Fifteen was a punk rock band featuring constant bandmember Jeff Ott, with t… Read Full Bio ↴Fifteen was a punk rock band featuring constant bandmember Jeff Ott, with the rest of the line-up changing from album to album. Fifteen was born out of the ashes of Bay area (Berkeley, CA) punk rock icons Crimpshrine back in 1989.

Fifteen released their first record in 1991 on Lookout records. It was singer/guitarist Jeff Ott's vision to create music that didn't just rock, but had something important to say as well. After four records on Lookout, two on Grass Records, three on Sub City Records, and three more on indefinite self-published labels, Fifteen were viewed as the leaders in the political-punk music scene. They tackle such burning issues as homelessness, drug abuse, needle exchange, environmental destruction and the government's use of counterintelligence measures to violate activist's civil rights. Fifteen first broke up in 1996 after the self-released "extra medium kickball star."

They reformed in 1998 and released Hush and Survivor then disbanded 2000 with Jeff Ott stating that the anti-commercial DIY ethics of punk rock made it too expensive for him to have a band while raising a family.

The band had a total of fifteen members during its existence: Jeff Ott, Jack Curran, Mikey Mischief, Mark Moreno, Jean Repetto, Lucky Dog, Chris Flanagan, John Ogle, Jessie Wickman, Joe Cable, John Quintos, Scott Pierce, Jim Prior, Lisa D. and Vanessa Bain.

Intelligence
Fifteen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

[Music by 15. and Nick]

I used to like this town
Now everything just gets me down
Everything we do
Is only destructive
I used to want
To live in a house

How many houses did we have to smash
To make one for ourselves
We're gonna keep on driving till it kills us
We're gonna drink and some until it kills us
We're gonna keep on shooting till there's no one left
This is what we call intelligence
Your listening to a slab of vinyl
It's a by-product of making gas
We don't need way for oil
We need it for punk rock records
See you later I'm outta here
I gonna learn to fish with a spear
I'm gonna eat a deer far away from here
We're gonna keep on driving till it kills us

We're gonna keep on shooting till there's no one left
This is what we call intelligence

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Fifteen's song "Intelligence" capture the frustration and disillusionment of youth in a society that seems intent on destruction. The singer's disillusionment is expressed in his feelings of hopelessness and lack of direction. He is fed up with the destructiveness of his peers, and he longs for a simpler, more honest way of life.

The song expresses a clear frustration with capitalism and consumerism, as the singer refers to it as "destructive." The song also portrays a strong anti-war sentiment with the lyrics "We're gonna keep on shooting till there's no one left." The singer is expressing a desire to escape from the destructive forces of society.

Overall, the theme of the song is that intelligence is not necessarily about being book smart or following societal norms, but instead it is about understanding the world around us, and living in harmony with it. The song encourages listeners to question the status quo and find their own paths in life.

Line by Line Meaning

I used to like this town
Once upon a time, I enjoyed being in this town

Now everything just gets me down
Currently, everything just brings me down

Everything we do
All our actions

Is only destructive
Are only harmful

I used to want
Previously, I desired

To live in a house
To live comfortably in a shelter

How many houses did we have to smash
How many structures did we need to destroy

To make one for ourselves
In order to build ourselves one

We're gonna keep on driving till it kills us
We plan to continue driving until we meet our demise

We're gonna drink and some until it kills us
We also plan to keep drinking until it leads to our death

We're gonna keep on shooting till there's no one left
Furthermore, we intend to keep shooting until there isn't anyone left