"Chickenshit Conformist" lyrics

Punk's not dead; it just deserves to die
When it becomes another stale cartoon
A closed-minded, self-centered social club
Ideas don't matter; it's who you know
If the music's gotten boring, it's because of the people
Who want everyone to sound the same
Who drive the bright people out of our so-called scene
Till all that's left is just a meaningless fad

Hardcore formulas are dog shit, change and caring are what's real
Is this a state of mind or just another label?
The joy and hope of an alternative has become its own cliché
A hairstyle's not a lifestyle, imagine Sid Vicious at thirty-five

Who needs a scene? Scared to love and to feel
Judging everything by loud, fast rules' appeal
Who played last night? "I don't know. I forgot
But diving off the stage was a lot of fun"

So eager to please peer pressure decrees
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
Chickenshit conformist like your parents

What's ripped us apart even more than drugs
Are the thieves and the goddamn liars
Ripping people off when they share their stuff
When someone falls, are there any friends?
Harder-core-than-thou for a year or two
Then it's time to get a real job
Others stay home; it's no fun to go out
When the gigs are wrecked by gangs and thugs
When the thugs form bands, look who gets record deals
From New York metal labels looking to scam
Who sign the most racist queer-bashing bands they can find
To make a buck revving kids up for war

Walk tall, act small, only as tough as gang approval
Unity is bullshit when it's under someone's fat boot
Where's the common cause?
Too many factions safely sulk in their shells
"Agree with us on everything or we won't help with anything"
That kind of attitude just makes a split grow wider

Guess who's laughing while the world explodes?
When we're all crybabies who fight best among ourselves

So eager to please peer pressure decrees
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
Chickenshit conformist like your parents

That farty, old rock-and-roll attitude's back
"It's competition, man; we wanna break big"
Who needs friends when the money's good?
That's right, the '70s are back
Cock-rock metal's like a bad laxative
It just don't move me, ya know?
The music's okay when there's more ideas than solos
Do we really need the attitude, too?

Shedding thin skin too quickly, as a fan, it disappoints me
Same old, stupid, sexist lyrics or is Satan all you can think of?
"Crossover" is just another word for lack of ideas
Maybe what we need are more trolls under the bridge
Will the metalheads finally learn something?
Or will the punks throw away their education?

No one's ever the best once they believe their own press
"Maturing" don't mean rehashing mistakes of the past

So eager to please peer pressure decrees
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
Chickenshit conformist like your parents

The more things change, the more they stay the same
We can't grow when we won't criticize ourselves
The '60s weren't all failure, it's the '70s that stunk
As the clock ticks, we dig the same hole
Music scenes ain't real life, they won't get rid of the bomb
Won't eliminate rape or bring down the banks
Any kind of real change takes more time and work
Than changing channels on a TV set

So, why are we so eager to please peer pressure decrees?
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
Chickenshit conformist like your parents