Contributors:

Thomas Andrews

Jonathan Chaffer

Richard Hartnell

Rob Palkowski

RKBrenizer@aol.com

Steven Sadoway

This song opens with a quote from Allen Ginsberg, from his poem "Howl." His poem begins, "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked...." "I Should Be Allowed to Think" seems to be mostly a protesting song, in agreement with most of Ginsberg's ideas.

Most feel that the song is in some way about censorship. Under censorship people are not allowed to think, to say what they want to say, and even to post advertisements on utility poles. That pretty much sums up that interp of the song-- most of the lines become pretty self-explanatory.

It has been suggested that the song may be about a rather specific story, in which a young man is reprimanded for putting a band advertisement on a telephone pole. He complains that others haven't been treated like him for doing things like writing the names of inferior bands on walls. He claims that this act of preventing his advertising is just part of not allowing him to think at all.

Another reading is that the song criticizes that segment of culture that gives its opinion even when it is not wanted. The "call-in show" segment is important to this interp, as it hints at radio stars (Limbaugh, Stern) who use "free speech" as an excuse to say things that should not be said. The singer's failure to think is not because he is not allowed to (nobody can really force that), but rather because he is not able. The "criminal government agent" is a figment of his imagination, that he is protesting against basically for something to do. Basically, the reading is that the song is a parody of the shrill anti-"Politically Correct" contingent.