Early years
The Casualties were formed in 1990, with original members Jorge Herrera (vocals) Hank (guitar), Colin Wolf (vocals), Mark Yoshitomi (bass) and Yureesh Hooker (drums). The members aimed to return to what they viewed as the "golden era" of street punk, embodied by bands such as The Exploited and Charged GBH which they believed had disappeared by 1985.[3] During the early years, the lineup was fluid, with several changes. That first year, Colin stepped out for several months to finish his education while Rachel, TheRivits' singer, took his place.[3]
In 1991, Hank left the band, to be replaced by Fred (last name unknown) on guitar. Colin, Jorge, Yureesh, Hank and Mark put together a demo, titled Political Sin, for the Benefit for Beer compilation.[4] After making this recording, Fred left to go to school and Steve, from Distraught, fills in for a short time, until Fred returns to the band full-time. The 4 song EP, 40 Oz. Casualty was recorded at the end of 1991 and self-released.[3] 1992 saw the band touring and building up a fan base in NYC. In 1993, Mark and Fred left the band and were replaced by Mike (last name unknown) on bass and Jake Kolatis on the guitar, followed by the departure of Yureesh and Colin in 1994, to be replaced on drums by Shawn, while the band went down to a single vocalist.[3][4] 1994 sees the recording of the 4 song EP, Drinking Is Our Way Of Life, however it would not be released. The songs would later appear on the Casualties "early years 1990-1995" CD in 1999.[4] In 1995, the band's second release, the 4 track A Fuckin' Way Of Life E.P. was released on Eyeball Records. After recording A Fuckin' Way of Life, Shawn left the band, and Marc Eggers (nicknamed Meggers) of the Rivits became the regular drummer. The line-up of Jorge, Jake, Mike and Meggers continued until 1997.
In 1996 the Casualties became the first American band to appear at the "Holidays in the Sun" Festival in London. 1997 saw the release of the band's debut album, For the Pun is released on Tribal War Records, and the band embarks on its first American tour with The Varukers. Mike (the bassist) left the band in 1998, to be replaced with Johnny Rosado, from The Krays.[4][5] They released their second LP that year, Underground Army, and begin a world tour. Jon leaves the band during the European leg of the tour, to be temporarily replaced by Dave Punk Core.
Present lineup
After the world tour, Dave would be replaced by Rick Lopez from the band, Manix. The line-up was now solidified for the band and would continue to the present day.[6] The end of the millennium, 1999, saw the band produce a compilation album, Early Years 1990-1995, which included tracks which appeared on earlier ED's, as well as never before released songs, such as the four songs they had recorded on the never released EP Drinking is Our Way of Life back in 1994.
The 2000s have seen the band continue to tour[3][6] and produce albums (an album list can be seen below). They have toured with several other bands, such as The Exploited, GBH, Cockney Rejects, Slaughter & the Dogs,[4] and the English Dogs.[6] In December 2009, The Casualties toured alongside Hatebreed, The Acacia Strain, Crowbar, and Thy Will Be Done as part of the Stillborn Fest.[3] In the summer of 2012, The Casualties co-headlined the Tonight We Unite tour along with Nekromantix, where they played For The Punx in its entirety, the first time they had played the album through since its release in 1997.[3] Later that year, The Casualties released their new album titled Resistance through Season of Mist.[7][8] In 2013, The Casualties played at the largest Punk Rock festival in the world,[9] the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool, England, where they shared the stage with The Exploited, Special Duties, Chron Gen and Anti-Establishment, and others
Fight For Your Life
The Casualties Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The holes in my shoes are no trend
The low paying jobs we get
Our noise has to be heard
Fight for your life
Don't ever give up the fight
Our time will come one day
But I'll make the best of it that I can
Fight for your life
Put your head up high
Never give up the fight
So let them all fucking know
We'll stand up for our rights
Fight for your life
The time is fucking right
To stand up and fight
Our sweat will not be in vain
Our screams have to be heard
The lyrics to The Casualties's “Fight For Your Life” anthem are a call to arms for those who have been downtrodden by society. The song speaks to those who may feel like outcasts, those who have felt underappreciated or unacknowledged due to their socioeconomic status. The band speaks to individuals who typically are garment factory workers, paying low wages, who cannot afford to buy new clothes and shoes, who wear their pain since they cannot express it in words.
The band urges the listeners to keep fighting, to keep pushing for their rights, to continue trying to make a difference even when it seems like their voices are unheard. A call to refuse to accept the hand that life has dealt them and to take action to change their situations, no matter how difficult it may seem. The Casualties want to intertwine recycled items into the message that they are trying to get across to the listener - the holes in their shoes are not trendy, but signs to be noticed in order to make the best of the bad situations.
In conclusion, “Fight For Your Life” is a song about empowerment and resilience, urging people to keep fighting for their rights and never give up, no matter how hard life can be sometimes. The Casualties give a voice to the voiceless, the marginalized people in society, encouraging them to join forces and make their voices heard.
Line by Line Meaning
Our ripped up clothes is pain
Our poverty and lack of resources bring us pain and hardship
The holes in my shoes are no trend
We don't wear worn-out shoes as a fashion statement but because we cannot afford new ones
The low paying jobs we get
We are forced to accept jobs that pay low wages because of our economic situation
Our noise has to be heard
We have something important to say and we want to be heard despite our disadvantaged position
Fight for your life
No matter how tough our circumstances may be, we have to keep fighting to survive
Don't ever give up the fight
We should not lose hope and keep pushing towards a better future for ourselves
Our time will come one day
We have faith that we will eventually overcome our struggles and achieve success
"Life is easy", nobody ever said
We understand that life is not easy and we have to work hard to achieve our goals
But I'll make the best of it that I can
Despite our difficulties, we will try to make the most of what we have and strive for success
Put your head up high
We should be proud of who we are and not let our circumstances bring us down
Never give up the fight
We should not give up on our dreams and goals no matter how challenging they may seem
So let them all fucking know
We want to make it clear to others that we will not back down and will stand up for ourselves
We'll stand up for our rights
We will fight to defend our basic human rights and dignity
The time is fucking right
We feel that now is the moment to take action and fight for what we believe in
Our sweat will not be in vain
We believe that our hard work and effort will eventually pay off and lead to success
Our screams have to be heard
We have important things to say and we want our voices to be heard by those in power
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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