Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991… Read Full Bio ↴Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, former members of the band Operation Ivy, Rancid is often credited as being among the wave of bands that revived mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States during the mid-1990s. Over their 32-year career, Rancid retained much of its original fan-base, most of which was connected to its underground musical roots.

Rancid has had two lineup changes since its inception, with Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman being continuous members. Their current lineup consists of Armstrong on guitar and vocals, Freeman on bass and vocals, Lars Frederiksen on guitar and vocals, and Branden Steineckert on drums. The band was formed by Armstrong, Freeman, and former drummer Brett Reed, who left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Steineckert. This lineup recorded their first album, with Frederiksen joining the band on their subsequent tour.

To date, Rancid has released ten studio albums, one split album, one compilation, two extended plays, and a series of live online-only albums, and has been featured on a number of compilation albums. The band has sold over four million records worldwide, making it one of the most successful punk rock groups of all time. The band rose to fame in 1994 with its second studio album, Let's Go, featuring the single "Salvation". In the following year, Rancid released its highly successful album ...And Out Come the Wolves, which produced its best-known songs "Roots Radicals", "Ruby Soho", and "Time Bomb", and was certified gold and platinum by the RIAA, selling over one million copies in the United States alone. Its next six albums – Life Won't Wait (1998), Rancid (2000), Indestructible (2003), Let the Dominoes Fall (2009), ...Honor Is All We Know (2014) and Trouble Maker (2017) – were also critically acclaimed, though not as commercially successful as ...And Out Come the Wolves. The band released their tenth album, Tomorrow Never Comes, in June 2023.

Studio albums
Rancid (1993)
Let's Go (1994)
...And Out Come the Wolves (1995)
Life Won't Wait (1998)
Rancid (also known as "Rancid 2000" or "Rancid 5") (2000)
Indestructible (2003)
Let the Dominoes Fall (2009)
...Honor Is All We Know (2014)
Trouble Maker (2017)
Tomorrow Never Comes (2023)

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Burn
Rancid Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Thirteen red and white stripes flying
White for skin and red for dying

Why can't I
Walk on through
And not feel like
One is in hell

We don't need no water
Let the motherfucker burn

Overall Meaning

The above lyrics are from the song "Burn" by Rancid, a punk rock band from California. The song describes the chaos and destruction caused by riots in the streets. The opening lines, "Thirteen red and white stripes flying, White for skin and red for dying" refer to the American flag, whose thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies. White is often used to signify purity and innocence, but it's also the color of the skin of the oppressors, in this case, the police or government. Red usually represents danger or bloodshed; however, in this context, it represents the blood of the oppressed who are dying in the streets.

The next lines, "Why can't I, Walk on through, And not feel like, One is in hell," express the feeling of anxiety and fear that someone might experience when walking through a riot. The lyrics are noteworthy as the presence of the American flag in a punk rock song could be taken as a statement on the nature of patriotism in the face of social injustice or government oppression.

The chorus, "We don't need no water, Let the motherfucker burn" is a provocative call to action, urging people to “fight fire with fire” and react to the violence with more violence. Essentially, it means that the rioters don't need the help of the authorities or the establishment; they want to take matters into their own hands.

Line by Line Meaning

Thirteen red and white stripes flying
The flag of the United States is being displayed with its thirteen red and white stripes waving in the wind.

White for skin and red for dying
The white stripes on the flag symbolize the lighter skin color of the colonizers, while the red represents the bloodshed and suffering inflicted on Native Americans during colonization.

Why can't I
The singer is expressing confusion and frustration about their inability to reconcile their feelings about the current state of society and the history of their country.

Walk on through
The artist desires to move past the uncomfortable truths of their country's history and continue living their life.

And not feel like
The artist wants to be able to distance themselves emotionally from the societal issues that haunt them.

One is in hell
The societal issues and injustices that the singer is grappling with feel like an overwhelming burden, causing them to feel trapped and in a state of eternal suffering.

We don't need no water
The singer is advocating for complete destruction of the societal structures and systems that perpetuate oppression and injustice.

Let the motherfucker burn
The artist is expressing their anger and frustration with the current state of society and the systems of power that have created and perpetuated it, and is advocating for its complete destruction.

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Written by: ERIC RAIDER, ROGER M. FREEMAN, TIMOTHY ARMSTRONG

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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