Listening to Social Distortion’s first album, Mommy’s Little Monster, takes you back to the hardcore punk that was stirring in Southern California in the late 1970s. However, within all the noise and fury, there is the melodic songwriting of Mike Ness. By the second album, Prison Bound (1988), Ness blended his punk rock with country music, which began Social Distortion’s rise to becoming one of the most revered and influential American bands in history, as you’ll hear in the country punk classics below.
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“Story Of My Life”
If Johnny Cash had fronted a punk band, it might sound like “Story Of My Life”. Here, Mike Ness describes a man reflecting on the fleeting moments of his life: the lost loves, faded youth, and a closed window of opportunities. Social Distortion’s self-titled third album gained attention with the rising popularity of alternative rock. But Ness and his sped-up outlaw songs stood apart from the other alt-rock bands that soon dominated MTV.
Life goes by so fast,
You only want to do what you think is right.
Close your eyes, and then it’s past,
Story of my life.
“Ring Of Fire”
To further the outlaw reference, Social Distortion transformed Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” into a 90s anthem. Cash understood what it was like to be an outsider, which makes his music fit so easily with Ness’s throaty howl and low-slung Goldtop Les Paul. Social Distortion helped pioneer Southern California’s punk and hardcore movement, but Ness was restless. He expanded his style by blending the folk songs of Hank Williams with the rebel spirit of Cash, and in doing so helped popularize an emerging subgenre, cowpunk.
Love is a burning thing,
And it makes a fiery ring.
Bound by wild desire,
I fell into a ring of fire.
“I Was Wrong”
This absolute banger arrived in 1996 and finds Ness showing regret for the ones he’s hurt. He describes a man against the world, born under a bad sign, a hammer looking for a nail, you get the idea. In a first-person narrative, Ness seeks redemption after a lifetime of pushing hard against a world that only pushed back harder. His timeless tunes have a beauty-and-the-beast vibe with catchy hooks sung in a weathered voice like a punk serenade.
When I was young, I was so full of fear,
I hid behind anger, held back the tears.
It was me against the world; I was sure that I’d win.
The world fought back, punished me for my sins.
“Ball And Chain”
“That one is almost like a hymn or a prayer,” said Ness of “Ball And Chain”. “It’s asking for someone to remove something from you that you’re struggling with, whether it’s an addiction or pain or fear.” In hindsight, Prison Bound sounds like the working experiment Ness perfected on Social Distortion, where his twangy punk felt more natural. And the rootsy “Ball And Chain”, the album’s second single, became a staple at alternative and modern rock radio and remains one of Social Distortion’s defining songs.
Well it’s been ten years and a thousand tears,
And look at the mess I’m in.
A broken nose and a broken heart,
An empty bottle of gin.
Photo by Alison S. Braun/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
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