"Blank Generation: The Quintessential Album for Nihilists, Poets, and Everything Inbetween" by Joey R

            Foreword: Everyone that knows me personally knows that this is definitely the most influential album to me as a musician, writer, and individual. Granted that the 40th anniversary edition LP came out last November, it’s fitting that someone should bring this album up to speed with the current generation. You may see this piece and feel that the length of it is daunting, so I headed a paragraph in bold if you want to get straight into the album analysis.

From left to right: Bob Quine (guitar), Richard Hell (bass, vocals), Marc Bell aka “Marky Ramone (drums), Ivan Julien (guitar)

            Blank Generation is the debut studio album from the band Richard Hell & The Voidoids in September 1977 under Sire Records. The Voidoids were an offspring of the breeding grounds of the early CBGB club scene in New York. Although they didn’t break through on through to the other side of the mainstream platform like other members of the scene such as Blondie and The Ramones, The Voidoids held more influence on the development of the early punk movement with their sonic attacks, vivid and symbolic poetry, and the look of torn and safety-pinned together clothing Richard so often sported. As underground and subversive as the CBGB musical movement was, Blank Generation is one of the albums from the era that has cemented itself into the lives of the musicians who simply don’t give a damn about sounding perfect, the poets who are compelled to write about the flashing images in their souls, and others who voraciously seek something beneath the surface of what they encounter.

           

Track Listing:

1. “Love Comes In Spurts”
2. “Liars Beware”
3. “New Pleasure”
4. “Betrayal Takes Two”
5. “Down at the Rock and Roll Club”
6. “Who Says? (It’s Good To Be Alive)”
7. “Blank Generation”
8. “Walking On The Water” (Originally by Creedence Clearwater Revival)
9. “The Plan”
10. “Another World”

            Now since this is an assignment for AP English and not an article for Rolling Stone or Creem Magazine, the analysis of this album will focus more on the lyrical content and literary devices present within the songs. I’m refraining from going off on a whole ramble about the free-form style, the peculiar atonal loveliness of Bob Quine’s guitar playing and Richard’s voice but I implore you to listen to this album if you are looking for the refined mess of punk inspired by jazz, garage rock, and more. You won’t regret it.

            The poetic influences on Richard Hell in writing these lyrics are entirely varied throughout genres and generations, but are primarily rooted in the influence of French symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud . For example, the name “Hell” isn’t there to sound edgier than his actual name Richard Meyers, but is taken from the prose piece “A Season In Hell” (this is one of Rimbaud’s most profound works that touches on existentialist undertones and is highly recommended for all who embrace harsh poetry and philosophy) that is littered with complex diction and syntax to evoke tones of resigned, fatalistic hopelessness. This highly provocative piece is somewhat autobiographical to Rimbaud, a technique that Hell commonly used within his poems and lyrics. It is undeniable that the French symbolist movement of literature is evident in his writing.

           

Now, onto the actual portion where the album is analyzed. For sake of length and your attention, “Love Comes In Spurts”, “Who Says?”, and “Blank Generation” will be discussed in brief.

“Love Comes In Spurts” sets a vulgar and irreverent view onto love that is expressed through sexual interactions. The fourth stanza contains the lines, “I just can’t get wise to those tragical lies. Though I now know the facts, they still cut like an axe,” exclaiming in the fifth that, “Love comes in spurts, in dangerous flirts, and it murders your heart. They didn’t tell you that part, baby.” This harsh tone takes a stance that is unapologetic towards the conventional views of love we all know. The rhyme scheme of the song as a whole is AABB BBCC DDDD EEFF DDGG DDDD EEFF DDGG DDDD DDDD which adds a sense of bounce and motion to the vocal melody. As the opening track to the album, Hell takes a frustrated approach to love and promiscuity, hinting that the society around him confuses one as the other. This frustration about the life around the speaker in these poems becomes further prevalent in the rest of the album in underlying messages.

            “Who Says?” furthers the fatalistic hopelessness of the album through the exclamations of the frustration of existence. The chorus opens with, “Who says it good, good, good, to be alive baby? Same ones who keep it a perpetual jive, baby.” Hell takes a critical stance against the previous and current generation of the time in the post-hippie era that promoted an ideal world despite the obvious faults within the real one. The bleak tone gathered from the lyrics alone coupled with the almost mocking tone in the sung vocals is ironic in a way due to the self-deprecation insisting that happiness is a lie sold by the most effective deceivers. The song furthers some of the sneering mockery and satire that become notable in underground music though the actual instrumental composition itself. Tonally, the song is very bright, upbeat, and “in your face.” The instrumental sections combined with the lyrical content gives off a sense of flippant nihilism that seems to not care that life is falling apart around the speaker. “Who Says?” is the acceptance that life pretty much sucks, but preaching about how good it is is only self-righteous and dishonest.

            “Blank Generation” is the anthem of at-first nonsense that intrigues further analysis to come to the realization of, “Holy f*ck dude, this song slaps musically and poetically.” Instead of flippant indifference to life, “Blank Generation” centers itself in the rampant hopelessness and becomes a fatalistic empowerment of existing despite the nothingness that ensues. The song starts off blaring the unforgettable lines, “I was saying let me out of here before I was even born, it’s such a gamble when you get a face,” letting the listener know immediately that the speaker is deeply rooted in dissatisfaction with its nihilistic tone and exaggeration. The chorus takes the turn of the speaker acknowledging the philosophical predicament they are in but owning it completely. “I belong to the Blank Generation, and I can take it or leave it each time. I belong to the Blank Generation, but I can take it or leave it each time,” speaks of this ambiguous state of being that is left down to choice of how to continue, leaving the song completely open ended to myriad interpretation. “Blank Generation” became an absolute underground hit because it became symbolic to the disenfranchised and disillusioned who felt that they were in a vague state of living in society.

            I could go on forever about this album, (so if you ever talk to me about it, oh boy I hope you’re ready) but for the sake of this essay, I won’t go any further. The poetic elements present in Blank Generation are heavily focused on tone and the scenes and emotions that can be depicted and felt from each of the songs. For poetic analysts, it’s either a gold mine or an absolute nightmare. For people who actually think life is beautifully meaningless, I present you this album. For everybody else, you can take it or leave it each time for all that it’s worth.