from the EP Salad Days, Dischord Records, 1985This EP was the last official release by the seminal American hardcore band, coming out of Washington DC, Minor Threat. Ian MacKaye, who served as the band’s singer, lyricist, and all-around mentor, had grown up a lot in the 5 years his band had been performing and putting out records; to be sure, the brooding and introspective path he would carry into Fugazi is detectable on this, his swan song with Minor Threat. I gotta confess: that other endeavor of Mr. MacKaye’s just never lived up to the hype for me---sure, there are a handful of keepers in those thirteen songs, but back in the day, if I had seen one more “THIS IS NOT A FUGAZI T-SHIRT” tee on another overwrought, angsty kid with their shaven-head held a little too high…ugh. Somehow, back here with his other band, he always managed to keep things both serious & playful; this specific song find’s him reeling quite a bit, actually baring his soul rather vulnerably, and yet he’s quick to poke fun at himself and the scene in general by including some achingly stereotypical chatter in the background: “do you, remember the times…back then man…I don’t know what went down…what happened man? These days, I just don’t know…” It’s not all shits & giggles however, as he lays some very pensive and scathing words at the door, “Wishing for the days, when I first wore this suit; baby has grown older, it's no longer cute… look at us today, we've gotten soft and fat; waiting for the moment, it's just not coming back…” Of course, he was all of 23 years old when he wrote this stuff, but didn’t we all think we had arrived after the haze of adolescence cleared?! It’s a tough balance, trying to preserve bits of our youthful and spirited rebellion while, at the same time, assimilating into the greater realities of the jaded and cynical world at large. “So serious, about the stuff we lack; dwell upon our memories, but there are no facts…” The touches of acoustic guitar during the bridges, while Ian is recounting old times, really set you adrift on memory bliss; Baker and Nelson, on bass & drums respectively, hold it down like they always do. I know it’s the first day of spring, which is all about renewal and growth, but sometimes looking back gives me the jolt of fresh energy I need to get off my ass! “Do you, remember when? Yea, so do I…we’ll call those ‘salad days’…salad days…”
