Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Raggare is a bunch of... well... y'know...


Raggare is a Swedish subculture known for refurbishing American cars of the 1950s, drinking copious amounts of beer and -- at least in the late 1970s -- beating to a pulp anyone who looked a little bit out of the ordinary in Sweden.
This morning on my daily walk I listened to perhaps the greatest Swedish punk anthem of all time: "Raggare is a Bunch of Motherf**kers" by The Rude Kids.
Tired of being pummelled, this Stockholm punk band took up the fight against the Raggare through song.
"The only thing they can do at night, is fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight," sang The Rude Kids on their classic 1978 single, released in the UK on Polydor. "But why why why why why/why don't anyone do something against it?"
The Rude Kids really take it to the Raggare in true punk style:
"Raggare is a gang of freaks, who often beats the Greeks," they sing, in grammar that is probably OK by Swedes-struggling-to-speak-English standards. "They drive around in their big American cars/Think they are the owner of the town/But they aren't."
Listening this morning, I decided "Raggare is..." must be one of the greatest put-down songs of all time.

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