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Black Heart Fades Blue: Vol. 3
If you’re looking for the events that inspired the lyrics to all my songs? Those stories are in this book. If you’re looking for what I did when I was younger? That’s in here. What changed me, made me stop hating and hurting? It’s all here. This is my story and I’m sticking to it. That’s the one thing I have, the truth.
Volume three of Black Heart Fades Blue, a three-part memoir by the founder and frontman for one of punk rock’s most notorious acts, Poison Idea.
In 1980, Jerry A. formed Poison Idea, a Portland-based punk band that gave voice to disaffected and disenfranchised youth for over 30 years. As happened to so many punk bands, Jerry A. and Poison Idea also went all in on drugs and drinking as they toured the country, spiraling out of control and blowing both the band and their lives apart.
Black Heart Fades Blue is not an apology or a nostalgic catalog of events, but a true reckoning with one's past and present. A memoir of a time and a place and a movement, as well as a deep conversation about the memories and moments we leave behind, Black Heart Fades Blue is a deep exploration of an unconventional life.
Volume three of Black Heart Fades Blue, a three-part memoir by the founder and frontman for one of punk rock’s most notorious acts, Poison Idea.
In 1980, Jerry A. formed Poison Idea, a Portland-based punk band that gave voice to disaffected and disenfranchised youth for over 30 years. As happened to so many punk bands, Jerry A. and Poison Idea also went all in on drugs and drinking as they toured the country, spiraling out of control and blowing both the band and their lives apart.
Black Heart Fades Blue is not an apology or a nostalgic catalog of events, but a true reckoning with one's past and present. A memoir of a time and a place and a movement, as well as a deep conversation about the memories and moments we leave behind, Black Heart Fades Blue is a deep exploration of an unconventional life.
149 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 8, 2022
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 31, 2022
A Life-Affirming Finale to a Very Rough Story
Jerry A has always been in the top 1% of punk rock lyricists. Like his hero Darby Crash, the brilliance of his lyrics doesn't always shine through his growling, animalistic vocal style.
His talent with words comes across in this autobiography at least as well as in his lyrics. It's easily comparable to well-loved biographies by Keith Morris, Scott Ian or The Cro-Mags (both Harley's book and Bloodclot's book).
Beyond a mere music memoir, his writing on homelessness, addiction and child abuse should be required reading in Social Work classrooms.
After the very difficult reading of the first two volumes, which may dredge up upsetting memories for readers of a similar background, Volume Three ends on a triumphant note. By the last chapter, Jerry has mastered his demons and is steering the battleship. There's also a touching eulogy to Tom "Pig Champion" Roberts, his musical partner of at least twenty years, who unfortunately didn't survive the madness.
Jerry A has always been in the top 1% of punk rock lyricists. Like his hero Darby Crash, the brilliance of his lyrics doesn't always shine through his growling, animalistic vocal style.
His talent with words comes across in this autobiography at least as well as in his lyrics. It's easily comparable to well-loved biographies by Keith Morris, Scott Ian or The Cro-Mags (both Harley's book and Bloodclot's book).
Beyond a mere music memoir, his writing on homelessness, addiction and child abuse should be required reading in Social Work classrooms.
After the very difficult reading of the first two volumes, which may dredge up upsetting memories for readers of a similar background, Volume Three ends on a triumphant note. By the last chapter, Jerry has mastered his demons and is steering the battleship. There's also a touching eulogy to Tom "Pig Champion" Roberts, his musical partner of at least twenty years, who unfortunately didn't survive the madness.
Displaying 1 of 1 review