The Decline of Western Civilization Page #2

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we don't make very much off gigs

and most of it goes back

into, like, the promotion.

And, you know, expenses.

Usually, maybe I could get

a meal out of it here and there.

Otherwise, I'll just have to

find rich girls

and stuff like that.

[LAUGHING]

I can't rent a house because

I owe the gas company money.

I owe the electrical

company money.

I owe the telephone

company money.

Sol cannot rent a house

under my name.

Sol might as well live

in a f***ing closet

for $16 a month, you know.

PENELOPE:
Where are you from?

- Well, I'm... Puerto Rico.

-Yeah.

[IN MOCK ACCENT]

But I like to live in America.

[ALL LAUGHING]

PENELOPE:
How come the songs

are so fast and short?

They're fast because that's

what gets us off, okay?

- That's the energy level.

- Yeah.

And they're short because that's

how long the inspiration lasts.

If you take the amount

of verses that they have

and the amount of lyrics

and stuff, they're...

You know, they're as long

as any other songs.

PENELOPE:
What clubs have you

been banned from?

Well, the ones we've been

banned from are like, uh,

Bla-Bla Caf, The Whiskey,

Gazzarri's, Club 88,

Hong Kong Caf.

PENELOPE:
Why were you banned?

Um, I don't know.

Somehow we got a...

Well, you know,

a lot of people that...

You know, when we play,

they get pretty violent.

Some of the clubs,

they just aren't used to that.

And we got a bad reputation

for some reason and then

they kind of...

By the press and by the club

owners talking to each other,

it kind of spreads around.

PENELOPE:
What does Black Flag

mean, the word Black Flag?

Um, it means anarchy.

Okay. Here's what it is.

When I was in f***ing

high school,

in Junior High, everybody

told me how things were.

And you know, how it...

It just didn't work for me,

you know?

It's f***ing f***ed up

like crazy.

PENELOPE:
F***ed up, how?

Just things, things

didn't work right

and I was always bummed out.

- PENELOPE:
So?

- So when I got in school,

I mean, I didn't know

what was going on.

I didn't have any consciousness

of what to do

or what and when and where,

so I just stayed in school.

I just kept on going because

I didn't have any idea

of what to do.

I thought, "Well, okay.

I'll study psycho-biology."

I'm worried about brains

and all that sh*t, you know?

I did brain operations. I did...

You know, put hooks, you know...

I cut open their brains

and I put...

Stick little wires

in their heads and...

Zapped out pans of them

and zapped drugs into them

and I watched what they did.

4 did a lot of that.

- PENELOPE:
You learned from it?

Yeah, I learned a lot from it.

That's where I came up

with all my ideas.

PENELOPE:
What do you think

of his haircut?

Oh, oh, his haircut.

It's okay.

PENELOPE:
Why did you

cut your hair like that?

Why did I? 'Cause I'm searching.

- PENELOPE:
'Cause you're what?

-'Cause I'm searching.

[ALL LAUGHING]

He knows where it's...

He knows where it's at now.

I'm looking for something.

In other words, it's the search.

He's tried...

So far he's tried, uh...

He's tried punk rock.

He's tried...

- CHUCK:
Jesus.

Jesus.

- No, I'm trying them all.

- Harvey Carson.

[LAUGHING]

PENELOPE:
What are you

searching for?

I really don't know.

No, I'll know when I find it.

[BOTTLES CLINKING]

You know, I did this

because I felt like...

To set myself aside

and make myself different,

maybe, maybe it would

just come to me.

PENELOPE:
What is it?

[BAND MEMBERS

HUMMING MEDITATIVELY]

No, that's not it.

[ALL LAUGHING]

Sh*t!

Okay, this next song...

This is for the LAPD.

We got arrested the other night

at Blackie's

for playing punk rock music.

They called us

"nuisance in public"

or something like that.

Anyway, they put us in jail,

and this song is called Revenge.

And it's for them.

[SINGING]

It's not my imagination

We got a gun on my back

Promises you made

Never become fact

We're gonna get revenge

You won't know what hit you

We're tired of being screwed

Don't tell me about tomorrow

Don't tell me what HI get

I can't think of progress

When just around the comer

There's a bed of cold pavement

Waiting for me

Revenge! I'll watch them bleed

Revenge! That's all I'll need

I won't cry if you die!

Die!

We're gonna get revenge

You won't know what hit you

We're tired of being screwed

Revenge!

Revenge!

PENELOPE:
Why don't the club owners

hire the Germs any more?

Mmm, we do

get shows occasionally

but it is getting harder.

I think there's a lot of

bands now.

And when we were first doing it,

there weren't that many bands.

And a lot of the new bands

are just more co-operative

as far as doing a sedate,

safe stage show.

There's no threat of, um...

...an imminent riot.

I've had promoters

grab me and shake me and say,

"Stop this show. It's on

the verge of becoming a riot."

[DRUMS BEATING]

[PEOPLE SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

[GUITAR STRUMS]

DARBY:
Find me a f***ing beer!

PENELOPE:
How did you get

the reputation that you have?

I guess we used to do stuff.

I mean, it was good to have

that kind of reputation

and you know...

But not any more

'cause now we can't

play anywhere.

[PUNK ROCK PLAYING]

PENELOPE:
Tell me how is it that

you're always getting hurt?

Well, first,

I did it on purpose.

- PENELOPE:
Yeah?

- To keep from being bored.

He's come out of shows with

huge scrapes and scratches

and claw marks all over him

and just pouring blood,

but it always looks

a lot worse than it is.

PENELOPE:
What's the worst time

that you ever got hurt?

Hmm, The Whiskey.

I cut my foot open.

PENELOPE:
What happened?

I came down the stairs

to do an encore

and then I jumped on half

a broken glass like that.

And, like, I had to get

30 stitches.

So I was standing like right

in front and...

I was looking at his face

and, like, you ended up

sitting down on the ground.

And you were holding your foot

like this and you looked at it

and you just started going...

"Ah!" you know and then

you stopped playing and stuff.

And you were running around

trying to find

your tennis shoes.

[CHUCKLES]

And I had to go to the hospital

with blue hair and stuff

and they were bringing

all the nurses in

and stuff to look at me.

[PUNK ROCK PLAYING]

PENELOPE:
Why do you get

so loaded to perform?

Because that way I don't feel

myself getting hurt.

And it's scary out there.

You know, it's real scary, like,

'cause when we play

we're right down there

in the audience

and there's lots of creeps

out there.

And there's lots of people that

have grudges

against you now, too.

And so, if I don't get loaded,

I wouldn't be able to do it.

- Do you want some more coffee?

- I just broke this egg.

Well, we've tried everything,

-to get him to do that.

- To do what?

To sing into the mic.

It's just, like, almost like

the enemy or something,

stay away from it

at all costs, it seems.

PENELOPE:
So tell me why you never

sing into the mics, Darby?

I just don't pay

attention to it,

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