Saturday, April 6, 2013

F is for...


Fight for Your Right...Beastie Boys, 1986
Angsty 80's songs, from the soundtrack of my life, is my theme for the A-Z challenge this year.


In 1986 I had weathered the general social anxieties of middle school and was trying to safely navigate my way through the end of high school. I wasn't feeling particularly rebellious by the late eighties, or at least wasn't terribly showy about whatever I was trying to get away with.

However, when Mike D, MCA and Ad Rock told me to fight for my right to party, I really felt like there must have been some injustice I could protest against. Maybe I was being denied my right to party and just hadn't noticed. I may have been more concerned about the clothes I was going to wear, and certainly had no idea what to do with my hair.

Suffice to say, the song made me feel like I should take action, but didn't know how. Perhaps there were other people I could have been helping. I decided the best thing to do was sing along...loudly. My absolute favorite part was the rhyming in the final verse:
Your mom busted in and said "What's that noise?"
Aw, mom you're just jealous it's the Beastie Boys!

20 comments:

  1. Denied your right to party and not noticed? I LOVE this!

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  2. I was probably denied my right to party too. Life sucked back then. :) I was on jr high when this came out, but it was still popular when we hit high school and I remember driving around with friends and listening to this and another favorite of us stupid teens, Me So Horny.

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  3. mmmm, also denied my rights but what the heck! Have to say I don't remember the song but those lyrics sound great! Hope you're partying this weekend! Have fun!

    Susan Scott's Soul Stuff

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  4. I probably should have been denied my right to party...

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  5. What TMW said...college is a blur of frat parties and way too much alcohol...sigh.



    Tina @ Life is Good
    Co-host, April 2013 A-Z Challenge Blog
    @TinaLifeisGood, #atozchallenge

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  6. You did it again! Hold your hand up girl...swack!

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  7. Great blog posts and such a time warp for me. I was a writer-producer in Top-40 radio from 1983 to 89 and all these songs are so ingrained in my psyche. I just took a seminar on blogging from Arlee Bird last Saturday and Monday signed up for the A to Z Challenge. I've never blogged before but am so jazzed by it. Much to learn and lots of very nice people I'm meeting. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the memories. And the songs.

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  8. I love your song-based posts. Brings back lovely memories!

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  9. Oh my god, I LOVED this song and went out an bought the album because of it.
    I was too shy to party, so didn't feel the need to fight for the right. A few years later though...but that's a different story.

    Gonna go and dig up that album now. :)

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  10. Love.
    My 7 yr old is singing Beastie Boys with us now!
    Brass Monkey!!!

    Heather

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  11. LOL! I may have slept through my right to party! I can't wait to see what G is for.
    I'm a new follower.
    Connie
    A to Z buddy
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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  12. My love for the Beastie Boys runs deep. No, I don't mean I like them in "that way," even though I'm gay. Okay, maybe when I first saw them, just a little, you know. But I've been fighting for my right to party ever since. I'm now 45 years old. I might have earned my right to party by now. ;-)

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  13. When this song was popular I wanted it for our National Anthem. Thanks for reminding me!

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  14. The Big Tuna and I were pretty wild kids, thus explaining why we had Sheldon on lock down until she got married. She was genetically cursed.

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  15. Loved this song!!!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  16. Oh the songs of youth! I wish you could've seen the look on Joe's face when I wouldn't let him change "You Don't Have to Take Your Clothes Off to Have a Good Time" on the way home from Florida. He's like "Who the f*ck drinks CHERRY wine??"

    Yes. I peed.

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  17. One of the best 80's songs ever. Still great! Even if I'm not (nor ever was) much of a partier.

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  18. Ugh. Yes, I sing along when I hear it (ANY time I'm home in Kansas during the summer.. WHY DJs? WHY? Just let it die).

    Heh, I was denied "going out" one summer so I brought the party to my house: we lived on the main drag in town AND had a sizable front lawn so I sat out there at night and would play my music loud, wave down my friends and get it started. Only sucked when my dad would come out and tell everyone not to pour out their beers on his lawn.

    So lame was I was at 14.

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  19. Huh. I never really thought of this as angsty. I guess when I think angsty, I think ballads, but I suppose this qualifies. And yeah, that last line is the best. I remember the video on this one as well. So much fun!

    ((Psst, have you thought about adding the video link to each of these songs? Just a thought))

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