My Gen X Playlist: Only a Lad – Oingo Boingo

We went to an Angel’s game the other night. We are having an OK season so far. I don’t have any grand illusions of a World Series. I just want to be good enough to make the wild card slot and enjoy some post season play. We’ve had a pretty long drought and yes, that might even be a stretch, but I’m hopeful.

My wife has caught a little baseball fever. That was a surprise. She didn’t grow up with sports but enjoys watching and I find it fun when she yells out during the game. She did mention that there are a bunch of random rules in baseball that are confusing and she’s right about that. We’ll go the entire season where she slowly picks up the sport only having it totally erased during the offseason and then starting from square one all over again. I don’t mind, though. I like that she has fun watching and even though answering her questions is like Groundhog Day, it doesn’t bother me a bit.

Leading up to the game I had hotdogs on my brain. There is nothing like a hotdog at the ballpark. It’s always been local common knowledge that Dodger Dogs are the best. But are they really? Maybe it just has better history and better alliteration.

Not only did I have two dogs that night, but the Angels beat the dreaded Houston Astros (damn cheaters) with Altuve making an embarrassing error in the outfield. What a trifecta. I love hat tricks like this.

One cool thing about baseball is each player chooses their own walk-up song. Walk-up songs are typically 15-30 seconds and are played when a player walks from the dugout to the batter’s box. I never really noticed them until about five years ago. Here is a list of the Top Walk Up Songs in baseball.

If I had to choose my own walk up song, maybe I’d go with Only a Lad by Oingo Boingo. This was one of the first new wave songs I gravitated to in junior high school and it’s got enough energy for my 15 second saunter to the plate. What would be yours?

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Johnny was bad, even as a child
Everybody could tell
Everyone said, "If you don't get straight, you'll surely go to hell"

But Johnny didn't care
He was an outlaw by the time that he was ten years old
He didn't wanna do what he was told
Just a prankster, a juvenile gangster

His teachers didn't understand
They kicked him out of school
At a tender early age
Just because he didn't want to learn things
Had other interests
He liked to burn things

The lady down the block
She had a radio that Johnny wanted, oh, so bad
So he took it the first chance he had
And then he shot her in the leg
But this is what she said:

Only a lad
You really can't blame him
Only a lad
Society made him
Only a lad
He's our responsibility
Oh, oh, oh oh oh

Only a lad
He really couldn't help it
Only a lad
He didn't want to do it
Only a lad
He's underprivileged and abused
Perhaps a little bit confused
Oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh
Whoa whoa whoa
Oh, whoa whoa whoa

His parents gave up
They couldn't influence his attitude
Nobody could help
The little man had no gratitude

And when he stole the car
Nobody dreamed that he would
Try to take it so far
He didn't mean to hit the poor man
Who had to go and die
It made the judge cry

Only a lad
You really can't blame him
Only a lad
Society made him
Only a lad
He's our responsibility
Oh, oh, oh oh oh

Only a lad
He really couldn't help it
Only a lad
He didn't want to do it
Only a lad
He's underprivileged and abused
Perhaps a little bit confused
Oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh

It's not his fault that he can't behave
Society's made him go astray
Perhaps if we're nice, he'll go away
Perhaps he'll go away
He'll go away

Only a lad
You really can't blame him
Only a lad
Society made him
Only a lad
He's our responsibility

Hey there, Johnny, you really don't fool me
You get away with murder
And you think it's funny
You don't give a damn if we live or if we die
Oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh
Hey there, Johnny boy
I hope you fry!