realize why you wanted that and also the cor-
rect way of living and functioning. What might
at first seem like a lot of restrictions-Oh, you got-
ta worry about this, you can't do that are actually
warnings and signals and signs that will help you and
your loved ones to survive in life."
A few hours later, Dr. Know offers a more earthbound
perspective on the Bad Brains creative process, beginning with
the recent reformation. "Creative-wise, musically, the basic gist
of the music usually comes from Darryl and me-the melody of the
band, per se. It has always been like that, actually. Then again, we
are still all together, intertwined. It's a band, y'know? When it's a
band, it's a band. Everybody has their influence, but the basics
usually come from Darryl and L.
"We are always trying to take different directions. We are never
content musically. Our music is influenced by a lot of different types
of music and people still listen to it all. It's not like, 'Oh, that's not
Pay to Cum!' Who do those guys think they are? They can't do that!
Every song's supposed to be 'Pay to Cum!" "We are musicians. We
have to experiment, follow our hearts. If we always did the same
thing, we'd still be back in the old days. I talk to a lot of people who
are heavily influenced by us, and I try to express to them, 'It's cool
that we influence you because God influences us, but you've got
to be yourself! Like what we did-we took the influences that we
had and formulated our own means of expression. That's what you've
got to do; otherwise everything's going to be the same. Each one
teach one."
Now more than ever, Doc sees the principal purpose of Bad Brains
as being a source of spiritual inspiration. "Especially now in these
times in the last days, we have an obligation-not just 'we' meaning
our band, but 'we' meaning the artist-first and to try to uplift the
public's spirits and to show them a better way, because, as we all
know, these times are very bad. Kids are looking for a better way.
Some of them hate school, some of them hate their parents, society,
this and that. It's like they have nothing to look forward to. They can't
drink the water, everything's polluted, the ozone layer's going, the
nuclear threat. what is there for them to feel positive about? It's
not the fifties."
In a genre where the term "positive has taken on a variety of
connotations, especially with the influx of neo-straight-edge warriors.
Doc upholds his band as the first and last word on "positivity" "In
our genre of music, we are that God tells you in the scriptures, is
that in the last days, in these times, the messengers will come for-
ward with the music, and this is what we're going to do right now.
"Originally, this kind of music was seen as a negative thing-the
youth rebelling like always. Life is cycles, and in the sixties it was
the same thing. But people are tired of the wars. Let's not send people
to the moon, let's feed people here. In these times, we can't fight
a war, we can't do anything if we don't have air to breathe and water
to drink. This is not just confined to the United States, it's the same
throughout the entire world nothing can stop the times. It's God's
works. We are living in the revelation and he has his plan. We are
all a part of his plan and all specifically have our plan. Honestly and
truly, I guess this is why we're back together right now because
we have a mission. It's in the works, Jah works. Who are we to ques
tion what he has in store for us?
"My manager was showing me the Sunday Post or something
and there was this article about the show tonight, talking about us
being back together again, and it said something to the effect of.
They can't be together, they can't be apart. Who are we to judge?
We've just got to try to do what we're supposed to try to do. That's
life. Hopefully we learn from all our experiences, good and bad. The
bad ones have positive aspects, too. That's what we try to express
to the people we play for. Just try to live up and love up. Jah will
take care of everything else
A week later, Bad Brains are rocking a packed house at Brooklyn's
infamous metal haunt, L'Amour Over half of the 1,000-plus crowd
appear to be newcomers, definitely too young to have witnessed
the Brains in the throes of their earlier struggles. H.A. is pure hysteria,
ricocheting off every corner of the stage yet managing to keep a
firm grasp on the Bible in his left hand, until he sets the good book
down in favor of a trumpet. A brief semblance of sanity finds him
pausing to point out the familiar faces amongst the throng and ad-
minister appropriate thanks to the young, the old and the sanctified
The band then thunders into "Let Me Help" a somewhat
different
"We don't want to have AIDS and we don't want
no VD and none of that schism. Jah fireburn.
on that, Selassie I say lick out all diseases,
so we have to live clean."
version, featuring sporadic, discordant blasts of bleating.
brass courtesy of H.R
"I feel really blessed Dr. Know said earlier We
have now seen maybe five sets of youth go from 15
to 21, 22 and still come back. They're not fans, man,
they're friends. We try to have a personal rela-
tionship with those people. The first generation,
who were like 15 when we first started do-
ing this, we still see them all the time.
They still come to the shows, only now
they're 25, 26, 27. It makes me feel
very happy. I feel blessed just to
be a part of the works. I really
feel like I'm doing this for
God. I feel happy, seeing
all my old friends, man.
I'm a sentimental
kind of guy"
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