This sardonic cautionary tale joins my earlier opus to dangerous dancing, “The Slam” (as yet unpresented on AYoS).

One of the great things about having been around more or less at the beginning of the punk thing in LA is that I never felt I had to buy into anyone else’s vision of punk — so I never felt compelled to dive into a slam pit or jump off a p.a. tower.

The way I looked at it — the first person who jumped off a p.a. tower — maybe that was punk (and perhaps fatal). But the second guy who did it was just a poseur — and a stupid one at that.

A few years ago, after I first put the ‘studio version’ of this song on the web, I heard from a few people who saw (or knew the victims of) very unfortunate incidents — so I guess I should point out that engaging in a moment of stupidity and ending up brain damaged is not always a laughing matter. I’d like to think that today’s youth has learned a thing or two — but just in case — Don’t try this in your century, kids.

Today’s acoustic version:

Full version:

RUBBER ROOM ROCK

I used to twist and do the jerk
they don’t let me do that no more
now all I do is do the worm
in my straight jacket down on the floor

but I still rock
I still rrock
I do the Rubber Room Rock
Oh yea I rock
I still rock
I do the Rubber Room Rock

Used to slam and bang my head
ten thousand stage dives or more
dove forty feet from a PA tower
and went three feet into the floor

But I still rock
yeah I rock . . .

None of my friends are no fun no more
they just sit in the dayroom and stare at the floor
they come back from the lab with rings round their eyes
therapy’s so expensive — they lobotomize

But they still rock
oh yeah we rock
we do the Rubber Room Rock
Oh sure we rock
unh hunh we rock
we do the Rubber Room Rock

(C)1986, TK Major