The immortal opening words of Plaistow Patricia, a song about a smackhead by Ian Dury and the Blockheads. It was written by Ian Dury and Steve Nugent, and released in 1977 on the band's debut album New Boots and Panties!!
George Orwell said, ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people things they do not want to hear.’ The American artist and musician Patti Smith said it’s the right to write the wrong words. This idea of freedom is the complete opposite of cancel culture.
Short. Sharp. And it makes you feel better.
Hunter S. Thompson's manifesto for living life to the full. A statement of the gonzo spirit. Life is an adventure. Take plenty of risks. Leave zero in the tank.
A classic slogan of youthful rebellion. It’s always been associated with James Dean – whether he ever said it or not – because Dean died when he was young and beautiful. He was 24 when he was killed in a head-on crash in his Porsche 550 Spyder.
Yes, it’s the title of the Sex Pistols' debut album, and a potent symbol of punk's refusal to conform blah blah. Before that, though, it was just everyday English slang, and generally sound advice.
Literally ‘say what is’, this German phrase is associated with the news magazine Der Spiegel. It also has the sense ‘tell it like it is’ – speak the unvarnished truth. This is the duty of the independent journalist: report the facts objectively.
Jack Kerouac's expresses the beatnik spirit in On The Road. The novel is all about freedom. Escaping all those boring things society expects of you – the steady job, the nice house, the safe life, the mind-numbing conformity.
The opening sentence of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo masterpiece published in 1971. It launches the reader on a chaotic drug-fuelled road trip – 'a savage journey to the heart of the American Dream'.
