Musical Throwback Thursday #1. Skid Row's 18 & Life (& Me) The Emotional Side Of Being A Metal Fanatic
I can still remember seeing myself wander into the world of power rock ballads when I was in my 9th grade. It was such a new experience watching Scorpions' live performance Acoustica in a small 12" B&W TV. Hard to believe, huh? And it was not terribly long ago. My music life was stuck with old CDs and cassettes, but they were so hard to find, and radio offered no real help. I was quite satisfied with old school music that was popular here. What would happen if I still got stuck with it? Who would I become? How would my life and characteristics turn out to be?
But then, there came rock (in the softest form), a whole new world appeared right in front of me: of a real band producing music live, guitars, basses, drums, microphones, sweat and passion. I was awestruck. That was pure magic. There was nothing artificial, no techniques to hide the flaws. Just they being there being true to their capability. That explains why I decided to make a twist and start to explore this new genre. I can't remember how I stumbled upon this song, but this changed my life forever.
18 and Life is the second single and power ballad from Skid Row's 1989 eponymous debut album.
The song was to be the band's biggest hit, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It was named the 60th best hard rock song of all time by VH1. It was certified Gold on September 13, 1989, when it sold 500,000 copies. The song also charted at No. 12 on the UK Singles chart. This song also appears on Skid Row's greatest hits compilation, 40 Seasons: The Best of Skid Row. Then lead singer of Skid Row, Sebastian Bach, released a live version of this on his solo album Bring 'Em Bach Alive!. It is also a playable song on the video game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s.
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| The best album cover I could find |
Ricky was a young boy, He had a heart of stone.
Lived 9 to 5 and worked his fingers to the bone.
Just barely got out of school, came from the edge of town.
Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down.
He had no money, oooh no good at home.
He walked the streets a soldier and he fought the world alone
And now it's
18 and life You got it
18 and life you know
Your crime is time and it's
18 and life to go
[repeat above]
Tequila in his heartbeat, His veins burned gasoline.
It kept his motor running but it never kept him clean.
They say he loved adventure, "Ricky's the wild one."
He married trouble and had a courtship with a gun.
Bang Bang Shoot 'em up, The party never ends.
You can't think of dying when the bottle's your best friend
And now it's
[chorus]
"Accidents will happen" they all heard Ricky say
He fired his six-shot to the wind - that child blew a child away.
[chorus]
I find that this song (plus its video) may be classified as rebellious and poisonous for youngsters, but I beg to differ. It represents young people's confusion and their begin-life-crisis. Eighteen (approximately) is when life hits us all hard on the face, demands us to deal with our life, make big decisions that can affect our life forever.
Madonna may make silly music, but I can very well use an excerpt from her song "Jump": The only thing you can depend on is your family.
Look at the video, how the father treats his son (I don't mean having only father in the household is bad, but you know what I mean), sure, the son is rebellious and shows disobedience, but is violence a proper response?
In a whole, I'm not a cop, a music expert or a psychologist to examine this song, but for me it's pure magic. Every time I listen to this, I'm so overwhelmed with emotion and memories. And when the music ends, the rawness left its throne, Sebastian stops his splendor, what's left is sadness.
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