Separation Of Church And Skate
by NOFX

Album: War On Errorism (2003)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a song about how commercial punk rock has become. When NOFX started in 1983, the California punk scene was pretty small, and they were happy to sell a few thousand copies of their early albums. In the early '90s, skateboarders and BMX riders discovered their music and that of other bands on the scene, like Pennywise and Rancid. The skaters and riders used this music in videos to soundtrack their tricks and other exploits; these videos circulated and fomented a whole new fanbase for these bands.

    The skater/punk pairing was a great fit - both scenes were anti-corporate, devoted to loud individual expression. They came together on the Warped Tour, which started in 1995.

    But later, major labels and corporations got their grubby little hands on punk rock music, which went mainstream with acts like Green Day and blink-182. NOFX stayed independent, which limited their reach but entrenched them even deeper with their fans. This song is a great example of their ethos.
  • The title is a play on the phrase "separation of church and state."
  • The song was released on War On Errorism, the first NOFX album after they parted with Epitaph Records, an indie label run by Brett Gurewitz of the band Bad Religion. NOFX moved all their releases to Fat Wreck Chords, run by their frontman, Fat Mike.

Comments: 1

  • Billy from New York, NyThis song is about how punk rock has become so censored and tame, instead of how it used to be, where they did drugs, rebelled, and hated authority, so they should separate the Church and Skate, or punk.
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