This is a photo of my friend
Steve's Straight Edge tattoo, it's pure awesome. A guy in a whirlwind of fire with booze, drugs and women flying at him. Of course a nice added touch is the tattoo of the
Egg Hunt lyrics, "we all fall down" written underneath. I took this photo at
Ian &
Ashlyn's wedding where there was no shortage of current and ex Straight Edge dudes. As Steve once put it, "you never really appreciate your Straight Edge tattoo, until you start drinking."
6 comments:
There is no such thing as ex- straight edge, Straight edge is a life long commitment, if you are "ex-straight edge" then you were never straight edge at all.
Hi Dan,
I find it funny that you would refer to me as "never straight edge at all." From 1987-1998 I was straight edge. I sang in a band(CleanX)I didn't smoke, drink, do drugs or fuck and as far as the lyrics from Ian Mackaye went, I was straight edge. There was nothing about straight edge that stated it was a life long commitment. A commitment to what? A belief? For me, It was a way of life. My life has changed and will continue to change.
Mac. Steve is cool. check out his old band Heckle.
Cheers to both of you. Let me know when you start drinking. You will probably find out that a lot of your straight edge idols drink now too.
I'm not of the "if you're not now you never were" camp, it's just a silly thing to say.
But seriously man, if you used to be Straight Edge, you're fully aware of how stupid it sounds when older burnout dudes try to tell you that you'll sell out some day. I'm not a high school kid or anything, I've been Edge for ten years so I'm not really impressed that you're old and used to be in a band in the early 90s or anything.
And to be honest, Mike Judge is the only Straight Edge idol of mine that sold out. All the rest, Mark from Floorpunch, Karl from Earth Crisis, Greg from Trial, Dave from DTN, Jason from Count Me Out, Civ from Gorilla Biscuits, and Toby from H2O are all still Edge.
Two of my friends are over 40 and still Edge, and when people like John McKaig are still carrying on after the 50 year mark, you lost all your ability to talk about how everyone sells out.
You walked away from a really great ideal and that's whatever dude, I don't even know you, but to spout all that "let me know when you start drinking" bullshit just makes you sound really sad.
Being Straight Edge during my formidable years honestly saved my life. I’m a better person for it for sure. I also realize that I am one of those washed up has-beens. I wouldn’t be impressed with me either, but this is my personal blog of self glorification. I post things that make me laugh. I am aware that there is nothing vainer than having a blog about one’s self. Anyway, I never thought I would start drinking, but I did, and Beer is delicious. There truly isn’t anything better than having a skate session with friends and having a couple of beers. You are right; there are a lot of great people out there that are still straight edge. In fact I had the privilege of sitting next to Steve Larson (drummer of Insted) at ex-straight edger Paul Miner‘s (of Death by Stereo) wedding, and guess what, he’s still straight edge. Listen, this isn’t a name dropping party, it’s just reality the only reason I mentioned I was in a band, is the simple fact that when you are a part of the punk rock DIY or straight edge scene, you are part of something precious and awesome and the friends that I have met through those years are friends for life. At this point in our lives, we can look back on our straight edge days and raise a beer and reflect. It’s nostalgic. Sad. Cool. Lame. Weird. Pointless. Worthwhile.
I didn't even know that "straight edge" was a movement anymore.
I've been straight edge for 15 years, and it seems to have gotten a little twisted from the orgional point.
It WAS kids that enjoyed punk music, liked to dance like a goofball at live shows, and mostly did what they WANTED, and not what society dubbed as "acceptable." BUT there were some kids who stood up and said, "We do these things because we are INDIVIDUALS with an open mind... not because we're on drugs."
I have still taken the high road in my life... but if I put others down because they have had a drink, (NOT turned into a drunk... THAT'S different)then essentially I am saying that you're not a good person because you haven't conformed to the label, "Straight edge." I agree-- the next generation of sXe-ers are missing the point.
@Dan
hahaha that sounds exactly like what the christians used to tell me. 'if you turn away from christ it means you were never christian at all.'
The idea of being straight edge is kind of gross to me, but I get the sentiments of the original edge people. Individuality over being constantly high, etc.
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