First Time Hearing The Jim Carroll Band - “People Who Died” Reaction | Asia and BJ

[@diogenescat]

The song is 100% real. These are his friends who died. Jim lived ROUGH. The verses in the song would change from year to year when he performed it as he added other friends who died.

[@barrycohen311]

I'm no expert, but that is the same thing I heard....

[@edwardmclaughlin719]

@@barrycohen311 its true

[@egg6381]

He was such a shy, quiet, polite dude.

[@richardholguin2564]

The movie "Basketball Diaries" with Leonardo DiCaprio, was the true story of Jim Carroll's life. Jim was sexually abused as a child and lived a rough life.

[@maarriiooo]

That is facts this song is indeed everyone he knew who died heard this song first in dawn of the dead years ago and now I just can’t stop playing it for a sad song he made it very lit 😂🤦🏽‍♀️

[@timmack2415]

I knew Jim Carroll when he moved back to NYC after returning from California. My girlfriend was active in the music scene and we all hung out often and got into plenty of mischief together. He was a profoundly deep and often quiet guy who had a great sense of humor. RIP Jimmy, you are missed ✊🏼🙏🏼

[@joseybryant7577]

Catholic Boy is a hell of an album. Rest in peace indeed

[@kevincaulder96]

Yes, Asia and BJ, these events are real. Jim Carroll was a poet, musician, and basketball player of some great skill. But his addiction led his life down a path filled with friends and people who lived in that dark world. At the time this song was on the radio it considered quite the triumph at the time. And they did all die.

[@doubler7hawkgt388]

The way I remember the story was from his basketball diaries where clergyman corrupted the youth

[@tinocontreras5105]

was basketball diaries about him

[@react2reactions246]

Love this song. Jim Carroll, NYC guy, wrote a book called Basketball Diaries that they made into a movie. Leo DiCaprio played him. This song played after a friend died and all the guys went and played ball in the pouring rain. It might have been the first time I realized you don’t have to be solemn when something sad happens. It was a great scene.

[@garyscandling4690]

Jim carroll wrote that ???? Seriously???

[@tinocontreras5105]

where can you find the movie i looked everwhere

[@react2reactions246]

@@tinocontreras5105 I don’t know. Maybe it’s on KZbin? Good luck though. Worth watching for sure.

[@tinocontreras5105]

@@react2reactions246 it's not. I checked on all platforms. It's like Dogma where it's not being produced cause the distributor.

[@Serai3]

Yes, these were all real people. Jim had a hard life and lost a lot of people. If you're interested in his story, the film "Basketball Diaries" is about his life. Gone too soon. (88 Lines About 44 Women is another great song from Jim.)

[@MRoyClark]

"88 Lines About 44 Women" is by The Nails (a West Coast Punk/New Wave act). It has nothing to do with Jim Carroll (who was firmly and indelibly connected to Manhattan's Lower East Side).

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

Read the book the movie was set in the 90s Jim was a street junkie in the 60s.

[@Serai3]

@@anthonyfoutch3152 If you're just commenting to scold me, you're wasting your time. I don't take orders from randos.

[@Ben-nh9xw]

Love listening to this song during the holiday season,it always puts me in a festive mood

[@susanelkins3068]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 - My thought too!

[@TonyTheBassPlayer1]

Punk Rock at its very very best. A young man screaming in frustration at the heavens.

[@toad1971]

I just heard this song for the first time in years - the first thing I thought was wow this is really a punk song - it's unrelenting in its brutal honesty

[@marygreer4036]

I started watching your reactions to BTS (I’m 76 and ARMY) so it’s really amazing to stumble on this Jim Carroll reaction. I knew Jim back in 1975 when he lived in Bolinas, north of San Francisco. We’d take long walks together on the Mesa and I drove him to the methadone clinic regularly after which we’d go to the Pancake House where he’d tell me stories of his early days in New York, like face-in-the-plate nodding out in the midst of a fancy NY dinner party. But the Jim I knew was a quiet, shy and caring person who needed a time-out from all the craziness. People always wanted him to criticize their poems and he would antagonize over it as he never wanted to discourage anyone, so he tried to find the best way to make them feel truly heard and appreciated.

[@georgelynch6139]

Knew Jim in S.F. Good guy, talented writer, yes these are all true stories. We just lived day to day.

[@timmack2415]

I knew Jim too. He was such a deep thinker and could tell a story like no other. RIP 🙏🏼

[@ericsmith6615]

Wife here...WOW WOW WOW...Loooved this as a kid ..however.., I didn't fully understand what the song was really saying as a child...To me this is a fast paced song CELEBRATING their lives instead of a slow sad song...(Maybe he knew his Friends would prefer this over the usual slow and sad music performed when you pass!!

[@jameskitchell7547]

BJ and AAAAsia congrats on doing one of my favorite songs I believe you guys are the first ones to get around to this.. thank you

[@lordjohnwharfin5397]

Drano was street slang for crystal meth. And yes, this song is about real people.

[@John_Chu]

In 1978, Carroll published The Basketball Diaries, an autobiographical book concerning his life as a teenager in New York City's hard drug culture. Diaries is an edited collection of the diaries he kept during his high school years; it details his sexual experiences, his high school basketball career, and his addiction to heroin.

[@CANDOKNOWHOW]

When it came out, Jack Kerouac said Jim Carroll was the best American prose writer on the scene, which generated a lot of interest in the book’s release. I remember reading it in High School, as a friend loaned it to me after finishing “No One Here Gets Out Alive” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. I couldn’t put the book down, and bought his record “Catholic Boy” as soon as I could. A riveting autobiographical novel, and a flawless record without a single bad song on it, solid gems throughout.

[@JBHogan]

I know the lyrics to this song are rough but this is one seriously rockin' song. Good job that you listened and reacted to it.

[@Metalheadmama3]

The Drano one IS real. His Heroine was cut with drano.They are mostly all real. He lived a very hard life on the streets of New York as an addict

[@L0rd0fTh3N3rdz]

Drano used to be slang for H cut with just about anything. Normally some kind of upper. People aren't exactly honest with stuff tho so they called it all Drano knowing they could be shooting straight death but still taking the chance. Addicts get murdered like this.

[@willshultz7813]

Yes. This song is 100% true. Every name was a friend of his who died in the way he describes through the lyrics. Jim Carrol grew up HARD, and he channeled that into his music. They say the last time your name is spoken aloud is when you really die, forever. When Jim put the names of his friends in this song, and then tells you how they died? He made them immortal. Every time this song is heard, they live on. Think on that. I always frown when people say Bob Dylan is the greatest American poet in the genre of music. No. It was Jim Carrol, followed very closely by Lou Reed and then George Harrison. Dylan is somewhere down the list after them.

[@Imogjudub]

Rest in peace Jim.❤❤❤

[@luciolamonica]

"I’ll die for your sins, if you live for mine." - Jim Carroll

[@barrycohen311]

This song is 100% Real

[@debjorgo]

The great Lou Reed did a show where he followed Carroll's band, who had done this song in their set. I can't remember the song, but it had a line about someone dying. Lou changed the phrasing to be "and they died". You could tell he was referencing this song.

[@lizboychuk6365]

❤ Aloha from Hawaii 🌋! I knew Jim in Bolinas, CA. He was writing Basketball Diaries. Nice brother and he died!🌈

[@fionaanderson7431]

Wow….file this under C for curveball! Didn’t expect to ever see this on a reaction channel!! Nice!!! ✌🏻

[@MRoyClark]

Watch the film Basketball Diaries (1995), starring a very young Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg (in his first dramatic role). This song is autobiographical and some of his friends' deaths were covered in the film (which was based on Jim Carroll's 1978 book of the same name).

[@willfromyadkinville]

it's amazing you did this! it! Jim had quite a life! it is more fact than fiction!

[@Nickel138]

This is real. He was a real street kid in NYC. Watch the movie “The Basketball Diaries” starring Leonardo DiCaprio (as Jim Carroll.) Great movie. It’s about Jim Carroll’s life.

[@bobedwards7657]

Jim Carroll was a poet before starting singing

[@twofiveb]

I like this video and thank for sharing your perspectives. My perspective: This song helps me sleep sometimes because it helps me to accept my mortality and celebrate the life I have lived so far knowing that no matter what not one of us is getting out of this gig we call life alive. And I celebrate all the people I have known that can’t be with us anymore. Life is tragic at times but beautiful! Dance to it!

[@frank5d]

Searching for the lyrics of one of my favorite songs of all time and you guys come up. Thanks for highlighting Jim Carroll and this amazing record for an audience that may have never known! Day And Night is my fave from this album.

[@lingcod91]

YES THE EVENTS HAPPENED, ABSOLUTELY TRUE. One line in which Jim says: "I salute you Brother" . . . So the entire song should be regarded as the truth. But set the authenticity aside for a moment, the guitar solo is priceless. One must listen to the entire album to get some idea of what his life was like. Catholic Boy is certainly one of the top ten debut albums in music history. E X P A N D y o u r h o r i z o n s

[@izzonj]

Couldn't wait to see shocked face on Asia. Was not disappointed.

[@Brandi6666]

Holy crap, no you did’nt just do this song. Im blown away. This is on 5 of my play lists. 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️. A little nod in there to mr chuck berry

[@jlcutright0723]

This song always appeals to my dark humor. Same goes for Hollywood Undead's "Bullet". Shouldn't make me smile, but it does!

[@jojeauxhagen7933]

Drano is a reference to red devil lye which was used to make an illegal substance and he’s talking about a hot shot.

[@turdferguson3475]

Wow, I haven't heard this song in many, many years. Truly unique.

[@jpbliss1]

I listened to this in the early 1980s in high school. It was catchy. I'm now 58...it's not catchy anymore. It's poignant and relatable.

[@egg6381]

R.i.p Jim man. I salute you brother.

[@CBGB_1977]

I think the Drano story was he felt he was forced into marriage b/c his GF was pregnant and they were both addicts. It’s in Jim Carroll’s book.

[@CANDOKNOWHOW]

Drano was slang for meth, and back then people didn’t smoke it.

[@johngardner4096]

The Tombs - a jail in New York City Rikers - refers to Rikers Island, a high-security prison in New York City

[@danielmchenry1000]

"Bobby hung himself in a cell in the tombs". The tombs is a jail in lower Manhattan NYC

[@jax4538]

Lol I can’t believe you guys did Jim Carroll :) a great poet.

[@kimberlycoffey601]

Completely real. Check out “The Basketball Diaries”. It’s a move of Jim Carrols life. Leonardo DiCaprio played him. He would update the song as more of his friends died. And he considered punk rock. ❤❤

[@markyncole]

Jim Carroll wrote a successful selling book called Basketball Diaries that was made into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Walberg.

[@greedylittlecoward3040]

Maybe Drano refers to the cocktail made with rum, tequila and blueberry schnapps. I could see that combination getting out of hand.

[@belendawigington7618]

Punk is a vibe! Great song great reaction!

[@pamstropes8295]

Just read Jim Carrol's autobiography Basketball Diaries. He talks about all these people who died.

[@aburke0823]

Jim spoke to a lot of us that from that certain time. Miss him every day ❤

[@keepgrindingup7661]

Jim Carroll was brilliant amazing author

[@mattshaw6180]

100% real. Read "Basketball Diaries" and get some of the details about his real experiences.

[@alexwayne3138]

Yes this song is very real and those people, his friends were real people.

[@ricdale7813]

Next time some tells you some " Song lyrics are Real Street legit" Remember this song. This is so Legit,Street,Life,Death its ridiculous. One of the darkest truth songs ever yet spun into a happy Rock beat. Respect! Btw Drano is code for Heroin.

[@MrWadada1]

From one of my favorite movies of all time. Leo does a great job.

[@rossdownes4240]

Never heard of Jim Carroll but loved it.

[@stevenbess4415]

Jim Carroll has helped me thru some hard times...if you guys like the NYC punk sound you should definitely do a video on The Ramones...or the New York Dolls...or anybody from CBGBs really.

[@ianmorton1799]

Regardless of the history of the singer, this song is true. Every time I hear it, I think of people I've cared about who died, died....they were all my friends, and I miss them... This song helps me think of them

[@clubberlange4119]

Love Jim Carroll. Saw his one mane show. Before the movie came out

[@josephgrijalva9395]

Jim Carroll was also an author. he wrote, among others is "the Basketball Diaries".

[@dougtucker1267]

Well, that was unexpected but appreciated! "City Drops into the Night" on this album is worth a listen, also.

[@CANDOKNOWHOW]

It’s my personal favorite.. “It’s Too Late” is a real standout too, but imho there isn’t a single dud on the record.. every song on it is a winner in its own right.

[@timmack2415]

Probably my favorite too

[@norton750commando]

Wicked Gravity does it for me. Spectacular lyrics and guitar in that one. But the whole album is a gem. A desert island pick from me.

[@CharMinsky]

This real life was hard. In this time of life I had lost thirty friends before I was thirty. Sad. I met Jim Carroll. He was sad too.

[@arjaylee]

Such a dark bouncy song

[@hipgnotist777]

At 60, (and knowing its real story), I can't listen to this without tears. I salute all my brothers and sisters--who died.

[@TheNamelessOne19]

perfect reaction to this video, there's something really weird about such a catchy song with this subject matter. maybe it's not mourning the people who died but celebrating them

[@SpiritAnimalVSOP]

I think the song is hard and fast because they all lived that way. It's fitting and beautiful.

[@gilbertorodriguez5344]

YES ☠️TRUE LIVE 💀AND GREAT PUNK CLASIC HELL YES check the 80's 🎧PUNK ROCK🕶,ROLLING👅STONES music video 💣RESPECTABLE💥great show🎼🔥😈🤘🎩🎸🎶🎶🎶❤️‍🔥

[@williamklett6660]

In the 80-90s there was a lot of stuff going on. Many of the people I knew in the 80s didn't make it to the 90's. Some OD's, some suicides, so just vanished and no one knew where to...

[@johngardner4096]

This song was played in the end credits of DAWN OF THE DEAD...

[@johnhouston8857]

This song was played all the time on KROQ we the kids loved it !

[@faithnyou1732]

I used to hear this song a lot when I was much younger, but never really paid attention to the lyrics until now! I don't know if all who were mentioned in Carroll's song were real people, but I've read that the first friend who died of Leukemia was his best friend who died. The "Basketball Diaries" was adapted from actual diaries kept by Jim Carroll during his teenage years in New York City in the '60s. I don't know for sure about the Drano reference with regard to this particular song, but I have heard/read that people on the street use the word "Drano" as slang for Crystal Meth. Crystal Meth's ingredients come from products that are stored under your sink - hence the name "Drano". Rest In Peace, Jim Carroll (August 1, 1949 - September 11, 2009). Thanks for this reaction! ✌💙✌

[@CANDOKNOWHOW]

It’s an excellent book, though packed with the very grizzly realities of him being a junkie, doing everything to stay high and feed the dragon. And yes, according to the diaries every one of these friends he mentioned was real and died like he says. It seems his life was so crazy back then that he really didn’t need to embellish it at all, as it was a case of the truth being stranger (and more tragic) than fiction.

[@beatawallace5725]

Love this song. it was on the soundtrack to, Tuff Turf.

[@react2reactions246]

Upbeat songs about sad shit are some of my favorites.

[@Hespeakstruth]

Yes guys the new wave of the late 70's was as crazy as this song. You now know.

[@mickeyp1257]

I'd never heard this song until I saw the Hollywood Vampires and they did it, I've loved it since.

[@kevinm3428]

The 70’s was very violent and we’re back there today. Jim was a visionary and I miss him.

[@occasionalwind]

Jim Carroll's Book: "The Basketball Diaries: The Classic About Growing Up Hip on New York's Mean Streets" Was Made Into A Movie Starring Leonardo DiCaprio & In The Movie You Can See All His Friends From The Song How They Died. RIP Jim ... I Salute You Brother.

[@brianprager8050]

It was all true. This was a song for grieving and crying and screaming out our pain.

[@KevinPierce-pu4bd]

My absolute favorite reactors. Hope all is well for you and yours.

[@MegaJan666]

I was born in '69, I belong to the generation "of no future", the generation of disillusionment, most of my childhood friends died before they were 25 years old....When I listen to it I think of them...I miss you brothers.

[@Metalheadmama3]

The book "The Basketball Diaries " is really good

[@LongGone77]

this is as real as you can get. One of the greatest rock songs ever written

[@brentfreeland5834]

Death Punk. This leaves an impression.

[@bobschenkel7921]

Jim Carroll is a very interesting dude. Many interests, many talents. Saw him one time, great show. He has another sort of macabre song "(It's too late, to fall in love with) Sharon Tate". The man can tell a long story in a few words, I guess it's an NYC thing.

[@CANDOKNOWHOW]

“It’s Too Late” is an awesome tune, very catchy and unforgettable like this one is, though not so grizzly. “City Drops Into The Night” is another standout track with great sax added to boot!

[@joshuasingleton2015]

He wanted his friends immortalized

[@wantutosigh1117]

I don't know who's comment you read that said this song isn't true but they are wrong. Jim Carroll grey up in Manhattan in the darkness. He knew a lot of troubled people in troubled circumstances.

[@davis267]

two tracks from Kevin Morby's latest album come to mind as having some influence from this....This Is a Photograph song for the lyrics and Rock Bottom for the tune

[@anthonyfoutch3152]

One of the greatest authors of the late 20th century.

[@ellendunsmore]

Yep, all real..unfortunately..."The Basketball Diaries " by Jim Carroll is a great book about his life as a drug addicted teen in NYC in the 70's...I suggest the movie starring Leo Decaprio for reference. ..

[@toeirei8270]

The song is all facts even names.

[@ellendunsmore]

"Basketball Diaries", the book and movie, and the late 70's-Jim Carroll influenced me so much musically and in my writings, I can't repay him or anyone associated...100% REAL LIFE SONG, about Jim's life in NY..unfortunately..WIKIPEDIA IS YOUR FRIEND..#JimCarroll Forever

[@scottpressman4744]

Great song, great life story, great movie, Great soundtrack!

[@iwannotowidigdo9474]

...always felt that the Drano line was from the Burroughs Naked Lunch "some bestial drug addict cut my cocaine with saniflush" (as Burroughs read it on Saturday Night Live). Other equally challenging songs off of the same Jim Carroll album are "It's Too Late", "Three Sisters", and "Wicked Gravity" Thank you for playing and reacting to this one.

[@chaoticneutral3487]

Now go watch the movie 'The Basketball Diaries'

[@PMunkS]

3:22 ;-) It took Asia nearly 3 minutes and 22 seconds to pause and say, "waitaminnute"? Looking forward to her commentary... *Jim Carroll wrote a book titled, "The Basketball Diaries" which was made into a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.* For a slice of Jim's life, check out the book or film. If you're interested in dark non-fiction check out the writings of Charles Bukowski.

[@stevenespinal5939]

Heck of a good question.

[@mickeyd6444]

Can't find whether it is definitively true but at the same time find it hard to doubt. And if it were true, he was more likely celebrating their lives and his friendship with them, not wanting them to disappear without having been acknowledged in some way, like most people who pass just kind of vanish into an unwritten history (outside of the small circle of family and friends).

[@CANDOKNOWHOW]

All true.. according to his “Basketball Diaries”

[@mykebreeden]

Read his diary

[@larrybailey3811]

Real dead people that Jim knew; not fictious people.

[@americanmusic7980]

Drano doesn't refer to a drain declogger. It could mean one of a few drug concoctions, including a meth substitute concocted from drano crystals and some other chemical products. But regardless the lyric refers to a drug.

[@ChorltonBrook]

True & it’s similar to other fellow’s truths. We’re not so poetic/musical as him though.

[@richardfeldkamp1707]

In a similar style, try 88 Lines about 44 Women by the Nails. Warm Leatherette by the Normal, Jet Boy, Jet Girl by Elton Motello and Intant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything) by the Dead Milkmen

[@edwardmclaughlin719]

As a 59-year-old 4th album ever, yes real.

[@spiral2358]

You should react to "the basketball diaries" movie its a story he wrote

[@fast4wood]

Ironically Jim also died .But great reaction. And pretty good song although a little different.