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
No Turning Back
The Casualties Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Jacko in Scottland, can't understand a fucking word
No money in our pockets playing for the English punx
Drinking at the pubs for the records that we sold
One week of shows cancelled, with no money in London
If you think were headed home, you got it all wrong
No turning back- no turning back
Take the fucking ferry to France, off we go
No Ecuasorians allowed, border control with machine guns
Hiding in the trunk, border line has to be crossed
Riot in Parris, gassing all the fucking punx
Broken down in the mountains, what else can go wrong
Playing the French Alps, chopping wood to keep us warm
Getting paid with wine and bread, freezing in the cold
If you think were heading home, you got it all fucking wrong
Down in Italy, pasta punx made us feel at home
Up in Belgium Dirk took care of us four drunk punx
Livng in the car, playing show after show
Driving through Switzerland, I made trouble for us all
No visa, through the woods, cross the border, hide the punx
5 a.m. show, drunk punx sung all night long
Getting paid with chocolate, freezing in the cold
If you think were headed home,you got it all wrong
Up in fucking Holland, hanging with Antidote
Smoking legal grass, Ellen got us all drunk
Shows in Germany, chaos punx are all drunk
Streetpunx all over, Oxymorons at the shows
Drinking fucking beers, more probles come along
Riot police outside arresting all the punx
Getting paid with beer and bread, freezing in the cold
If you think were headed home, you got it all wrong
Touring Europe D.I.Y. freezing in the cold
If you think were headed home, you got it fucking wrong!
The Casualties's song No Turning Back is the ultimate tale of a band on tour. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a band heading off to Europe and experiencing all the ups and downs of touring life. The song opens with the band heading off to Scotland for a tour, and Jacko, a member of the band, having trouble understanding the Scottish accent, emphasizing how touring can make one feel out of place. The fact that they have no money in their pockets while playing for the English punks highlights the struggle of independent bands who go on tour to gain more recognition, but it's not profitable.
The challenges of touring continue, with shows getting canceled and the band breaking down in the mountains. The song shows the band moving from one country to another, experiencing different cultures and people along the way. They make their way through France, where they encounter border control with machine guns and get caught hiding in the trunk. They also play shows in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, and Germany, where they meet punks from various backgrounds, receive unique forms of payment such as wine, bread, and chocolate, and ultimately find a home away from home with fellow punks.
In conclusion, No Turning Back expresses the gritty realism of a touring punk band's life. It shows the difficulties one goes through when touring, including financial struggles, cultural barriers, broken-down vehicles, and more. However, despite all the hardships, the song reflects the passion and love that punk bands have for their music and how they push through everything the road throws their way.
Line by Line Meaning
We're heading off to Europe for another fucking tour
We're embarking on a tour in Europe.
Jacko in Scottland, can't understand a fucking word
Jacko is struggling with the Scottish dialect
No money in our pockets playing for the English punx
We're playing shows in England for the punk scene without much money.
Drinking at the pubs for the records that we sold
We're drinking in pubs after selling records.
One week of shows cancelled, with no money in London
We had a week's worth of shows cancelled in London and no money to show for it.
If you think were headed home, you got it all wrong
We're not returning home anytime soon.
Take the fucking ferry to France, off we go
We're taking a ferry to France.
No Ecuasorians allowed, border control with machine guns
Border control is denying entry to Ecuadorians and they have machine guns.
Hiding in the trunk, border line has to be crossed
We're hiding in the trunk to cross the border.
Riot in Parris, gassing all the fucking punx
There's a riot in Paris and the police are using gas on the punks.
Broken down in the mountains, what else can go wrong
Our vehicle broke down in the mountains, adding to our list of mishaps.
Playing the French Alps, chopping wood to keep us warm
We're playing a show in the French Alps and having to chop wood to stay warm.
Getting paid with wine and bread, freezing in the cold
We're being paid with wine and bread, but it's still cold.
Down in Italy, pasta punx made us feel at home
We're playing shows in Italy and connecting with pasta punk fans.
Up in Belgium Dirk took care of us four drunk punx
In Belgium, Dirk is taking care of us since we're drunk.
Livng in the car, playing show after show
We're living in the car and performing in show after show.
Driving through Switzerland, I made trouble for us all
While driving through Switzerland, I brought trouble to the group.
No visa, through the woods, cross the border, hide the punx
We have no visa, but still crossing borders and hiding punks.
5 a.m. show, drunk punx sung all night long
We're performing a 5 a.m. show where drunk punks are singing all night.
Getting paid with chocolate, freezing in the cold
We're being paid in chocolate, but it's still cold outside.
Up in fucking Holland, hanging with Antidote
We're in Holland and hanging out with Antidote.
Smoking legal grass, Ellen got us all drunk
We're smoking legal marijuana and Ellen is getting us drunk.
Shows in Germany, chaos punx are all drunk
We're performing in Germany and chaos punks are all drunk.
Streetpunx all over, Oxymorons at the shows
We're encountering street punks and Oxymorons at our shows.
Drinking fucking beers, more probles come along
We're drinking beers, but more problems arise.
Riot police outside arresting all the punx
Riot police are outside arresting all the punks.
Getting paid with beer and bread, freezing in the cold
We're being paid with beer and bread, but it's still cold outside.
Touring Europe D.I.Y. freezing in the cold
We're touring Europe on a self-planned tour and it's cold outside.
If you think were headed home, you got it fucking wrong!
We're still not heading home anytime soon.
Lyrics © TUNECORE INC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind