Day After Day #129: Youth Against Fascism

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Youth Against Fascism (1992)

I wouldn't necessarily consider Sonic Youth a political band, but when they do decide to write a political song, it's a doozy. 

It's funny to think back to the political scene in the early '90s. Liberals thought George H.W. Bush and the Gulf War, not to mention the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings, were signaling the end of democracy. Turns out that was barely scratching the surface. Nevertheless, things weren't great at the time and Sonic Youth was not happy about it.

SY started off in 1981 as an anti-commercial noise rock act, experimenting with feedback and unorthodox guitar tunings. Throughout the '80s, they released classic albums like Daydream Nation, Sister and Evol, but remained on the fringes of indie rock. A decade later, they had signed to DGC and while they were still unlikely to ever get played on commercial radio, Sonic Youth was writing shorter, more conventional songs. Their major label debut, 1990's Goo, was their best-selling album (#96 on the Billboard 200) and "Kool Thing" (featuring Chuck D) got some airplay on MTV. 

The band's next album was 1992's Dirty, which got a big push from DGC in the wake of Nirvana's success. I remember seeing SY playing "100%" on Late Night with David Letterman, which ended with guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo rolling around on the floor, much to Letterman's delight.

The second single was "Youth Against Fascism," which is kind of funny because there's no way in hell any radio station would play this song. Ian MacKaye provides additional guitar work on the song, which is powered by Kim Gordon's bass and Ranaldo's squalling guitar as Moore spits out the lyrics with extra vitriol.

"Another can of worms/Another stomach turns/Yeah, your ghetto burns/It's the song I hate/It's the song I hate/You got a stupid man/You got a Ku Klux Klan./Your fucking battle plan/It's the song I hate/It's the song I hate."

Moore holds nothing back as he eviscerates the Republican administration.

"A sieg heilin' squirt/You're an impotent jerk/Yeah, a fascist twerp/It's the song I hate/It's the song I hate/Black robe and swill/I believe Anita Hill/Judge'll rot in hell/It's the song I hate/It's the song I hate."

Geffen exec Mark Kates pushed to make the song the second single off the album, but it didn't sell well and got zero airplay because, well, you know. It was originally called "Hate Song" for a reason.

"Yeah, the president sucks/He's a war pig fuck/His shit is out of luck/It's the song I hate/It's the song I hate/Another Nazi attack/A skinhead is cracked/My blood is black/It's the song I hate/It's the song I hate/We're banging pots and pans/To make you understand/We're gonna bury you, man."

Sadly, we didn't realize what real fascism was until 30 years later. So I guess Thurston and the gang were on to something, even if they didn't realize what it was. I mean, we all knew Clarence Thomas sucked in 1991, but man, he's surpassed all expectations.

As for Sonic Youth, they continued releasing excellent albums until 2009. The band broke up in 2011 after Moore and Gordon announced they were splitting up (and eventually divorcing). Moore, Gordon and Ranaldo have all gone on to release solo albums in the years since. I'm glad I got to see them a few times over the years.