They and fellow Washington DC residents Bad Brains set the standard for many hardcore punk bands in the 1980s and 1990s. They produced short, often astonishingly fast songs, eventually with excellent production quality, which at the time was lacking in most punk/alternative rock. All of Minor Threat's records were released on the band's own Dischord Records.
History
While at Wilson High School, Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson were in the influental DC punk band The Teen Idles. After that band broke up, MacKaye decided to switch from bass to vocals, and organized Minor Threat with Nelson and two prep-school kids (from Georgetown Day School), bassist Brian Baker and guitarist Lyle Preslar. Minor Threat's first performance was in December 1980, opening for Bad Brains.
Their first 7" EPs, "Minor Threat" and "In My Eyes", were released in 1981. The group became popular regionally, and toured the United States' east coast.
"Straight Edge," a song on the first EP, inadvertently inspired the straight edge movement. The song seemed to be a call for abstention from drugs and alcohol-- a new concept in punk music, which initially found a dedicated following.
Another Minor Threat song from the first EP, "Out of Step", further demonstrates the aesthetic: " Don't smoke/Don't drink/Don't fuck/At least I can fucking think/I can't keep up/Out of step with the world." The "I" in the lyrics was implied, and some in Minor Threat -- Jeff Nelson in particular -- took exception to what they saw as MacKaye's imperious attitude on the song.
In the time between the release of the band's second seven inch E.P. and the "Out Of Step" record, the band briefly split when guitarist Lyle Preslar moved to Illinois for college. During this period MacKaye and Nelson put together a studio only project called Skewbald/Grand Union (in a reflection of the slowly increasing disagreements between the two musicians, they were unable to decide on one name). The group recorded three untitled songs which would be released posthumously as Dischord's 50th release. During this period Brian Baker also briefly played guitar for Government Issue and appeared on the "Make An Effort" EP. Preslar dropped out of college and, at the urging of Bad Brains vocalist H.R. Hudson, Minor Threat reformed to play a series of shows and record the "Out Of Step" mini-album.
When "Out of Step" was re-recorded for the band's LP "Out Of Step," MacKaye inserted a spoken section explaining, "This is not a set of rules..." An ideological door was already opened, however, and by 1982, some straight-edge punks, such as followers of the band SS Decontrol, were swatting beers out of people's hands at clubs. (Ironically, SS Decontrol's singer, Springa, was at the time a heavy drinker and cocaine user.)
Minor Threat's song "Guilty of Being White" led to some accusations of white pride. But MacKaye has strongly denied such intentions and said that some listeners misinterpreted his words which call for a separation of association between non-racist white people of future generations and the horrible past of slavery often blamed on the white race as a whole rather than on those individuals principally responsible for the atrocities. The metal band Slayer later covered the song, though perhaps not entirely in the spirit in which MacKaye wrote it: they calculatedly changed the lyric "guilty of being white" to "guilty of being right" at the song's climax to shock people. MacKaye has stated that he was offended by the change because of the racist implications of the new lyrics.
Minor Threat broke up in 1983. One contributing factor was disagreement over musical direction. For example, guitarist Preslar was increasingly enamored of pop/rock band U2. MacKaye was allegedly skipping practices towards the end of the band's career, and he wrote the lyrics to the songs on the "Salad Days" E.P. in the studio. This was quite the contrast between the earlier recordings as he had written the music for some of the band's early material and also collabarated in writing the music on others. Minor Threat played its last show on September 23, 1983 with Trouble Funk and the Big Boys.
MacKaye went on to found Embrace (which was among the first bands to be labeled emocore) with former members of The Faith, the obscure Egg Hunt with Jeff Nelson, and later the groundbreaking DIY punk/alternative band Fugazi with ex-Rites of Spring vocalist Guy Picciotto and The Evens, as well as collaborating on Pailhead. Brian Baker went on to play in Junkyard and the seminal Dag Nasty and currently plays in Bad Religion. Lyle Preslar briefly played in Glenn Danzig's Samhain and his playing appears on a few songs on the band's first record; he later became an A&R director for Atlantic Records. Jeff Nelson played less frantic alternative rock with Three and The High-Back Chairs before retiring from live performance; he also runs his own label, Adult Swim Records (distributed by Dischord), does graphic art, and became a somewhat prominent political activist in the D.C. area.
Minor Threat's self-owned Dischord Records released material by many punk bands from the Washington, D.C. area, such as Rites of Spring, Gray Matter, and Dag Nasty, and has become a highly respected independent record label.
In 2005, the cover of Minor Threat's first EP (also used on the First two 7"'s on a 12" LP and Complete Discography CD) was copied by athletic footwear manufacturer Nike for use on a promotional poster for a skateboarding tour called "Major Threat". Nike also corrupted Minor Threat's distinctive logo (designed by Jeff Nelson) for the same campaign. MacKaye issued a press statement condemning Nike's (who are known to endorse sweatshop labor) actions and said that he would discuss legal options with the other members of the band. Meanwhile, fans, at the encouragement of Dischord, organized a letter-writing campaign protesting Nike's infringement. On June 27, 2005, Nike issued a statement apologizing to Minor Threat, Dischord Records, and their fans for the "Major Threat" campaign and said that all promotional artwork (print and digital) that they could get ahold of were destroyed.
On October 29, 2005, TV channel Fox played the first few seconds of Minor Threat's "Salad Days" during an NFL broadcast. Use of the song was not cleared by Dischord Records or any of the members of Minor Threat. Fox claimed that the clip was too short to have violated any copyrights.
Look Back and Laugh
Minor Threat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause it makes me warm inside
It's about some friends growing up
And all the things they tried
I'm not talking about staple shit
They went for something more
I guess it was too much dreaming
Too much to hope for
But it scared the shit out of me
Their heads went in different directions
And their friendship ceased to be
I'm telling you I want it to work
I don't like being hurt
Something's not right inside
And I can't always put it aside
What can we do, what can we do?
Try
I guess I make it too much shit
Someday we'll look back and laugh
Mr. President, go away
Come back and fuck with us some other day
Mr. Feelings, run and hide
You have no right to what you feel inside
Motherfuckers, quick to kiss
Talk your shit, but don't fuck with this
All I want to know is
Am I holding on? Am I moving on?
What can we do, what can we do?
Try
The song “Look Back and Laugh” by Minor Threat is a reflection on the friendships and dreams of the band members and their peers growing up in Washington D.C. The song talks about friends who had big dreams and aspirations but ultimately ended up drifting apart. The lyrics speak to a sense of disappointment and sadness about the loss of these relationships, as well as the struggle to move on from this past hurt.
The first verse speaks to the hope and excitement that comes with dreams and trying new things. The line “I’m not talking about staple shit, they went for something more” suggests that the friends were pursuing something unconventional and nonconformist. However, despite this passion and ambition, the second verse describes how the friends eventually drifted apart. The line “their friendship ceased to be” suggests that something went wrong, but it’s not entirely clear what caused the disintegration of the relationship.
The chorus of the song is a call to action, urging the listener to try despite feeling hurt and to push through difficult emotions. The line “I guess I make it too much shit” suggests that the singer has a tendency to dwell on negative emotions and perhaps overthink things. However, the final line “someday we’ll look back and laugh” provides hope that someday they will be able to reflect on this time and find humor in it.
Overall, “Look Back and Laugh” is a poignant reflection on the complexities and struggles of growing up and losing relationships along the way. It speaks to the importance of pushing through difficult emotions and trying to move forward despite past hurts.
Line by Line Meaning
I want to tell you a little story
I have a story to share
'Cause it makes me warm inside
It's a nostalgic story that makes me feel good
It's about some friends growing up
The story is about a group of friends and their experiences as they grew up together
And all the things they tried
The story includes their attempts at different things
I'm not talking about staple shit
The story is not about ordinary things that everyone experiences
They went for something more
The story is about their pursuit of something meaningful
I guess it was too much dreaming
They may have had unrealistic expectations
Too much to hope for
They may have hoped for things that were impossible to achieve
One day something funny happened
An unexpected event occurred
But it scared the shit out of me
The event was frightening
Their heads went in different directions
The group started to go their separate ways
And their friendship ceased to be
Their friendship ended
I'm telling you I want it to work
I want to fix things and make it work
I don't like being hurt
The situation is causing me emotional pain
Something's not right inside
I feel like something is wrong
And I can't always put it aside
I can't ignore it
What can we do, what can we do?
We need to find a solution
Try
We need to make an effort to fix things
I guess I make it too much shit
I may be overthinking it
Someday we'll look back and laugh
In the future, we may find the situation humorous
Mr. President, go away
I don't want to deal with authority or those in power
Come back and fuck with us some other day
They can come back and bother us another time
Mr. Feelings, run and hide
Emotions can be overwhelming and difficult to deal with
You have no right to what you feel inside
Others shouldn't judge or dictate how we feel
Motherfuckers, quick to kiss
People can be hypocritical
Talk your shit, but don't fuck with this
Don't mess with us
All I want to know is
I have a question
Am I holding on? Am I moving on?
I'm unsure if I should keep trying or move on from the situation
What can we do, what can we do?
We need to find a solution
Try
We need to make an effort to fix things
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
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