions were being made, a time when Thursday looked like a light day, a day of most welcome respite from all my recent extraordinary exertions (atop & in addition to all my ordinary exertions), today is turning out to be diabolically difficult. I'm on the verge here. I needed to hear a message to hang tough & hold tight. I am in continuing need of taking that message to heart.

"When I look down,
I sometimes see the ground.
(Hang tough! Hold tight!)
I try to hold on,
But the van keeps spinning around.

"(Hang tough! Hold tight!)
The ride's not over yet,
(Hang tough! Hold tight!)
The ride's not over yet…"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Bad in Plaid" from More Noise and Other Disturbances (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: 'Tis gratifying to recall that even after all these years, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are still bad in plaid.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Dr. D" from More Noise and Other Disturbances (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: Even legends such as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones have to start somewhere. "Dr. D" recalls their early years rehearsing, honing their craft in the home of the parents of original drummer Josh Dalsimer.

"Waaaah! What are these noises?

"We're sending this one out to a beautiful, beautiful human being.

"Noise, noise, noise from down below,
And it's coming from the basement,
It's underneath the house now,
And it's rocking the foundation.
It's a noise we love to make,
And for years we have been making;
While Doctor D watches T.V.
His house is fucking shaking.

"He lets us practice in his place (In his place!),
He's got a wife with a pretty face (Pretty face!),
Takes vacation, owns property (Dr. D!),
Dr. Dalsimer, Dr. D.!

"In the daytime what's he doing?
Upstairs in the attic
He's saving lives from ruin
And sorting through the static,
He puts back together
Brains, I guess they're broken,
Bip, bip, bip, bip, bip, bip, bip, bip,
Man, I'm not fucking joking!

"He lets us practice in his place (In his place!),
He's got a wife with a pretty face (Pretty face!),
Takes vacation, owns property (Dr. D!),
Dr. Dalsimer, Dr. D.!

"Waaaah! What are these noises?
Waaaah! What are these noises?

"Nice!
Nice!

"Nice, nice, nice neighborhood,
A nice place to raise the kids,
They're tough things to obtain
But Dr. D., he did.
Worked hard to take it easy,
Worked hard and wasn't lazy,
Guitars, drums, tones, saxophones;
He must be fucking crazy!

"He lets us practice in his place (In his place!),
He's got a wife with a pretty face (Pretty face!),
Takes vacation, owns property (Dr. D!),
Dr. Dalsimer, Dr. D.!

"Waaaah! What are these noises?
Waaaah! What are these noises?"

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Reel Big Fish, "Boyfriend" from Everything Sucks (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: I never thought that I'd be a heartbreaker. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would repeatedly have to frustrate & ultimately thwart the unbidden romantic intentions of eligible maidens. Yes, maidens, plural; remarkably enough, this is not a black swan phenomenon.

"They want me to be their boyfriend,
They want me to be their boyfriend.

"I can take you anyplace you want to go,
I can show you anything you want to see,
I can be whatever you want me to be,
I can be whatever you want me to be…

"Don't you want me to be your boyfriend?
Don't you want me to be your boyfriend?…

"They want me to be their boyfriend,
They want me to be their boyfriend,
They want me to be their boyfriend,
They want me to be their boyfriend.

"I can take you anyplace you want to go,
I can show you anything you want to see,
I can be whatever you want me to be,
I can be whatever you want me to be.

"Boyfriend!
Boyfriend!
Boyfriend!
Boyfriend!

They want me to be their boyfriend,
They want me to be their boyfriend."

Bonus! Song o' the Day: SKAugust

Dance Hall Crashers, "He Wants Me Back" from The Old Record (1989-1992) (The Last Angry Rude Boy)

Skammentary: Many of the romantic wounds rude boys lament are self-inflicted, as the rude girls of D.H.C. remind us.

"Yesterday the leaves were brown,
And I was wearing a big frown,
Because my lover left me for the girl,
That he had loved before.

"The sky was cloudy then turned blue,
Because I saw it was no use
To want someone whose heart was elsewhere,
So I decided not to care, oh yeah!

"He wants me back,
But he can't have me,
He wants me back,
There's no denying,
He want me back,
He's on his knees,
Now we'll see who's crying.

"The grass is greener without you, it's true,
So many things for me to do,
Living my life for me and on my own,
It is so great to be alone.

"And now you're knocking at my door, ha ha,
You've realized you love me more,
Well I've no time to hear apologies,
I've got the world to see.

"He wants me back,
But he can't have me,
He wants me back,
There's no denying,
He wants me back,
He's on his knees,
Now we'll see who's crying…"