Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Kill Me

I remember when shit wasn't complicated.  When I could do whatever the hell I wanted without any regard.  Well this isn't all true exactly because I've always had limits.  Every time I think about this I remember my favorite book of all time, the book that changed my life, PLEASE KILL ME: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. I read this book because I was obsessed with the Velvet Underground and the Ramones, which is a sweet phase that young rock n roll fans go through in life- you're young and you think that people don't understand you, you think that you're always right and you listen to "dark" music about suicide and drugs.  You're also probably obsessed with Wes Anderson and you watch Ghost World everyday, I know I did.

This is one of my most treasured books because they're a bunch of interviews chronologically put together about the birth of this awesome music genre. The characters to name a few are: Nico, Marianne Faithful, John Cale, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Dee Dee (my favorite Ramone) and the Godfather of Punk himself Lou Reid.  Lester Bangs who coined the term punk and edited the magazine with the same name compiled this book.  Of course as I was reading it I did not know who a lot of the people being interviewed were, but Bangs is such a genius to add a glossary of all the characters's names along with a short bio.

Please Kill Me tells it how it is- it's totally uncensored and you pretty much learn not only about the history of punk, but also who fucked who and who died from going overboard.

Speaking of going over the edge my favorite punk rock couple is: Sid and Nancy, RIP to the both of you. Nancy died of a stab wound and Sid of a drug overdose on a separate occasion. Sid's suicide note read, "We had a death pact, and I have to keep my end of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye.." Sad-Romantic and grimy as hell because this dude had 100% heroin in his body.

Seriously, this book will make you think about life as a precious gift. I'd say that 80% of the people in it died due to some stupid shit like drugs or chocking on their own vomit. Not cool at all.

Nancy's body taken out of the Chelsea Hotel
Photo by: Crime Scene Photographer

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