Somewhere around the year 2000, two major things finally hit a little 14 year old teenager; the Internet and Punkrock! I’m not going to spend much time talking about how I got my music, but let’s just say these two things combined enabled my “knowledge” of punk rock to grow fast.
Anyway one of the bands I was just getting into at the time, was a band that I had heard a lot about; NOFX. So I decided to “get” one of their songs. The song was “Perfect Government” and it hit me so hard that it’s still my favorite NOFX song.
What is it that makes this song so great you might ask? The music is really good; straight fast NOFX style 90’s skate punk, but for me, it’s all about the lyrics. With “Perfect Government” NOFX made, in my opinion, one of the strongest political punk rock songs ever.

Even if it’s easy to be free
What’s your definition of freedom?
And who the fuck are you, anyway?
Who the fuck are they?
Who the fuck am I to say?
What the fuck is really going on?
How did the cat get so fat?
Why does the family die?
Do you care why?
‚cause there hasn’t been a sign
Of anything gettin‘ better in the ghetto
People’s fed up
But when they get up
You point your fuckin‘ finger
You racist, you bigot
But that’s not the problem
Now is it?
It’s all about the money
Political power is takin
Protecting the rich denying the poor
Yeah, they love to watch the war from the White House
And I wonder how can they sleep at night?
How can they sleep at night?
How did the cat get so fat?

The lyrics are simple yet strong and powerful as well. Not only that, but Fat Mike manages to get his point across in just over 2 minutes. That’s pure perfection! There are bands out there that need a whole record to make such a political statement.
And when Mike screams:

…and I wonder how can they sleep at night? How can they sleep at night?

I always have to stand up, put my fist in the air and scream it out loud!
It’s NOFX in pure perfection. “Perfect Government” is probably also the reason why I’m still a bit of a NOFX fan, which is getting pretty tough, considering their last 3 or 4 releases.

– written by Martin