"Prisoner of Society" is a song by Australian

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

the Living End The Living End is an Australian punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1994. Since 2002, the line-up consists of Chris Cheney (vocals, guitar), Scott Owen (double bass, vocals), and Andy Strachan (drums). The band rose to fame in 1997 after ...

. It was originally released in Australia on the 1997 EP '' Second Solution / Prisoner of Society''. The song was later released as a single, separate from the EP, in the United States in January 1999. In January 2018, as part of

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 45 radio stations with flagship stations broadcasting a mainstream/classic rock music format in Sydney, Melbourne, and B ...

's "Ozzest 100", "Prisoner of Society" was ranked number 32.

Background

The Living End had achieved mainstream success with the release of their third EP, '' Second Solution / Prisoner of Society'', in September 1997. It peaked at 4 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and spent 69 weeks within the ARIA Top 100. "Prisoner of Society" also reached No. 15 on Triple J's Hottest 100 for 1997.

Lyrics

"It's basically my take of 'My Generation' or 'Summertime Blues'. The lyrics are, 'screw society, screw mum and dad, this is young people's music' and I wanted to put that as simply as I could. It was me grabbing that influence of the early 1950s and the rebellion of something like a

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

song into something that we did. Obviously we didn't think at the time that it would become the biggest selling single of the 1990s" - Chris Cheney

Legacy

Double J named it in the top twenty Australian songs of the 1990s, saying it, "hits you in the guts, right from the first few bars. It's got the kind of chorus that makes you want to sing (scream) every. single. word. Especially the part about being a brat and talking back. And that breakdown 2 minutes in? Just a great excuse to jump around really." In January 1999, "Prisoner of Society" was released as a radio single in the United States, where it peaked at No. 23 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. Eight months later, it was released in the United Kingdom as a stand-alone single but did not reach the top 100.

Track listing

Recorded and engineered by Lindsay Gravina at Sing Sing Studios (Melbourne). Mixed by

Jerry Finn Jermone Gregory Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008), sometimes credited as "Huckle" Jerry Finn, was an American record producer and mix engineer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk artists such as Blink-182, AFI, Sum 41, Alka ...

at The Mastering Lab (Los Angeles).

Personnel

Chris Cheney Christopher John Cheney (born 2 January 1975) is an Australian rock musician, record producer, and studio owner. He is the founding mainstay guitarist, songwriter, and lead vocalist of the rockabilly band The Living End, which was formed in 199 ...

– guitar, vocals *

Scott Owen Scott Bradley Owen (born 14 February 1975) is an Australians, Australian musician who currently plays for the punk rock/psychobilly band The Living End. Career After playing the piano for many years, he decided that the keys would not work for ...

–

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, backing vocals * Travis Demsey – drums, backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Prisoner of Society music video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prisoner Of Society 1998 songs 1999 singles The Living End songs Reprise Records singles Songs written by Chris Cheney