The Living End got their first big break in 1995 when, after sending a t-shirt and a demo tape to Billie Joe Armstrong, they landed a support slot in Green Day's upcoming Australian tour. After the tour, the group went into the studio to record their debut EP Hellbound which received moderate support from community radio stations.
In November 1995, the band went back into the studio to record their second EP (It's for Your Own Good which they released several months later. This recording yielded their first major radio airplay with the song From Here On In, which was placed on high rotation on the youth radio network Triple J. Shortly after the release of the second EP, drummer Joe Piripitzi left the band and was replaced with Travis Dempsey who was soon playing with the band at major festivals such as Pushover and the Falls Festival. After a year touring Australia, The Living End again headed into the studio to record something new to sell at their now very popular shows. The result was the Second Solution / Prisoner of Society double single.
Prisoner of Society quickly became a national hit and the band signed on to Modular Recordings for the release of their debut self titled album, The Living End. The album was an instant hit with Australian audiences and resulted in six Australian singles (counting the "Second Solution" release as two because both songs received major airplay). The Living End became the second-highest-selling debut rock album in Australian music history, now five times platinum.
The Roll On album in 2000 was a more creative work, but did not manage to achieve the status of their earlier album. Cheney later stated that he was trying to prove to critics that The Living End were not a band simply defined by their hit Prisoner of Society, and the album showed this by displaying other influences, as well as their traditional fast-paced rockabilly music. The album even garnered comparison, by a few critics, to seminal punk band The Clash's creative breakthrough, London Calling.
The band hit a quiet period after that during which Chris Cheney had a tragic car accident on the Great Ocean Road, rendering him unable to play for a significant period of time. He had been on the road to the house of a member of fellow Australian band Bodyjar.
In 2003, after Chris's recovery and with new drummer Andy Strachan, the band made a comeback, releasing One Said to the Other, Who's Gonna Save Us? and getting air play once again. This was followed by heavy touring (including Big Day Out) and a release of Modern ARTillery.
In late 2004, the band has released a singles collection From Here on In: The Singles 1997-2004 as well as a DVD, which included all video clips and a "supergig", collections of the band's most famous songs performed in Australia, Japan and the USA. The DVD also features the band's history- documented in interviews and home footage.
Recently, Chris performed at the 2004 ARIA awards as part of the supergroup The Wrights, featuring members of many other Australian rock bands.
Chris Cheney and Scott Owen have won the Best Guitarist and Best Bassist awards for 2004 and 2005, in the Jack Awards.
The band performs regularly in Melbourne, one performance recently was for the Channel V Music Bus at Federation Square Melbourne, Australia (15th of December 2005) which saw a capacity crowd of between 4,500 and 5,000 people attend. The event saw many under 18's get the chance to see their idols for free, and for a lucky few, the chance to sing with Chris Cheney, unplanned of course.
The Living End's fourth album, titled State of Emergency, was released on February 4 2006 and was recorded in Byron Bay after they played in the Splendour in the Grass festival. They had finished the recording and the artwork for State of Emergency in mid December 2005. The single "What's on Your Radio was released on November 20, 2005, and debuted at #9 on the ARIA singles chart. The second single, "Wake Up" was released on February 19 and debuted at #5 on the ARIA singles chart. The group is currently signed to Adeline Records, owned and run by Billie Joe and Adrianne Armstrong.
In 2008 The Living End released their fifth studio album titled as White Noise, showing more hard rock influenced sound of The Living End. First single from the album was a double A-side single White Noise/How Do We Know which was released physically and digitally 5 July 2008. The second single Moment in the Sun was released 25 October 2008. The third single, Raise the Alarm, was released 22 December 2008. In 2009 The Living End started the Raise the Alarm Tour.
West End Riot
The Living End Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's a kid from the east who never really fit in with the rest
Every week they would meet in the street with their friends
With the guns that they made and the caps that they stole they would fight to
Their death
This time we'll have victory
Last time ended in a defeat
Our town becomes a battleground
We'll be here next Saturday
With our guns and our heads held high
So listen up boys, you'd better not cry this time
See a bum on the street that you think you recognise
Young kid never looked so bad, when he was only 4ft high
Six o'clock runnin' home I don't wanna be late
Another Saturday of sun and war shared with our mates
Boys will be boys playing up and making lots of noise
Never used to talk about the future
Never thought that we'd have to care
So west end riot!
There's a man who was born in the west workin' at a factory
There's a man from the east who know runs the whole company
How they've grown on their own not like the kids they used to be
Saturdays of sun and war are just fond memories
The Living End's song West End Riot tells a story of two kids from different sides of the town who come together every weekend to engage in physical fights. They steal caps and make guns to fight with and this has turned the town into a battleground. The song hints at the cycle of gang violence - this is not the first time the gangs have fought, and victory is not certain. The chorus is a call to arms, a proclamation that they will be back the following week with their guns and their heads held high. The song speaks to the need for belonging, for needing to be part of a group and how that can lead to aggression and destruction.
The song also touches on themes of growing up and changing priorities. The kids in the song used to spend their Saturdays fighting with their friends, but as they grow older, they move on to jobs and running companies. Saturdays of sun and war become memories that they look back on fondly. The song portrays how our priorities and values change as we grow up.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a kid who was born and was raised in the west
There is a child who was born and brought up in the western part of the town.
There's a kid from the east who never really fit in with the rest
There is another child who was raised in the eastern part of the town and never really felt like they belonged there.
Every week they would meet in the street with their friends
These two kids would meet up every week with their respective friends on the street.
With the guns that they made and the caps that they stole they would fight to their death
They engaged in fights with the makeshift guns that they made themselves and caps they stole. They would fight until the very end.
This time we'll have victory
We are hoping to win the fight this time around.
Last time ended in a defeat
We lost the last fight and were defeated.
Our town becomes a battleground
Our hometown has now become a battlefield for these kids.
West End Riot
The constant fighting has led to a riot in the west end of the town.
We'll be here next Saturday
We plan to continue to gather and fight every Saturday.
With our guns and our heads held high
We will show up with our makeshift guns and a feeling of confidence.
So listen up boys, you'd better not cry this time
The opposing team should be prepared to put up a good fight and not give up easily.
See a bum on the street that you think you recognise
We see a homeless person on the street who we think we may know.
Young kid never looked so bad, when he was only 4ft high
The homeless person we see is a young child who looks very fragile.
Six o'clock runnin' home I don't wanna be late
One of the kids is running home at 6 PM as they do not want to be late for the fight.
Another Saturday of sun and war shared with our mates
Yet another Saturday will be spent fighting with our friends under the sun.
Boys will be boys playing up and making lots of noise
These kids are behaving like typical young boys, causing trouble and being noisy.
Never used to talk about the future
These kids were never interested in discussing their future.
Never thought that we'd have to care
They never thought that they would ever have to worry about something like this.
So west end riot!
The song ends with a reminder of the ongoing riot in the west end of the town.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRIS CHENEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Alfredo De la Fuente
25 years and still in the riot!!!
There's a kid who was born and was raised in the west
There's a kid from the east who never really fit in with the rest
Every week they would meet in the street with their friends
With the guns that they made and the caps that they stole they would fight to
Their death
This time we'll have victory
Last time ended in a defeat
Our town becomes a battleground
West End Riot
We'll be here next Saturday
With our guns and our heads held high
So listen up boys, you'd better not cry this time
See a bum on the street that you think you recognise
Young kid never looked so bad, when he was only 4ft high
Six o'clock runnin' home I don't wanna be late
Another Saturday of sun and war shared with our mates
Boys will be boys playing up and making lots of noise
Never used to talk about the future
Never thought that we'd have to care
So west end riot!
There's a man who was born in the west workin' at a factory
There's a man from the east who know runs the whole company
How they've grown on their own not like the kids they used to be
Saturdays of sun and war are just fond memories
pirika666
im from brazil, and i lived in australia for 2 bloody years, a friend of mine introduced me this band and i loved them since the begin, im used to say that this 2 years was the greatest years of my live, cheers australia for everything
Israelis are Great dancers
Anyone who loves Australia as much as us and doesn't want to change it is welcome here anytime
Patrick Johnson
Are you still living in Australia 🇦🇺?
Michael
you've kept a bit of the lingo i see, putting bloody in front of words for no reason, bloody beauty. 👍
Papa Niqqa
HOW THE FUCK DOES THIS ONLY HAVE 10,000 VIEWS? THIS SONG IS LEGENDARY!
ThinLion Films
Good news, ten years later it's up to half a million
Jijii Y.
@ThinLion Films yup
J Martin
I have seen these guys live and an unreal performance! Now I live in Canada and I saw a guy walking through the work site with a living end sticker on his hard hat and I asked "Is that a living end band sticker?" He reply was: "yes and I saw them in Montreal and they rocked the house!" Fucking awesome.
kepo
The best punkrockabilly band ... I love this band since first time i Saw this video... Cheers 🍻🍺 from Lombok, Indonesia...
harryginnyalways
One of the best songs in Australian history. Love this video!