Over the past 12 years, OFF! have proven to be more than just a band. They … Read Full Bio ↴Over the past 12 years, OFF! have proven to be more than just a band. They also raise a series of challenging questions. After four decades of heavy use, does punk rock still have any life left in it? Do Keith Morris and his gang of grown-ass punk heroes still have the goods?

They’ve answered their own questions with a resounding yes through a packed itinerary of shows and a handful of recordings that are among the rawest musical experiences of the new decade. Combining reckless improvisational energy with the combined skills of four deadly sharp musicians, OFF! have dug down through a decades’ worth of accumulated stylistic garbage, and rediscovered the stripped down core of noise, speed, and rock & roll that punk seemed to have lost forever.

Jet Black Girls
OFF! Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Had to get out
From our second hand world
To a cinder block warehouse
With jet black girls
Racing away
From the carpeted walls

Out in the night

Immortality calls

Six pack of tall boys
Shoved down my pants
My life was saved
By Darby Crash
Co Co puffs
With Mr. Scratch

Out in the night
Immortality calls

Inside the Masque
With the Alley Cats
Someone sprayed Fag
Across my back
My drunken crush
On Mary Rat

Out in the night
Immortality calls

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to OFF!'s Jet Black Girls narrate the experiences of the singer who just had to escape the mundane world that they were living in. They moved to a cinder block warehouse where they met jet black girls who helped them escape the monotony of living in a world surrounded by carpeted walls. The singer was racing away, seeking relief from the suffocating surroundings they were in. At night, the call of immortality was hard to resist.

The singer indulged in rebellious acts like shoving a six-pack of tall boys down their pants, and they were saved by Darby Crash, the late American punk rock vocalist and songwriter. The reference to Co Co Puffs and Mr. Scratch could be a symbol for their coping mechanisms to keep up with their challenging and rebellious lifestyle. The singer also frequented the Masque, where they hung out with the Alley Cats before someone sprayed derogatory slang across their back. The singer also had a drunken crush on Mary Rat, which could mean something or someone they longed for but could not attain. The song's theme revolves around the singer's rebellion against conformity and living life to the fullest.

Line by Line Meaning

Had to get out
I made a decision to leave a mundane life behind

From our second hand world
From a world ruled by second-hand experiences

To a cinder block warehouse
To a raw, unrefined environment devoid of any luxuries

With jet black girls
Accompanied by exotic and mysterious women with dark hair

Racing away
We are leaving our old self behind to start anew

From the carpeted walls
The mundane safety cushion of walls surrounded by wall-to-wall carpeting

Out in the night
Venturing out into the unknown after escaping a dull life

Immortality calls
Seeking to live forever in memories and experiences

Six pack of tall boys
Six tall cans of beer

Shoved down my pants
I concealed the beer cans in my clothing to smuggle them in

My life was saved
My life was changed for the better