His voice is plaintive and introspective. You can hear the weariness of a man old enough to have fought many battles, yet young enough to know there really are more rivers up ahead. When he begins to improvise the lyrics into something like “trouble is my manna/sorrow is my companion/love is my foundation” you know he sings for truth.

“Judy Is A Punk” – The Ramones
From County Jail

I’m not sure anyone would ever pick a Ramones song for their funeral, but in a weird way it wouldn’t be a bad way to go out.

Many years ago my cousin scored some Pearl Jam tickets in Texas with the Ramones as the opening act. I had planned to attend, but for reasons that now escape me I didn’t make it. My brother took my tickets instead.

Later when I asked him about the set, he was excited about Pearl Jam, but less so about the Ramones. It was an outdoor venue and their seats were far away from the stage, out on the lawn.

“We were way in the back,” he said, “and still they were way too freaking loud.”

At the time I thought “right on.” That’s the way it ought to be.

These days I’d probably secretly agree with my brother. I tend to shy away from music that’s too loud and too fast and too noisy. I like my tunes a little more subtle, a little quieter.

Listening to this song from a bootleg from 1977 though, and I get a sense of something amazing. The sound quality is pretty much crap. It is a wall of muddled, distorted sound. At a minute and twenty-five seconds it is hardly a song, but it is something crazy, and powerful, and awesome. I can barely make out any of the word both due to the rotten sound and the sort of shout-mumble the singer is doing. There is something like “I don’t know why”, and then something else about a second verse being same as the first. Mostly though it is loud and violent – a full on assault of my ears.

I’m a pretty low key guy, but this stuff makes me want to start slamming into walls and breaking stuff. Maybe I wouldn’t mind even if I did. Not even a little.