Straight Edge (song)
Encyclopedia
"Straight Edge" is a track from Minor Threat
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980 and disbanded in 1983. The band was relatively short-lived, but had a strong influence on the hardcore punk music scene, both stylistically and in establishing a "do it yourself" ethic for music distribution and...

's first EP, Minor Threat EP, later reissued both as part of the collection First Two 7"s on a 12", then as part of 1989's Complete Discography
Complete Discography
Complete Discography is a 1989 compilation album released by the American hardcore punk band Minor Threat on the band's own Dischord Records. Despite its title, it only includes songs that were released on studio releases...

. The song was the inspiration for the name of the punk subculture
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...

, straight edge
Straight edge
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs. It was a direct reaction to the sexual revolution, hedonism, and excess associated with punk rock. For some, this extends to not engaging in promiscuous sex, following a...

.

Cultural impact

The song provides a very succinct summary of Ian MacKaye
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...

's interpretation of the straight edge philosophy, in the four opening lines,

"I'm a person just like you

But I've got better things to do

Than sit around and fuck my head

Hang out with the living dead."


This anti-inebriation and promiscuity movement had been developing in punk prior to this song, but the song was a major influence in giving the scene a name, and in frontman Ian MacKaye
Ian MacKaye
Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, label owner, and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known for being the frontman of the influential hardcore punk bands Minor Threat and The Teen Idles, the post-hardcore bands Embrace and Fugazi, as well...

, something of a (somewhat unwilling) figurehead. The song is also notable as being, at 46 seconds long, unusually short, especially considering its cultural impact. The track's themes were later followed up, and further detailed by the later Minor Threat songs "Out of Step (With the World)" and "In My Eyes".

Critical reception

Along with being cited regularly as an important moment in founding the Straight Edge punk scene, the track has continued to receive critical plaudits, with Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 stating that "Straight Edge" "rings with as much immediacy as it ever has", while Allmusic's Blake Butler describes it as an "anthemic, pulse pounding manifesto", citing "this song's importance in the progression of hardcore
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

".

Personnel

  • Ian MacKaye – vocals
  • Lyle Preslar
    Lyle Preslar
    Lyle Preslar is an American musician best known for being a guitar player and song writer for the hardcore punk band Minor Threat. Before that, he was the vocalist for The Extorts....

     – guitar
  • Brian Baker
    Brian Baker (musician)
    Brian Baker is an American punk rock musician. He is best known as one of the founding members of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat, and as a guitarist in Bad Religion since 1994 alongside Greg Hetson...

     – bass guitar
  • Jeff Nelson
    Jeff Nelson (musician)
    Jeff Nelson is best known as the drummer for the hardcore punk rock band Minor Threat. He and friend Ian MacKaye formed their first band, The Slinkees, in 1979. Their next band was The Teen Idles. Nelson and MacKaye founded Dischord Records in 1980, whose first record was the Teen Idles. They...

    – drums
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