Song of the Day (The Chain) – Sonic Youth – Teen Age Riot

Okay, here we are at the beginning of a whole new series of Song of the Day. This time while trying to decide on a theme, I remembered a regular feature I liked on one of my favourite radio shows, Radcliffe & Maconie on 6Music. The feature is called The Chain & every hour of each show, listeners call in and suggest a song which is thematically linked in some way to the previous track. The link can be very obvious or very obscure, it doesn’t matter.

I have decided to adopt this idea for the Song of the Day series (& to name this series after it), so welcome to Day 1 of Song of the Day (The Chain).

To start with I have decided to go with one of my all time favourite songs, Teen Age Riot by Sonic Youth. Teen Age Riot, from Sonic Youth’s seminal Daydream Nation album, imagines an alternative reality where J Mascis (frontman of Alt Rock legends, Dinosaur Jr.) is the President of the USA.

You’re it
No, you’re it
Yeah, you’re really it
You’re it
No, I mean it, you’re it
Say it, don’t spray it
Spirit desire, face me
Spirit desire, don’t displace me
Spirit desire, we will fall
Miss me, don’t dismiss me
Spirit desire
Spirit desire, spirit desire
Spirit desire, we will fall
Spirit desire, we will fall
Spirit desire, spirit desire
Spirit desire, we will fall
Spirit desire, we will fall

Everybody’s talking ’bout the stormy weather
And what’s a man to do but work out whether it’s true
Looking for a man with a focus and a temper
Who can open up a map and see between one and two

Time to get it before you let it get to you
Here he comes now
Stick to your guns and let him through

Everybody’s coming from the winter vacation
Taking in the sun in a exaltation to you
You come running in on platform shoes
With Marshall stacks to at least just give us a clue
Ah, here it comes, I know it’s someone I knew

Teenage riot in a public station
Gonna fight and tear it up in a hypernation for you

Now I see it
I think I’ll leave it out of the way
Now I come near you
And it’s not clear why you fade away

Looking for a ride to your secret location
Where the kids are setting up a free-speed nation for you
Got a foghorn and a drum and a hammer that’s rocking
And a cord and a pedal and a lock, that’ll do me for now

It better work out
I hope it works out my way
‘Cause it’s getting kind of quiet in my city head
Takes a teen age riot to get me out of bed right now

You better look it, we’re gonna shake it up to him
He acts the hero, we paint a zero on his hand

We know it’s down
We know it’s bound too loose
Everybody’s sound is around it
Everybody wants to be proud to choose
So who’s to take the blame for the stormy weather
You’re never gonna stop all the teenage leather and booze

It’s time to go round
A one man showdown, teach us how to fail
We’re off the streets now, and back on the road on the riot trail

Keep up to date. Check out the Song of the Day (The Chain) Spotify playlist.

[Spotify https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xwDnnpH11CqLTAZdsHSDL?si=wxRSZOUhRHKZ2Au18l6muw%5D