Eagles fans' appetite for destruction while partying through the streets of Philadelphia Sunday after the NFL team won its first Super Bowl even has master partier Andrew W.K. puzzled.
When asked by TooFab Tuesday if he thought Eagles fans celebrated a little bit too hard, the rock star behind 2001 anthem "Party Hard" had trouble understanding the logic behind the behavior of those fans who tore down traffic lights, shattered a few Macy's windows, flipped a car and looted a gas station. (But for the record, Philadelphia reporters covering the post-game celebrations swear the national media exaggerated the seriousness of the damage.)
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View Story"I suppose that maybe there was unofficial agreement between the entire town, and everyone was on board to destroy the town as a show of happiness. It's very interesting, these contradictions," he told TooFab. "You'd think that ... common sense logic would lead you to sort of worship your town in a moment like that, and not destroy it."
"It's interesting that worshipful excitement and gratitude for the town, the people of the town and the sports team of the town would invert and express itself through such a destructive force," he continued. "But it's strange because it's a benevolent kind of destruction. It's not destruction out of anger, it's destruction out of joy. It's quite puzzling, and I'm not even necessarily being critical of it."
W.K. returns March 2 with "You're Not Alone," another album designed to pump up and empower listeners with feel-good tunes -- three of which contain his favorite word in the titles ("The Power of Partying," "Party Mindset" and "The Party Never Dies"). W.K. has devoted these past two decades to spreading the word about the benefits of partying, both through his music and motivational speaking, but he is strongly against partying at the expense of others.
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View Story"I'm against restriction when it comes to joy, and of course that's a slippery slope -- it takes deep thought and responsibility to be an honorable person and still be able to pursue joy in a way that is not ultimately destructive, especially to other people," he told TooFab. "I actually don't think self-destruction is as much of a problem as destruction to other people who don't want anything to do with it. You have freedom over yourself, but enjoying that freedom should never infringe on other people's [freedom]."
W.K. is no stranger to sports riots, either, and recalled witnessing them during his youth in Michigan -- a state full of sports mania.
"I can say from my own experiences that I was always very frightened and distraught as a younger person when I would see people do that," he said. "I remember when the [Detroit] Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, people were destroying the town. It's a perfect example of contrarian thinking. It seems like the exact opposite thing that you would do to show excitement and gratitude."
So remember, when it's time to party, always party hard -- without destroying someone else's property.
Watch the music video for Andrew W.K.'s new single "Ever Again" below.