Straight Edge Lyrics

[Verse 1]
I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and fuck my head
Hang out with the living dead
Snort white shit up my nose
Pass out at the shows
I don't even think about speed
That's something I just don't need

[Chorus]
I've got the straight edge

[Verse 2]
I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
'Cause I know that I can cope
Laugh at the thought of eating 'ludes
Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never want to use a crutch

[Chorus]
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge
I've got the straight edge

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About

Genius Annotation

This song gave birth to a subculture and a subgenre of punk music called Straight Edge, a lifestyle that doesn’t include alcohol, tobacco or drugs.

The singer of Minor Threat, and the writer of this song, Ian MacKaye, often distanced himself from the straight edge movement, saying that he wrote the song about his own feelings and not to set up rules for others:

I’m not saying, “Don’t go to bars.” I’m not saying, “Don’t drink alcohol.” I’m merely saying, “Try to find a little more entertainment from your resources.” As opposed to going out an buying it."

In “Out of Step”, a surreptitiously recorded monologue from Ian says,

Listen, this is no set of rules, I’m not telling you what to do. All I’m saying is I’m bringing up three things that are, like, so important to the whole world that I don’t have to find much importance in.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Minor Threat say about "Straight Edge"?
Genius Answer

MacKaye once explained:

Ok, fine, you take drugs, you drink, whatever,. But obviously I have the edge on you because I’m sober, I’m in control of what I’m doing.

With his characteristic candor, MacKaye let an interviewer know how he feels about alcohol:

There’s nothing I hate more than hearing people use that [alcohol] as an excuse. Too many times it’s “I’m sorry what happened last night, I was fucked up.” Well, fuck that shit, man. I don’t like getting hit by some drunk motherfucker just because he’s drunk. I don’t buy it. Can you imagine what drinking has done to people’s consciousness, just in what they’ve done under the influence and allowed themselves to do under the influence and then when they sober up, realizing what they’d done? It’s sad to me, it’s sad."

From Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life (Back Bay Books, 2002), p. 136.

Credits
Written By
Engineer
Bass, backing vocals
Guitar, backing vocals
Release Date
June 1981
Straight Edge Covers
Straight Edge Live Performances
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