I’m a big fan of the bar Lansdowne Road here in the big apple. My buddy Ryan and I have been going there since it opened many moons ago.
One thing that is notably missing from the bar though is a jukebox. Well, for the drunken historians out there it might be interesting to know that Lansdowne Road did in fact have a jukebox when it opened. One of those real fancy ones in fact that you can download music to if you pay a little extra per song. It opens up a wonderful work for the music fan to be able to listen to some of their favorite obscure drinking tunes. Unfortunately it also gives scumbags like Ryan and I the opportunity to play the type of music no one in their right mind would ever want to listen to while grabbing drinks with their chums after work. It was amazing what you could find on that thing and by far our favorite choice was anything by the band Hatebreed. not because we love the band or anything, but because it’s some of the most ridiculous hardcore known to man.
Needless to say that within a year of opening Lansdowne Road removed it’s jukebox and put in a stereo system where the owner, who’s a great guy by the way and has become a good friend over the years, could control the music. I remember on more than one occasion heading to the jukebox with Ryan and hearing the bartender call behind us, “you’re just wasting your money fellas. I’m going to turn it off the moment it starts.”. We’d laugh, put on Hatebreed anyway and sure enough within 15 seconds of their hard as nails intro the music would be cut. There’s no hard feelings there, it was pretty damn fun.
Without question the greatest song to ever grace Lansdowne Road, or a few other bars we frequented for the matter, is Hatebreed’s “A Call for Blood” off of their 2002 album “Perseverance”. You might want to take a couple minutes and watch the video below if you don’t know it. Some sick SOB actually took time out of their day to not only post it on Youtube but also to include the lyrics.
Then again maybe avoid the lyrics, it’ll just confuse you more. I’ve listened to the song more times then I can count and to this day I still have no idea what the hell Mr. Jamey Jasta is going on about. From what I gather he’s been doing something for 10 long years, 10 long f*cking years for that matter. And man is he pissed about it. So pissed that he hates the guy who made him do whatever he’s doing. F*cking hates him or her actually. He’s so peeved off that literally every bone in his body aches. That is so much hate Jamey! I beg you to see someone about this.
Maybe it’s a job he took and he really hates his boss? Maybe at a show store or something like that and his boss has made him work the weekend before schools go back in session for 10 years in a row. The insane weekend when every kid is out with their parents looking for new sneakers. Dear god they haven’t had a size 6 in stock for weeks and the kids just keep coming. Why would his boss do this to him every year! Action must be taken and justice will be swift and violent. Get out your pre-paid phone kids, Jamey’s making a emergency “Call for Blood”! That manager at Footlocker won’t even know what hit him. By the 2:30 mark Jamey is agry that he can’t even get out actual words so he resorts to animal like “ohs”. Let the blood spill indeed Mr. Jasta.
Now by no means do I want to sound like I’m mocking the song. Alright let’s be honest I am but that doesn’t mean I don’t love the hell out of it. When you’ve got a few beers in you some people like Billy Joel, David Allen Coe or some Irish band I’ve never heard of. I enjoy all of those too but I challenge any of them to come up with a song that makes you want to run around the bar smashing glasses into people’s faces. Yes I understand this is very much illegal and not advisable but that doesn’t make Hatebreeds talents any less impressive. From time to time I consider myself an avid runner and 75% of what I run to is Hatebreed. Of course that means after a mile I’m really just chasing around other runners screaming at them about perseverance or something ridiculous. I’ve been banned from more then one community park in my day and my entries into the NYC Marathon won’t even be accepted anymore. Pansies.
