1. Straight Edge Movement
2. Straight Edge Love Songs

1. Those songs, 'Straight-Edge,' and 'Out of Step,' outlined MacKaye's personal feelings on the hedonism of the day, and the rules were simple: No drinking, no drugs, no smoking, no casual sex. (Over time this would eventually include both vegetarianism and Veganism.) MacKaye eventually backed off, stating that he had not meant to start a movement.
2. Lyrics to 'Straight Edge' by Minor Threat. I'm a person just like you But I've got better things to do Than sit around and fuck my head Hang out with the living dead Snort white shit up my nose.

Minor Threat (also referred to as First Two Seven Inches) is a compilation album by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat. It was released in March 1984 through Dischord Records. The compilation consisted of the group's first and second extended plays, Minor Threat (originally released June 1981) and In My Eyes (originally released December 1981). The 1984 Minor Threat LP featured the same cover as the 1981 Minor Threat EP, depicting vocalist Ian MacKaye's younger brother Alec (Untouchables, The Faith). The image has been imitated by punk bands such as Rancid on their album ...And Out Come the Wolves and in the Major Threat ad campaign by Nike.

All the tracks from the Minor Threat and In My Eyes EPs are available on CD on the Minor Threat's 1989 compilation album Complete Discography and also on Dischord 1981: The Year in 7's.

Album information[edit]

Hardcore band Minor Threat coined the term in the song “Straight Edge” and inadvertently outlined its credo in “Out of Step” with the lyrics “(I) Don’t drink. (I) Don’t smoke.

NOW DOING FULL PUNK ALBUM REVIEWS!!! This is a video of my picks to be the top 5 best straight-edge hardcore songs ever made. This is my first u. Album information 'Straight Edge', a song from the Minor Threat EP, inadvertently inspired the straight edge movement. The song, while written merely as an account of MacKaye's personal views and lifestyle, was seen to be a call for abstinence from drugs and alcohol, a then-unusual concept for punk rock and rock music in general. 'Out of Step,' from the follow-up In My Eyes EP, further.

'Straight Edge', a song from the Minor Threat EP, inadvertently inspired the straight edge movement. The song, while written merely as an account of MacKaye's personal views and lifestyle, was seen to be a call for abstinence from drugs and alcohol, a then-unusual concept for punk rock and rock music in general.

Straight Edge Movement

'Out of Step,' from the follow-up In My Eyes EP, further demonstrates the aesthetic: '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/ I'm out of step with the world.' Some in Minor Threat, particularly drummer Jeff Nelson, took exception to what they saw as MacKaye's imperious attitude on the song. This spurred the band to re-record the track as the title song of their 1983 Out of Step album, on which MacKaye clearly sang 'I don't drink/smoke/fuck' (as was the intent of his words all along), and an argument between him and Nelson in which he states that 'this is no set of rules, I'm not telling you what to do' was surreptitiously recorded by producer Don Zientara to be dubbed onto the track right before the final chorus. According to Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins' Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital, this argument was over exactly what would be said in the message that Nelson wanted MacKaye to record stating essentially what he said without knowing it was being recorded.

'In My Eyes' is an anti-drug song which has been covered by rap metal band Rage Against the Machine, among others. Along with 'Straight Edge' and 'Out of Step,' 'In My Eyes' helped to solidify views of Minor Threat as a band with an anti-drug platform. Unlike the original 'Straight Edge,' a relatively standard hardcore composition, each verse of 'In My Eyes' seethes with anger and contempt, building up to the cathartic release of the chorus.

'Guilty of Being White' led to accusations of racial prejudice, due to perceived similarities between the song's lyrics and that of white power rhetoric which often frames the majority race as victims at the hands of a minority group. However, MacKaye has strongly denied such intentions and said that some listeners misinterpreted his words. According to him, the song was written about his experiences growing up in Washington, D.C. at a time of high racial tension, where the majority race in his school was African-American and many black students were hostile towards whites. Slayer later covered the song, though they changed the lyric 'guilty of being white' to 'guilty of being right' at the song's climax.

'Minor Threat' is a youth anthem which has been covered by bands as diverse as Sublime, Silverchair, Rise Against, Title Fight, and Pennywise.

'Steppin' Stone' is a cover, written by the team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart in the mid-1960s, and first recorded by Paul Revere & the Raiders and later the Monkees. 'Steppin' Stone' has been covered by many punk acts including the Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders, Untouchables, State of Alert, and Government Issue.

Track listing[edit]

Personnel[edit]

• Ian MacKaye – lead vocals
• Lyle Preslar – guitar, backing vocals
• Brian Baker – bass, backing vocals
• Jeff Nelson – drums

Additional performers

• Alec MacKaye – backing vocals

Production

• Skip Groff; Minor Threat – producers
• Don Zientara – engineer
• Minor Threat; Don Zientara – mixing
• Skip Groff – mastering
• Jeff Nelson – graphic design
• Susie Josephson – cover art (Minor Threat)
• Gary Cousins – front cover art (In My Eyes)
• Anna Connelly – back cover art (In My Eyes)
• Glen E. Friedman; Al Flipside; Naomi Petersen – photography

References[edit]

1. ^Jansen, Skip. 'Minor Threat: First 2 7'S [EP] – Minor Threat'. AllMusic. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
2. ^ ^abKemp, Mark (2004). 'Minor Threat'. In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 544. ISBN0-7432-0169-8.
3. ^Sutton, Terri (1995). 'Minor Threat/Fugazi'. In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 251–52. ISBN0-679-75574-8.

Straight Edge History

HISTORY

By 1980, punk rock, one of the most innovative and confrontational music and art movements of the modern era, was careening towards the “No Future” refrain from the Sex Pistols’ anthem “God Save the Queen.” Pistols bassist Sid Vicious had died/committed suicide of a heroin overdose and a year later the Germs’ Darby Crash did likewise. The romantic “live fast, die young” mantra was increasingly becoming a grim reality, as many punks piled hard drugs on top of abundant booze, glue, and weed.

Yet from punk came hardcore, an aggressive, fast, stripped-down style inspired by pioneers such as Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Fear, and Bad Brains. And hardcore would quickly spawn a counterculture within the punk counterculture, kids who believed true punk revolution lie in not using drugs, in not drinking oneself to death. Despite its seeming anti-rebellious rebellion, straight edge punk persists as a vibrant element of many music scenes and as an important culture in its own right.

Minor Threat. Photo: Malcolm Rivera.

Straight edge (sXe) emerged in Washington, D.C., around 1980 as a response to the hedonistic and nihilistic tendencies in the punk scene (Haenfler 2006; Wood 2006). Some punks were drawn to the punk scene’s innovative music and art, anti-authoritarian politics, and DIY ethos but were skeptical of the prevalent substance use/abuse, seeing drugs and alcohol as self-destructive and pacifying. Hardcore band Minor Threat coined the term in the song “Straight Edge” and inadvertently outlined its credo in “Out of Step” with the lyrics “(I) Don’t drink. (I) Don’t smoke. (I) Don’t fuck. At least I can fucking think.” Minor Threat’s singer Ian MacKaye claimed that being “straight” (drug-free) gave one an advantage, an edge in life. Straight edge became a lifetime commitment to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs and “promiscuous” sex. By 1986, what had begun as an aspect of the punk scene developed into its own movement, with sXe bands such as Youth of Today and BOLD actively promoting “clean living.” Since then, sXe has spread across the world, from Sweden to South Africa, Japan to Brazil.

While straight edge holds different meanings to many different people, a lifetime commitment to abstaining from drugs, tobacco, and alcohol remains the cornerstone of the movement: no drinking, no smoking, no recreational drugs. Many also speak out against “conquest” sex, or using others for temporary gratification. Beyond these basic principles, adherents have blended straight edge with other lifestyles and ideologies. Many adopt vegetarian or vegan diets. Some avoid caffeine. Others combine their straight edge identity with (usually) progressive politics such as anti-fascism/racism, feminism, and animal rights. But substance-free living remains the bedrock of straight edge culture, a promise meant to be for life.

While straight edgers (sXers) exist in many music scenes, and some have little or no connection to music, many are or were connected to the hardcore scene. Hardcore – originally, “hardcore punk” – emerged in California (e.g. Black Flag), Washington, D.C. (Bad Brains), and New York (Agnostic Front) in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s as a faster, more aggressive style of punk, and has since become a global genre (Haenfler, 2015). It encompasses a variety of musical styles, but tends towards screamed or shouted vocals, relatively short songs, few guitar solos, and anti-commercialism. Straight edge, like underground punk and hardcore, fiercely advocated a DIY ethic. Bands performed at “shows” versus concerts, small all-ages venues with low door prices and less distance between audience and performers (both physically and figuratively).

Adherents of straight edge are most recognizable when they “X up,” drawing a black X on their hands with a felt tip pen. The X began its march towards becoming the universal straight edge symbol via the cover of the Teen Idles’ Minor Disturbance ep, which features crossed hands each marked with a large X, and it reappears on countless straight edge records. Originally meant to distinguish underage fans at shows so they would not be served alcohol, the X became a sign of defiance to self-destructive punk and an intoxicated culture more generally. While not every straight edge person walks around with X’d-up hands, many have X (or other straight edge related) tattoos or wear shirts with X designs.

While most adherents in the US are white and tend to be middle class, there is significant regional variation; Latin@s have a strong presence in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, and many urban scenes and more diverse in terms of class and race, if not gender. The scene remains cis-male-dominated, though many women identify as sXe in spite of their marginalization (Haenfler, 2004; Mullaney, 2007) Despite their conservative lifestyle, manysXers are politically progressive, with participation in animal rights, anti-fascist, and ecological movements relatively common and many

Earth Crisis t-shirt

adopting vegetarian or vegan lifestyles. While many sXers eventually leave the hardcore scene and abandon their drug-free commitment (commonly referred to by sXers as “selling out”), a substantial number remain sXe into their thirties, forties, and beyond (Mullaney, 2012).

The live performance is where straight edge hardcore truly shines. The frenetic chaos of the punk circle pit reached new levels as hardcore kids incorporated kung-fu kicks, maniacal stomping, and acrobatic stage dives into their moshing repertoire. During the most transcendent hardcore shows the band and audience are virtually indistinguishable, as kids literally crawl over one another to sing into the mic, and divers burst onto the stage before catapulting into the melee below.

Despite a few high-profile straight edgers – professional wrestler CM Punk, pro baseball player C. J. Wilson, and, controversially, Metallica’s James Hetfield – straight edge hardcore remains remarkably underground. A few successful bands, such as Rise Against, Killswitch Engage, and Throwdown, have straight edge members. Still, since its inception, straight edge has spread around the world, with vibrant hardcore scenes from Indonesia and South Africa to Brazil and Sweden. What follows is a brief tour through straight edge history using some of the key bands and records to illustrate significant moments in the scene.

Gender and straight edge – not just boys’ fun?

Violence, crews, and … gangs?!

Media

Straight Edge Love Songs

MEDIA

Documentaries

Edge: Perspectives on a Drug Free Culture(2009)

A documentary featuring interviews with a variety of US straight edgers, including Ian MacKaye, Karl Buechner (Earth Crisis), Ray Cappo (Youth of Today), and Kent McClard (Ebullition Records).

Inside Straight Edge (National Geographic Channel, 2008)

A NatGeo special examining both the “posi” side of straight edge and the notion of straight edge as a gang.

“There Will Be Quiet: The Story of Judge” (Noisey 2015)

A four part documentary about the enigmatic Mike Judge and a pivotal moment in straight edge history when positivity met militancy.

Foundational music

Minor Threat – Minor Threat (1984, but collecting the first two EPs released earlier)

Straight edge emerges with the 46-second song “Straight Edge,” a product of seminal Washington, D.C. hardcore band Minor Threat released on one of the pinnacles of DIY punk labels, Dischord Records.

Earth Crisis – Firestorm (1993)

Combining youth crew’s outspoken commitment to straight edge with Manliftingbanner’s direct politics, Syracuse, New York’s Earth Crisis became the face of vegan straight edge throughout the 1990s.

Scholarship

SIGNIFICANT SCHOLARSHIP

Books

Haenfler, Ross. 2006. Straight Edge: Clean-Living Youth, Hardcore Punk, and Social Change. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Ethnographic study of US straight edgers, focusing especially on subcultural resistance, gender, and considering straight edge as a new form of social movement.

Wood, Robert T. 2006. Straightedge: Complexity and Contradictions of a Subculture. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Study of the many variations and changes in straight edge over time, based upon interview data and analysis of song lyrics.

Articles

Haenfler, Ross. 2004. “Rethinking Subcultural Resistance: Core Values of the Straight Edge Movement.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 33(1):406-436.

Mullhaney, Jamie. 2007. “‘Unity Admirable but Not Necessarily Heeded’: Going Rates and Gender Boundaries in the Straight Edge Hardcore Music Scene.” Gender & Society 21(3):384-408.

Torkelson, Jason. 2010. “Life After (Straightedge) Subculture.”Qualitative Sociology 33:257-274.

Williams, J. Patrick and Heith Copes. 2005. “‘How Edge are You?’ Constructing Authentic Identities and Subcultural Boundaries in a Straightedge Internet Forum.”Symbolic Interaction 28(1):67-89.

Other resources

Kuhn, Gabriel (ed.). 2010. Sober Living for the Revolution. Oakland, CA: PM Press. Collection of articles and interviews with straight edgers, scholars, and activists from around the world on the political potentials of straight edge.

Lahickey, Beth. 1997. All Ages: Reflection on Straight Edge. Huntington Beach, CA: Revelation Books. A book of interviews with many of the key musicians and other insiders who shaped the youth crew era of straight edge.

Peterson, Brian. 2009. Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound. Huntington Beach, CA: Revelation Records Publishing. Features interviews with a variety of musicians of ‘90s era hardcore along with insightful commentary around hardcore politics and spirituality.