I'm back with another song that maybe this time will help squeeze out another couple of reps at the gym or another lap at the track. This one is the iconic punk anthem "Bro Hymn" by the Southern California based band Pennywise.

Pennywise formed in 1988 taking their name from the evil clown in the Stephen King novel It. They maintain their status as a very popular punk band despite two different occasions of the lead singer leaving as well as the death of one of their founding members. Their most recent release, 2012's All or Nothing is not fronted by founding member Jim Lindberg but lead singer of Ignite, Zoli Tèglás. It's actually a very good album but I agree with the people who say that it doesn't necessarily feel like a Pennywise album. However, filed under "Bad News For Zoli And Good News For Us" health issues for the new lead singer caused him to drop out of the touring for this year. The quartet has reunited for their 25th anniversary tour and there is talk of more music coming from them sometime soon. Which is pretty good news indeed. 

Anyway, back to what I'm here for. I should start by mentioning that there are two versions of this song. "Bro Hymn" is the last track on both their 1991 debut LP Pennywise and the 1997 release Full Circle. The first version was written by the bands bassist Jason Thirsk as a response to the deaths of 3 close friends which is reflected in the line "Canton, Colvin, Nichols, this one's for you…." The overall theme of the song is pretty positive, emphasizing that regardless of how bad things get you can always count on friends to be there to support you. Unfortunately the second recording of the song which is also known as "Bro Hymn (Tribute)" was performed in honor of the aforementioned Thirsk who died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after relapsing into alcoholism. This is indicated by changing the previously mentioned line to "Jason Matthew Thirsk, this one's for you…."

I hope you like this song as much as I do.