George Hurley's liner note that accompanied "Dreams Are Free, Motherfucker! on Ballot Result (1986) -- the song originally appeared on Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat (1983) -- was something to the effect of "Try believing this one."
Meaning of course that dreams are not free. But I appreciate Henry Rollins' insistence that they are. Without dreams we couldn't sleep; we'd be dead. Dreams give us our direction, our hope; that they are bought and sold is a sad truth. But it is imperative that we act as if our dreams are free and our own.
Every song on this eight-track EP is timeless, from the first cut, "Self-Referenced" -- "[H]ow can I believe in books/When my heart lies to me?/I'm full of shit! -- to the last, "Little Man With a Gun in His Hand."
The story is that Buzz or Howl was recorded for $50, which has to be the most meaningful $50 ever spent.
If you want to understand the Minutemen, the uniqueness and power of the band, the majesty of the music, take 16 minutes and listen to the YouTube above.
