Remember the song "Institutionalized," by Suicidal Tendencies? It came out in 1983 on Frontier records and tells the story of lead singer Mike Muir as a teen. In the song Mike is trying really hard to figure out life but is having a difficult time dealing with his parents and all of the strictures they place on him – school, church, family life, and more. Everyone is telling him he's crazy and his parents think he's on drugs and want to institutionalize him. There's a famous set of lines in the song about Mike wanting a Pepsi and being denied:
I go, "Mom, just get me a Pepsi, please? All I want's a Pepsi"
And she wouldn't give it to me
All I wanted was a Pepsi
Just one Pepsi
And she wouldn't give it to me
Just a Pepsi!
Now, almost 40 years later, Mike's mom is here to set the record straight. In a hilarious piece titled, "I'm the Mother Who Wouldn't Give Mike a Pepsi and You Should Know There Are Two Sides to Every Story," published in The Hard Times, Nathan Kamal gives voice to Mike's mom, who is finally able to tell her truth:
I have always done the proper, motherly thing and put my child's needs before my own. Yet I have been painted as a villain by generations of crossover thrash fans. My name is Martha and, yes, I would not give my son Mike a Pepsi. But you should know there are two sides to every story.
Read the rest of the piece here to find out why Martha wouldn't give Mike a Pepsi. And listen to Institutionalized again if you haven't heard it in a while. It still feels relevant, almost 40 years on.
