CARBONA YOUR ENTHUSIASM (4)

By: Adrienne Crew
August 4, 2020

One in a series of 25 enthusiastic posts, contributed by 25 HILOBROW friends and regulars, on the topic of our favorite punk songs, c. 1974–1983.

“I AND I SURVIVE” | BAD BRAINS | 1982

Being black in America is crazy-making. As I try to make it through each day — juggling creative projects with figuring out how to earn a living, now that I’ve left my job as a corporate lawyer — I’m increasingly drawn to the Bad Brains’ 1983 album Rock for Light, with its mix of hardcore ditties and reggae songs. Among the latter, the melodious “I and I Survive” — which first appeared as a single in ’82 — is my anthem.

Why must all the people keep on shooting and robbing. Why? / Why must all people keep on killing and fighting./ No, not I. I and I would never try…

In Washington, D.C., in 1977, brothers Paul D. (“H.R.”) and Earl Hudson formed the band that evolved into Bad Brains with Darryl Jenifer and Gary Miller. Bad Brains shows were fast, loud, musically sophisticated, and spectacular; H.R. performed with an intense physicality, doing back-flips, moshing, and stage-diving. Preaching the gospel of “PMA” (positive mental attitude), H.R. countered the violent nihilism of white hardcore punks who mostly hailed from D.C.’s suburbs. Touring with Minor Threat and other bands, H.R. encouraged Straight Edge kids who eschewed drugs, alcohol, tobacco, meat. Although a novelty on the scene for being an African American band, Bad Brains helped develop the template for hardcore punk nationwide. And although we might not think of reggae and punk as having much to do with each other, let’s not forget that the Sex Pistols only listened to reggae on their tour bus; and the 1981 Brixton riots, led by black Britons, were hugely influential on punk.

And why must the rich man keep on hoarding all the money / And why much this poor man, my living ain’t very funny. / No, not I. I and I would never try.

H.R. grew more troubled, as the years passed. He become mercurial, violent. There are many “crazy-ass HR” stories of missed concerts, paranoia, eccentric outfits, hallucinations, and stints in jail. He changed his moniker from “Hunting Rod” to “Human Rights” to “Joseph I.” Though “I and I” is a Rasta expression, it could be interpreted as the singer’s battling personalities as he struggled with untreated schizophrenia and homelessness. With Jah’s help, though, H.R. has survived. In one form or another, Bad Brains has continued to perform. I find that very heartening.

And what did Jah show them, I and I survive. / They tried to stop this nation but, I and I survive. / To chant down creation, I and I survive.

The “nation” in these lyrics is Jamaica — but it’s also the African diaspora throughout the centuries, as depicted on the cover of this single. It’s hard to be black in this world, and it always has been. But we will survive.

***

CARBONA YOUR ENTHUSIASM (2020): Series introduction by Josh Glenn | Mimi Lipson on Flipper’s “Sex Bomb” | James Parker on The Jam’s “Going Underground” | Dan Fox on The Cramps’ “Human Fly” | Adrienne Crew on Bad Brains’ “I and I Survive” | Devin McKinney on Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” | Deb Chachra on The Buzzcocks’ “Ever Fallen in Love” | Mark Kingwell on The Demics’ “New York City” | Jessamyn West on Dead Kennedys’ “Kill the Poor” | Douglas Wolk on The Homosexuals’ “Soft South Africans” | Josh Glenn on The Freeze’s “This is Boston, Not L.A.” | Stephanie Burt on Sorry’s “Imaginary Friend” | Luc Sante on Public Image Ltd.’s “Public Image” | Miranda Mellis on X-Ray Spex’s “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” | Adam McGovern on The Clash’s “Washington Bullets” | Mandy Keifetz on Germs’ “Forming” | Gordon Dahlquist on The Sex Pistols’ “Problems” | Anthony Miller on The Soft Boys’ “I Wanna Destroy You” | Deborah Wassertzug on The Mekons’ “Where Were You?” | Tor Aarestad on Gang of Four’s “Return the Gift” | Marc Weidenbaum on The Pop Rivets’ “Dream of ’63” | David Smay on The Rezillos’ “(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures” | Vanessa Berry on The Cure’s “So What” | Chelsey Johnson on The Slits’ “Typical Girls” | Lynn Peril on Crass’s “Smother Love” | Mike Watt on The Dils’ “You’re Not Blank”.

MORE ENTHUSIASM at HILOBROW

CARBONA YOUR ENTHUSIASM (4)

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