The Minutemen "History Lesson - Part 2"

Or, Our Band Could Be Your Life

"Punk rock changed our lives." D Boon and Mike Watt learned punk rock in Hollywood, driving up from San Pedro. They would pogo at X shows. Listen to the song - it tells you the whole story. All you need to know. D Boon and Mike Watt playing guitars.

In 1980, D Boon, Mike Watt formed The Minutemen. George Hurley was eventually added as their permanent drummer. They opened up for Black Flag on their first gig. Enough said.

Their magnum opus was, of course, 1984's double-album, Double Nickels on the Dime, released on the seminal LA punk label, SST records. It sprawls across 43 iconoclastic songs that cannot be labelled. There are many shining highlights. There also are as many songs that do not reflect light out at the listener, they remain hidden. The standout track, in my opinion, is History Lesson - Part 2.

The song is tender. It feels of a hug from a friend. A song of friendship. Upon first listen I declared it the greatest song I had ever heard! Possibly. Perhaps the least punk rock sounding song on the record, but the one that most embodied their punk rock ethos. "Our band could be your life."

This song immediately fit into my life, and still serves as an important jigsaw puzzle piece to my identity. In high school, my friend Mike and I dove head first into punk rock the best that we could. There was no driving up to Hollywood from suburban Temecula in 1995. Punk was already long gone, broke and dead. In order to become punks, we had to do research. Hours spent at Spin records listening to every Sex Pistols, Clash, Ramones and Buzzcocks album Spin had in stock. Combing through the library (or Barnes and Noble), searching for a copy of England's Dreaming. We adorned our thrift store clothing with safety pins and slogans of nihilism. "We were fucking corn dogs."

Of course, I can reminisce with a smile about these endeavors, now. The punk rock phase left a permanent mark into my being, just as every phase other phase did for me, as well. It is a piece of me that when I stretch out and ponder about, I have to picture myself and Mike singing Dead Kennedy lyrics around town. Together. Close friendship. And the gang of other deviants and characters that surrounded us. Punk rock can mean "friendship" when I think long enough about it.

That is what grabs at me every time I hear History Lesson - Part 2. It means friendship. D Boon and Mike Watt playing guitars.

In 1985, while touring, D Boon died when his van crashed. Mike Watt has dedicated every artistic thing he has done since then to his friend, D Boon.