2/15/2006
Hot Topic is NOT Punk Rock lyrics
Dan and I were out geocaching on Sunday and heard this song on the radio. You can download it on their Myspace page and I encourage you to do so. Since Hot Topic is celebrating “30 Years of Punk” on their website, this seems all the more appropriate. So here you have it. I couldn’t find these lyrics anywhere via Google, so I’ve transcribed the song for the pleasure of the web. The one line that is marked in red is the line I wasn’t 100% sure about. Anyone with suggestions?
UPDATE! - knomat chimes in with the actual line… corrected below.
MC Lars - Hot Topic is NOT Punk Rock
(MC Lars is more punk than you)
Go! Books about Evanescence (Are not punk rock!)
Guns ‘n Roses watches (Are not punk rock!)
Hello Kitty iPod cases (Are not punk rock!)
Rob Zombie lunch boxes (Are not punk rock!)
Slipknot binder paper (Is not punk rock!)
Tinkerbell pillow cases (Are not punk rock!)
Led Zeppelin air fresheners (Are not punk rock!)
Tupac incense burners (Are not punk rock!)Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)
Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)
Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)
Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)Misfits candle tins (Are not punk rock!)
ICP throw blankets (Are not punk rock!)
Beaded Elvis curtains (Are not punk rock!)
Talking Lambchop plush dolls (Are not punk rock!)
AC/DC hair clips (Are not punk rock!)
Spongebob wristbands (Are not punk rock!)
Sex Pistols boxer shorts (Are not punk rock!)
Disco back catalog (Okay. Maybe that’s punk rock.)
Dischord back catalog (Okay. Maybe that’s punk rock.)Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)
Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)
Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)
Hot Topic is not punk rock! (Hot Topic!)Hot Topic is a contrived identification with youth subcultures to manufacture an anti-authoritarian identity and make millions. The $8 you paid for the Mudvayne poster would be better spent used to see your brother’s friend’s band.
DIY ethics are punk rock
Starting your own label is punk rock
G.G. Allin was punk rock.But when a crass corporate vulture feeds on mass-consumer culture, this spending mommy’s money is not punk rock!
Nothing playing at time of post.
Filed by AxsDeny at 8:58 am under Entertainment, Funny, General
This song is hilarious, and I suspect Cindy Lou Who will crack up at this post. I have to say though, while Hello Kitty iPod covers are NOT punk rock, they certainly would be fun.
Hello Kitty Ipod covers are Buick Wagon Chic
The buick wagon is punk rock.
thanks for transcribing the lyrics. couldn’t find them anywhere else. you rock!
I LOVE THIS SONG….SOOOO TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
I want to STEAL from hot Topic. That’s punk rock.
GOING TO A PUNK ROCK SHOW
The emo oranges are punk rock.
i hate emo **** [REMOVED BY AxsDeny] *** -_-.. they love hot topic.. god i can’t believe i ALMOST worked there.. wtf was i thinking
what can i say! i love this song. way to sock it to the man lars. f*** yeah! [EDITED BY AxsDeny]
yeah….mc lars is really neat. punk rock 4-ever.
*sigh* The clueless language in some of these comments is torturous.
slaughtering emo’s in ur free time “IS PUNK ROCK”! **** HOT TOPIC! [EDITED BY AxsDeny]
Improper punctuation is punk rock!
mc lars is a badass! emo kids need to smoke weed… then theyd have a constant euphoria, and wouldnt be in a bad mood all the time…
to the chick who said she wants to steal from hot topic.. I ALREADY HAVE!!! hahaha i don’t keep the s***, i just trash the mall parking lot with it, now thats punk rock. dischord back catalog (Ok. maybe thats punk rock) haha. [EDITED BY AxsDeny]
I love this song cuz its so funny and true !!!!!!!!
Hey thanks I couldn’t find these lyrics anywhere till i found thisso thanks so thanks! P.S. Hot Topic is about as punk as McDonalds.
song kicks @$$
vintage skiing t-shirts found in your grandparents basement ARE punk rock
punk rocker exxxtreme ur not punk rock neat wat kind of word is that
hell ya! thank you for putting up these lyrics. i effin love this song. i think the disco back things is right. and to the girl that wants to steal from hot topic: good for you!
[Link removed]
That’s awesome. I read it to my dad and we had a hearty laugh.
I’m here to represnt the emo people you all hate. We emo kids know Hot Topic isn’t punk rock: we’re just too busy cutting ourselves to care.
you should have the song on this site cause ive been looking for it forever!
dinero: You’re throwing around the term “badass” pretty loosely.
ian: You’re an idiot. There’s so much more to say about it, but that sums it up nicely.
Z.C.: Good comparison.
j.h.: As I indicated previously, if poor grammar and punctuation are punk rock, then you, my friend, are Ian MacKaye.
lynn: No. It’s definitely Dischord. Click the link and you’ll know why. Also, stealing from hot topic when you are pushing 30 isn’t punk rock. It’s jail time.
hoovernj: Don’t spam me. I’ve removed your link.
jesyka: j-e-s-y-k-a???
Tokaru: I’m not sure why this thread turned into a dig on the emo kids. Although it’s clear that the people commenting here are clueless 14 year olds.
warnin4444: Go find $0.99 and download it on the iTunes Music Store. The whole album is there.
The fact that Hot Topic bought the song, is going to play it in all of their stores, and put up a display of all the items listed in the song, is definitely punk rock. Especially when they could have sued MC Lars for slander, instead.
Dude!! This song is awesome!! I was just searching for it ALL over the web and could not find the lyrics anywhere. Though I do like some stuff at Hot Topic…this song is true, they are DEFINATELY not punk rock.
I love that song I want so much for this one chick I know to hear Because she shops at Hot topic and she thinks she is punk rock
to be honest, i think hot topic is like a gothic kmart and its definetly not punk. And wats rong wit emo?
i wanna put that song on myspace but the add button is blocked…wat the hell man??? com on!!
Cherry Blow-Pop T-Shirts… ARE PUNK ROCK!!
Vintage tye-dye t-shirts your stoner cousin gave are NOT PUNK ROCK….BUT ARE REALLY KOOL!!!
i totally love this song! and yes i know that hot topic is soo not punk rock! and haha i am just inlove with song
i looked at a gagilion other places, thanks website, ur my hero lol soo lame
swell song…I think I’ll go see MC Lars now…I know no miserable emos…woot! There’s no hot topic in england!
Yelovinyl (is not punk rock!)
[...] A slightly more interesting song that I also seem to remember pretty well is called Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock, by MC Lars. He just lists off a bunch of stuff that isn’t punk rock (that hot topic presumably sells - AC/DC hair clips?)… and then ends the song with a little monologue about how Hot Topic is a million dollar company that is manufacturing an anti-authoritarian identity by trying to associate with youth sub-cultures. Good stuff. I wonder how many of the kids at the skating rink with t-shirts that looked like they were straight out of Hot Topic were actually listening. [...]
even though i shop at hot topic for some stuff, i couldn’t help but laughing my ass off at some of the truths of this song. haha you can actually get all the merch listed in it! this is one of my favorites, even if it does diss one of my favorite places.
i want a book about evanescence…
this song kicks ass!!!!!!! i hate when people think their punk just because they buy stuff from hot topic. i shop there but i know im not punk. but this song is some funny shit.
Wearing a Vote For Pedro shirt is NOT punk rock
And another thing when the F*** did Marilyn Monroe become a punk rock “icon” is what I’d like to know seriously stupid scene kids
this song rocks my life! i laugh everytime i listen to it! and its so true!!
ude this is the siickest song ever
its so freakin true.. i mean yeah hot topic has some cute things but they over exaderate on saying “yeah this is soo punk” when all the clothes there is like all poser status
haha this song is hilarious and hot topic is definately not punk rock i dont see how poeple think that, although they do have adeline records clthing there and billie joe and his wife own that company, and billie joe is punk rock!
I heard this song on the radio last night, and I thought it was hysterical. Some of the truest lyrics I’ve ever heard in my life. I will totally buy a CD if there is one.
one thing that annoys me is how the meaning of ‘emo’ has changed…bring back the good old days when it meant Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, Brand New, Mineral etc! none of this FFAF, Hawethorne Heights stuff thats not emo. some kid the other day tried to tell me that funeral were the first emo band - i nearly cried. funeral just copied what finch had done a year earlier - and Glassjaw before that. THEY AREN’T EMO!!!
I’m not sure how this has devolved into a discussion on Emo. This is about things being “not punk” rather than this odd discussion that has arisen. Make fun of the idiots in Abercrombie or American Eagle. At least that’s something everyone can agree on.
It was the emo oranges fault. Totally taken out of context. My bad.
after listening to this song my opinion on hot topic has totally changed cuz… HOT TOPIC IS NOT PUNK ROCK!!! THIS SONG ROXXX!!!
The youth of today aren’t impressionable at all, are they?
Being British I don’t have first hand experience of Hot Topic, however I had the opportunity to hear the MC Lars album with this song on recently and was pleasantly surprised to discover that every song on the album makes an intelligent and eloquent observation.
The the choice to buy into this kind of farcical pseudo-anti-authoritarian sub-culture that these shops service stands with the people and not with the shops that service them
It seems a pitty that the observation made by this song, which is entirely correct - “Hot Topic is a contrived identification with youth subcultures to manufacture an anti-authoritarian identity and make millions.” - has been interpreted as a dig at the shops rather than peoples inability to make that judgment.
but then of course I’m not punk rock.
Sam, that’s the smartest thing anyone has said on this thread. The sheep that want to be “different” (by being the same as all their other friends) have a need for these goods. They just seem to overlook the irony in what they are doing and how they are living their life. Capitalism is not punk rock. These kids just don’t see that.
I have to agree with the sentiment on MC Lars. I have a bunch of his stuff and he is quite talented in making intelligent rock/rap that has a good beat, but also has interesting lyrical content.
I love this song. I hate that song, and the stupid emos that shop there. Hot Topic, burn to the ground.
Sorry, I meant the store* not song…
just a fun little tid bit while i was doing an economics project in high school i discoverd that Hot Topic is… OWNED BY GAP!!!!!!!!
unpon this revelation i imeadiately stopped shopping ther (having sworn never to set foot in The Gap this was just too close) X(
oh yeah emo rocks biatches
LOL AxsDeny, shutup, your gonna get kicked or removed
one more thing doing or thinking or beliving what u want to regardless of wether people think it’s punk rock or not, IS PUNK ROCK!!!
Wow.
led zeppelin is definitely not punk rock doi!!! its heavymetal dude!!
Narota, slander is spoken while libel is published. Hot Topic would sue for libel. And while it would be fun to watch, they would lose. They would have to prove a lot. 1: That it isn’t true. Suing over it would definitely make it true. 2: That it wasn’t opinion or puffery. This would require some scale of points that would determine what is and is not punk rock. Creation of this scale would once again put them on the “not punk rock” side. 3: They’d have to prove being “not punk rock” hurt their business, which no analysis would touch. 4: They’d have to prove it wasn’t covered by free speech, which wouldn’t go well either.
And even playing the song in their stores wouldn’t be punk; it’d just be another way of slapping the mallcore kids in the face with their own ignorance. Much like you did to yourself by posting.
And emo bashing is stupid. Whether it’s coming from someone who thinks of a movie when they hear Jawbreaker or directed at a whiny kid who has never heard of Sunny Day Real Estate, at least these kids are trying. That’s better for music than all those years of American Idol, Limp Bizkit, Nickleback, and all that other crap that ends up processed, sealed, and mass marketed.
I fecking love this song. I saw it performed by MC Lars and The Matches the other night. i couldnt stop laughing.
oh and just so everyone knows, they sell a shirt that says MC Lars on the front and “hot topic is not punk rock” on the back AT Hot Topic, i find the irony quite funny myself.
They played this song in a Hot Topic I was walking through. The staff in there love this song. I find this halarious.
MCR rocks i heard them playing helena and everybody waqs dancing to it
my mom(who is about as punk rock as hot topic)and i love this song. ps-I personally think that vivaldi violin concertos are kinda punk rock, but I’m an abstract thinker.
lolz so I hAt3 em0 kidzz t0o!@ i wAnt t0 kiLl AlL th3 em0 pe3pZZ!>? 0mgzorz
anyway. everyone just shut up about emo. just avoid the topic at all times. never talk about it. it is fake and you are fake for hating it. and here I am talking about it. sorry.
anyway, hot topic is there to make money- you said it lars! (who is mc lars). this song really is fun though.
oh, and broken little bunny: i’m not quite sure what you’re talking about..though i’m sure it makes sense to you. i think i agree with you sort of? halfway?
haha, axsdeny: capitalism is not punk rock. well..i mean. i guess. except it sounded like you were promoting communism or something. except wait. capitalism is just capitalism, capitalism is not being ignorant and buying ridiculous items to seem incredibly skilled and awesome. but hey, you gotta give it to the people who buy these ridiculous items in shops everywhere around the world and keep our economy running. (a little far-reaching, yes i know..but not too much).
I did no such thing. I am saying that buying things that are mass produced and marketed in an anti-establishment fashion can never be punk rock. Communism is not punk rock. Actually being anti-establishment is punk rock.
haha. i didn’t actually think you were promoting communism, seriously. i think that being anti-establishment is just being anti-establisment. wait. is that really what punk rock is? because that is really lame. unless the current establisment really sucks, (which, well..it does), then being anti-establishment is just another lame way to make someone feel good about themselves, you know?
this blogging thing is killing me. i really must stop. i feel sick inside. we should probably all be discussing greenpeace and eating vegetables right now.
I heard that Hot Topic is owned by the Gap. True?
From what I can tell, they seem to be an independant company. Their stock market ticker ID is HOTT, which is actually quite amusing.
scene girls are annoying w. there ugly mullets. ahaha trends ther so stupid.
Apparently our schools aren’t teaching English anymore.
Haha. I totally agree, Matt. You ought to tell that to z0mg@!! in particular. Oh, and to z0mg@!! : I’m sorry, but nothing you say makes ANY sense whatsoever…
i love this song! i’ve been saying hot topic was bullshit since it first opened. i’m glad somebody else has caught onto the fact that all the children who want to be “different” who shop at Hot Topic all have the same “vintage” band tee’s, and have the same lame haircuts, and all of the stupid heartagrams drawn on their hands because Bam Margera says HIM is cool. Those kids nothing but a waste to society.
I, for one, completely recognize the irony present in my following statement, I just got on this subject due to the fact that I witnessed this song played live last night and have come to the conclusion that MC Lars is a pretty cool guy: People spending time on the internet debating over whether what a popular musician says disputes the “category” they fit into in the social scheme of things present in the current society just to justify the little security they have with their identity and how other people praise them for it IS NOT FUCKING PUNK ROCK. and, just so you know, punks not dead and neither is hiphop so listen to some musik that gives you that feeling inside your stomach and makes you want to go change the world. Whether its Mahler, GG Allin, Django Reinhardt, the circle jerks, greek folk musik or whatever, you decide whether its really important to be classified as punk rock. (if you are reading this, sorry about my little rant, its just a bit of a weight I’ve needed to get off of my shoulders for a couple of years now.) No fuck that, I dont need to apologize for my opinion and I don’t even see why it was an instinct to try and sensitize what I had to say by making it seem that I doubted myself. I hope you have learned something about yourself from reading this, don’t let the media consume your individual thought. After all, everything is propaganda and you just have to pick the side you’re on. Am I a lexicon devil? you ecide
Thanks for the lyrics; great song. How about a big f*** you to the man who pretty much single-handedly sold out punk counterculture to the highest corporate bidders. Tony Hawk is not punk rock!
awesome song, but mc lars isnt punk rock either. hes a hpocritde. he went on tour w/ simple plan. wt a loser. but, this song is totally true, cuz those emo bastards r ruining true punk rock.
When does MC Lars ever mention emo in this song?
Who says punk rock is superior? Nobody. That is an opinion, and some prefer the “Emo” or “Metal” over “punk rock”, and In the opinions of others, punk rock can die. Not my opinion, but to many out there.
grrmoe is a piece of **** i do shop at hot topic but still… doesnt mean im a waste to society… i dont draw any heartograms on my hand…just cause i listen to that type of music doesn\’t mean I\’M a waste to society … [editor\'s not: heavily edited for content]
THANK GOD SOMEONE FINALLY SAID HELLO KITTY IS NOT COOL!!!!
TUPAC IS NOT PUNK ROCK NIETHER IS ELVIS THIS SONG I LOVE IT!!
Typing in caps is not punk rock, uh oh I’m a hypocrite pfffffffttttttttt. Love those last lines too mmmm thanks for the lyrics
debase:
I have no problem if you like the music, like whatever you please. The reason why i mentioned HIM was because, all these 14 year olds are like in love with their music now because Bam Margera said it was cool. you should like the music because you do, not because someone tells you it’s his favorite band.
2nd: I said whiney 12 year olds who fit that description in which i described, are the kids who are a waste to society. The kids who have the same plaid bondage pants on, with the same black shirt that reads “I need medication”, and wear the heartagram wrist bands, just like the rest of their friends, are the biggest losers of them all. If you fit that mold, then i just feel sorry for you.
[...] Just found this through dude with cool laptop. Isn’t it always better late than never for the calling out of corporate bullshit? [...]
You guys realize this guy has had his albums and shirts sold at Hot Topic right? $20 MC Lars T-Shirts aren’t punk rock. I don’t think writing a song ABOUT punk rock is very punk rock, actually.
They adopted selling his merch after this song was popularized. It was an attempt by Hot Topic to adopt and embrace the negativity of the song.
Caring about what punk rock is, isn’t very punk rock either. I just don’t care about what the fashion is, if the establishment has something I like, I buy it, if they don’t I don’t and I’ll find something I do like. I like this song, a lot. Most of the ’scene’ kids don’t realise how very unoriginal they are. I went to a Panic! at the disco concert, and most of the kids there all looked the same. I really had the urge to shout out:”Haha, look at all of you being ‘different’” but I didn’t, because I was raised to be nice. Living in The Netherlands, I’ve never been in a Hop Topic-store, but I’d like to go there if I ever go to America, it sounds like they have a lot of cool stuff!
Hot Topic store, sry
Products made at Hot Topic often sport the “MADE IN CHINA” tag. So it is safe to asume that these products are manufactured in third-world countries that exploit children by the use of sweatshops. Hot Topic, as this song states, is obviously going for a rebellious, often “punk” image. Punk used to be about actually thinking for yourself, and saying NO to large corporations that trample on human rights for their own benefit. So even if you claim that you only shopt at Hot Topic every once in a while, keep in mind that by doing so you are supporting child labor by giving your money to the corporations that practice it.
it’s “hot topic USES contrived identification…” not “hot topic IS A contrived identification… there is really a big difference. but all in all fuck hot topic there a bunch of hors so, much so that they even sell the CD that has that song on it!!!!
I saw an MC Lars t-shirt at hot topic! WTF?
writing a song about how not punk rock something is \’not punk rock!\’ losers. btw when sex pistols stuff, or whatever your talking about they are lisensed by the band so if i buy a sex pistols shirt from hot topic or if i buy a shirt from some diy punk store it\’s still the same band who cares. punk doesn\’t have guidelines .. loserssss
I smell a dead horse.
Being yourself and giving the middle finger to The Man and anyone else who gets in the way of you being you…That, my friends, is punk rock.
OMG i m f’s like realy they are not punk rock but it is punk holy s.h.i.t. like really and y don’t u tell the ppl that yourself they might like to hear wat u have to say to make it more punk rck
Okay, so I admit that I’ve shopped from hot topic in the past. But I agree with some of these people, about the kids who “think they’re different” by shopping there, as if that means anything. Being “scene/punk/goth/emo” is becoming a fashion, even though that is totally contradictory and hypocritical, because “that’s what they DIDN’T want…to be labeled.” Or some such crap. I happen to love the band who co-wrote this song, and I think they even sell their new record (I’m not positive, here.) at Hot Topic. YOU PEOPLE FORGET This is the media. They do whatever they want. They can say hot topic isn’t punk rock, but do you really know for sure if they mean it?
THIS SONG IS F@®KIN PUNK ROCK!! IM F@®KIN PUNK ROCK…TILL THE DAY I DIE.
> knomat. > > I smell a dead horse.
winrar. thread over.
i saw mc lars live in december. (what an amazing show)
this was the first time i heard of him, and i instantly was addicted. i bought both his cds (which you can get off itunes) and a shirt that says “hot topic is NOT punk rock.”
i love the reactions i got in school. either “I LOVE YOUR SHIRT, HOT TOPIC SUCKS!” from the real punk kids, or “if hot topic isnt punk rock, then what is punk rock?” from emos posing, pretending to be “punk rock”
now i have to wear it to the mall, and go into hot topic. i cant wait for that.
awesome song, but mc lars isnt punk rock either. hes a hpocritde. he went on tour w/ simple plan. wt a loser. but, this song is totally true, cuz those emo bastards r ruining true punk rock.
First of all, I don’t believe MC Lars claimed to be punk rock, just more so than you.
Secondly, emo bastards are not ruining true punk rock. Emo bastards don’t play punk rock, punks play punk rock, emo bastards play EMO/SCREAMO/POOR QUALITY METALCORE.
Finally, Punk is a dead movement, the punk bands of today do not abide by the rules laid out by their elders. By none conforming (A punk rock trait,) they conform to what was originally that which the first punks were rebelling against.
marilyn monroe became punk rock for the fans of the misfits, oh probably before you were born
I completely agree with this song. The early misfits are good but their new singer sucks. Sham69 is punk rock Black Flag is punk rock Dead Kennedys is punk rock Oh trubl, by that logic the original puck rockers were not non-conformist either, since they were all “non-conformists”.
Your mom is punk rock.
She’s been called by many titles, but never punk rock! LOL
hot topic is so punk rock you all have no idea what you are talking about, i mean come on any one who says sponge bob wrist bands arent punk rock obviously knows nothing about punk rock.. sponge bob like so totaly founded the punk rock movement in 1999, everyone knows that
MC Lars “Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock”, is not punk rock!
I agree with everything in this song EXCEPT, the Sex Pistols boxer shorts bit. I understand what Mc Lar’s is saying about the Mass Consumer Culture, but The Sex Pistols OFFICIALLY founded Punk Rock full stop. And maybe I’m the only one who thinks that because I am English and alot of American’s don’t agree with me, but The Sex Pistols DID start the punk movement, even if they didn’t intend to start it. Anyone that calls them self punk is really quite sad, as a punk is a male prostitute in prison. And the peron 2nd from bottom of these comments must be a total idiot. SPONGEBOB & HOT TOPIC ARE NOT PUNK ROCK YOU RETARD.
Trubl, I agree with you - Riding a boat down the river thames, by Buckingham palace, playing Anarchy in the U.K IS punk rock.
Haha this is so funny becaude MC Lars is my cousins friend! Awesome!
The line in red is actually “dischord back catalogs (well maybe that’s punk rock)” because of yeah… dischord records. minah threaaat. aha, yeah.
Yeah, the correct words are on the line below that.
the funny thing is that hot topic sells MC Lars t shirts…. and used to play this song in the store
I just counted, and it’s worth noting that over 75% of the people who posted in this thread are idiots. That’s my abstract. A full report will follow shortly.
AxsDeny, I think you need to do something special for the 2 year anniversary of this discussion. It’s fast approaching. Maybe some sort of a Punk vs. Emo dance-off? You bring the chains, I’ll bring the tissues.