Straight Edge (song)

"Straight Edge" is a track from Minor Threat's 1981 eponymous debut 7" EP, later reissued both as part of the 1984 collection Minor Threat, then as part of 1989's Complete Discography. The song was the inspiration for a movement in a punk subculture known as straight edge.[1]

"Straight Edge"
Song by Minor Threat
from the EP Minor Threat
ReleasedJune 1981 (1981-06)
GenreHardcore punk
Length0:46
LabelDischord
Songwriter(s)Ian MacKaye
Producer(s)Ian MacKaye, Minor Threat

Cultural impact
Main article: Straight edge

The song provides a succinct summary of Ian MacKaye's interpretation of the straight edge philosophy, in the four opening lines,

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.

The song continues to specify abstinence from snorting white powder (cocaine), speed (amphetamines), smoking dope (marijuana), sniffing glue (inhalants), and qualude use.

This anti-inebriation movement had been developing in punk prior to this song,[2] but the song was a major influence in giving the scene a name and, in frontman Ian MacKaye, something of a (somewhat unwilling) figurehead.[3] The song is also notable as being, at 46 seconds long, unusually short, especially considering its cultural impact. The track's themes were later followed up, and further detailed by the later Minor Threat songs "Out of Step (With the World)" and "In My Eyes".

Critical reception

Along with being cited regularly as an important moment in founding the straight edge punk scene, the track has continued to receive critical plaudits, with Pitchfork Media stating that "Straight Edge" "rings with as much immediacy as it ever has",[4] while AllMusic's Blake Butler describes it as an "anthemic, pulse pounding manifesto", citing "this song's importance in the progression of hardcore".[5]

Personnel

NOFX cover version

Punk band NOFX covered the song on their 1992 album White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean. The song is played with a jazz melody, and sung in the style of Louis Armstrong.

References
  1. Cogan, Brian (2008). The Encyclopedia of Punk. New York: Sterling. ISBN 978-1-4027-5960-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Haenfler, Ross (2006). Straight Edge: Hardcore Punk, Clean Living Youth, and Social Change. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3851-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  3. Azerrad, Michael (2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 121. ISBN 0-316-78753-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. "Minor Threat First Demo Tape review". Pichfork Media.
  5. "Minor Threat Straight Edge". AllMusic.
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