Why Cokie the Clown does it better!
A brutally honest and stingingly painful dose of reality.
You might hate this album,
or it might change your life?! and for that “You’re Welcome”
“This album changed my life” is an expression that is banded about far too much but when I tell you that this album changed my life I really mean mean it! I have been a fan of NOFX and Fat Mike since I started appreciating music; in fact it was NOFX amongst other punk bands that made me want to pick up a guitar and start a band. (maybe it’s worth bearing that in mind when reading my thoughts on the album) I encountered ‘You’re Welcome’ when I was in a bit of a creative slump and had a lot of personal issues I was dealing with and I started listening to my old CD’s for inspiration, I got on a huge NOFX binge and after listening to the entire back catalogue and watching ‘Backstage Pass’ (awesome) I started looking for anything I might have missed, that’s when I found this. I can still remember how excited I was to have some new Fat Mike material to digest, I stuck it on Spotify, earphones on and went for a run, about 20 seconds in I thought “what the f**k is this?” and turned it off, I hated it! that’s not Fat Mike! later that night I lay in bed and gave the whole album a proper go, and that’s were my obsession with this album began.
I get it, it must be a joke, or writing from someone else’s perspective? or Mike’s really gone off the rails? is this his artsy departure from NOFX? I wasn’t sure, but I knew it couldn’t be real, songs about euthanasia and friends committing suicide amongst other really heavy subjects. This was the first time in my life that I NEEDED to find out what each song was about and so I begun tracking down interviews and reviews of the album. “Oh Shit” these are all real things he’s singing about! this isn’t an act. When I begun to understand the meaning of the album and the stories behind each song it changed not only my perspective of the album, but with music and songwriting as a whole. Music doesn’t have to be aesthetically beautiful, it can be painful, it can be misunderstood but it should be honest and have meaning.
Mike has achieved something truly remarkable with this album; to me, it beggars belief that someone could have endured such hardships and continued to have the courage to speak to the world about them. Mike stated in an interview that he has freed himself from ego, and feels no shame about who he is as a person, he speaks openly about his sexuality, his friendships, his relationship with drugs, music and band mates and feels completely free not bound by the expectations of others, and that’s what you hear in “You’re Welcome” an artist free of ego, baring their soul to the world in all its grotesque and wonderful shades of humanity.
This album has not only changed my outlook on music but has changed my outlook on life, I can see how it’s OK to express what you’re feeling despite how others may react, sometimes things are uncomfortable to hear, but it’s in those moments if you take the time to listen you can learn the lessons of most value. You might hate this album, or this album might change your life? and for that “You’re Welcome”
The Insecure Musician
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