The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)

[first lines]

Self - Light Bulb Kid : [Eugene] That's stupid. Punk rock. I don't - you know - I just think of it as rock-n-roll; because, that's what it is, you know.

Self - Interviewer : What do you like about it?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : Well, I like that it's like - it's something new and it's just reviving like old rock-n-roll and it's like rare again and it's for real. And it's fun and, you know, it's like - it's not bull shit. There's no rock stars now, you know.

Self - Interviewer : What about the hippies? Do you get along with hippies?

Self - Black Flag (Guitar) : They're okay, cause they just get loaded and they're pretty mellow. Mellow dudes!

Self - Interviewer : Where are you from?

Self - Black Flag (Vocals) : I'm from Puerto Rico. But

[sings]

Self - Black Flag (Vocals) : I like to live in America.

[laughs]

Self - Interviewer : How is that you're always getting hurt?

Self - Germs (Vocals) : Well, at first I did it on purpose - to keep from being bored.

Self - Interviewer : Why do you get so loaded to perform?

Self - Germs (Vocals) : Because, that way I don't feel myself gettin' hurt. I mean, it's scary out there.

Self - Interviewer : Tell me why you don't sing into the mike, Darby?

Self - Germs (Vocals) : I just don't pay attention. I'm too loaded.

Self - Interviewer : Didn't you feel bad that the guy was dead?

Self - Darby Crash's Roommate : No. Not at all. Because I hate painters.

[Darby rolls his eyes]

Self - Interviewer : Do you think your songs look on the dark side of things?

Self - X (Vocals & Bass) : They look on the realistic side of things. Realism is dark.

Self - Interviewer : What's the worst problem you ever had?

Self - Bouncer : Oh, one time three guys came up on stage and they were hassling the lead singer for - Exene, I believe it was, from the band X. And they were tryin' to rip off her dress or somethin'. And I had to go out and kick 'em in the face

Self - Interviewer : What's the pent-up aggression? Where's that come from?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : [Eugene] Well, with me it just comes from like livin' in the city and just seein' everything. Seein' all the ugly, old people and just the fuckin' - the buses and just the dirt. That, you know, just - and that's what - what I see all the time. So, it's just, all the time, it's just fuckin' bums me. Thinkin' about that, so, when I go there, I just, sometimes I can get out some aggression maybe by beatin' up some asshole, you know.

Self - Interviewer : Why do you think they act like that?

Self - Owner - Club 88 : It's - it's an energy outlet. It's - they're really nice kids. They just have to be doing something different. It's a release - from their daily tensions, I guess, whatever it may be.

Self - Manager - Club 88 : In our day, we ate goldfish.

Self - Interviewer : Tell me about the painter.

Self - Darby Crash's Roommate : Oh, the dead painter. My parents were in China and we were just finishing having the house painted and Darby and Donnie and Dinky and Mark Plummer and my brother were all at my house and my brother and I went to take the trash out at like 1 in the morning or somethin'. And we hadn't been out in the back yard. It was on a Tuesday and we hadn't been out in the back yard since my parents left, since like the Friday before. And, so, anyways, I went outside and I must have walked right over the guy because I couldn't see anything anyways. And then my brother, my brother goes to me, "Isn't there somebody sleeping in the back yard?" And I just went, "Whaaat? What are you talkin' about?" And I went over and looked at him and I was just joking and I went, "This guy's dead." And I gave him a kick in his stomach, you know, and he was dead. He was dead.

Self - Germs (Vocals) : Her brother thought we killed him. He goes, "What should we do? Like, should we hide the body or something?"

Self - Darby Crash's Roommate : So, anyways, we went and Donnie had a camera and we went and we lied down - I lied down next to him and we all got around him and we took a bunch of pictures, like family pictures, and we're all going, "Hi," you know, and taking pictures and stuff.

Self - Publisher - Slash Magazine : Punk.

Self - Interviewer : Why do they like it so much?

Self - Publisher - Slash Magazine : They got to do somethin' with their time and its the most fun. So. Nothing else is going on. It's the only form of revolution left, I think, in this - in the 1980s, you know.

Self - Interviewer : How do you feel when you're performing?

Self - Editor - Slash Magazine : [aka Kickboy Face] I feel - powerful. I feel like I'm making an ass out of myself and I'm getting away with it. That's what I feel like.

Self - Interviewer : Are you a happy person now? No?

Self - X (Vocals) : I don't think of myself as a happy person. Though, I had fun tonight.

Self - Editor - Slash Magazine : There's no more brotherhood shit.

Self - Interviewer : Why not?

Self - Editor - Slash Magazine : It's not like, you know, we're not all grooving on the same vibes anymore. Everybody's grooving on different vibes. Ugly vibes.

Self - Light Bulb Kid : [Eugene] LIke, when you see a fight, like, all these people are start runnin' over to the fight. They don't care who it is. They just start kickin', you know, goin', you know.

Self - Interviewer : Why do people do that?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : Just to get aggression out, you know, cause they're fuckin' - I don't know. That's why I do it. Just to get aggression out - all this fuckin' pent-up shit, you know.

Self - Interviewer : Why are they so angry?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : [John] Um, they don't know. I don't know. You know, they think that's what punk rock is. Violence.

Self - Interviewer : When you fight, how do you feel? When you're actually fighting? How do you feel?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : [Michael] Violent.

Self - Interviewer : Yeah.

Self - Light Bulb Kid : I feel very violent. I feel like - I'm doing something I'm good at.

Self - Interviewer : What?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : Beating people up.

Self - Interviewer : Do you have a girlfriend?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : [Michael] No.

Self - Interviewer : How come?

Self - Light Bulb Kid : I don't have girlfriends.