Four bars, that's all

Some older folks don't trust people with tattoos. It's somewhat reasonable, considering the fact that in their youth the only tattooed people were either sailors or people who had done time in jail. I mean, c'mon, sailors. Never trust 'em.

My dad is one of those people. No, my old man's never been a sailor or been in prison, but he certainly holds prejudice against the ones with some ink on their skin. So, naturally, my brother and I take great pleasure in toying with the idea of coming home some day with a huge HELLO plastered over our foreheads.

Being serious, the only tattoo I would ever (or at the moment, "ever"'s too strong a word) consider getting is this.

Four bars, that's all. Created by Raymond Pettibon in 1979, this iconic image would serve as the logo of Black Flag, probably the most legendary hardcore punk band to come out of LA. The weird thing is, I don't even listen to Black Flag that much anymore. Sure, I spent countless hours listening to cuts like "Rise Above", "Six Pack", "Wasted" everywhere I went a couple of years ago when I was in high school, but times change and so does one's taste in music.

I sometimes still enjoy listening to all those legendary and not-so-legendary skatepunk and hardcore bands of the 80s. Fear, Circle Jerks, JFA, Flipper, TSOL, Dead Kennedys. Of course many of their songs will stick with me probably all my life. But a lot of the stuff just doesn't feel the same. A large per cent of punk rock's pretty derivative, unoriginal and dated. Sure, it was the thing that actually made me interested in music in the first place, but there's so much other shit out there. Three chords and sniffing glue is all right, but nowadays I can get that same rush from listening to a Mingus tune or some jungle. A time and place for everything, right?

For me, Pettibon's artwork has proven to be at least as lasting as Black Flag's music. Not just the iconic logo, designed to be spray-painted everywhere, but also his highly striking and even disturbing gig posters and cover artwork. You can find some of Pettibon's works here and here.

And even if Black Flag's not the only kind of music I dig anymore, those four bars still contain a lot of stories, scenes and thoughts behind them. Black Flag is work ethics. Black Flag is pesticide. Black Flag is anarchy. Black Flag is intoxicants. Black Flag is an outlook on life. And even if I would ask "what the fuck was I thinking" 30 years later when looking at the mirror, that tattoo would at least always remind me of the thoughts and ideals I held at that age. Sure, I could always write a diary, but that would be gay.

PS. The one thing people should know about Pettibon is that he changed his name from Ray Ginn (he's the brother of Greg Ginn, the guitarist of Black Flag) to Ray Pettibon cause his old name sounded way too much like Reagan.

PS. Circle Jerks were actually a hundred times better than Flag, but imagine that tattooed on your arm. Yeah, four bars is okay.