WHAT is Punk?

[oslorat]

subbeh is totally right punk is what ever you are that is different than ne one elas. there are no grey areas. you can be punk and listen to emo. punk is a title one gives to them self to show what tehy feel about them self. wether is to be opposit you parents or to be like you friends. punk is you. you are only punk if you are your self and live for no other man. and all this crap about christian punk...i am a christian. i am punk. bring it. hehe i love MxPx and ace troubleshooter! Tooth & Nail...good label...and anarchy? if that is you great..it you an anti-flag folower than how do you say your your self (Punk) if your a follower of another mans ways? punk never bagan as a revolt...it was some kids in brittian cutting lose haven a good time play intsrument by the basics and doin what made them feel good. it le to band like ramoes ect. then became anti-polotics, rascism, sexism ect. some i agree w/ some i dont but thats my "punk" stanDard. all of you ppl that call us freaks and think abercrombie makes you you. your lost in the world and what the world whants you to be like wich isnt your self...

[land hurricane]

a real punk wouldnt have started this thread, he wouldnt have a computer, if what yall are saying is true.


heh heh

[FatMan]

Hmmm. I'm not punk, never was, never really got into the music - maybe some of it. I WAS around when the punk thing happened - late 70's early 80's, by which time it was pretty much over.

Several things always struck me. Punk claimed to be open minded - "do what you like" but most of the punks I knew were very uncomfortable around someone who was NOT punk - even if that person didn't seem to care about them being punk. For a group that claimed to not care what others thought of the way they dressed, they seemed to go to a lot of trouble to "fit in" with each other, copy each other, and generally seek approval from one another. For a group that claimed to be free thinkers, they seemed to choose the same dumb things that screwed up several generations of rebels before them: drugs, promiscuity, violence.

Don't get me wrong, I thought the punk movement was kind of cool - I had a lot of friends that were punk and went to a lot of punk shows and stuff (of course, *I* was the weird one). Every generation has a need to declare its independence from the "establishment" that went before. They always choose what seems to be outlandish clothing and music and lifestyles in an attempt to show how different they are and in an attempt to shock and dismay the older generation with a bold show of independence. But once they have done that, as someone has already pointed out, it simply becomes the next trend, the next wave, the new establishment.

Kids today rebel against their parents and half the time don't realize that once upon a time the older generation was just as rebellious. Its kind of interesting that many of the modern rebels are "retro" - into old styles like beat, hippy, punk, and the like. In a few decades they'll have retro goth and grung and heroin-junkie.

The odd thing about getting old is seeing these things happening around you, recognizing them, and realizing there really isn't much I can say to most of you to make you understand. You just have to find out for yourself I guess.

So, what all of that means is punk will mean today, what you guys make it mean. No more, no less. By the time you figure out what it means, it will be over, and on its way out. 30 years from now you'll get to look back and remember what it was like.

FatMan

[EsPo]

damn punk is just too confusing.. i stick to hardcore!

[RetroEclipseMan]

Originally posted by land hurricane
a real punk wouldnt have started this thread, he wouldnt have a computer, if what yall are saying is true.


heh heh

Heck Ya!!!! I think along with many people that punk died when the eighties ended. Even Henry Rollins doesn't even considered his music punk anymore and he used to be one of the most hardcore punk-rockers out there. I listen to mostly punk and hardcore but have never considered myself a "punk" just for the reason that all these people sit around and debate what it is rather than what it should sound like. To me it's all about the music and not trying to make a dang fashion statement.Everyone talks about the Sex Pistols and the Ramones which is all fine but what about the Velvet Undergound or Minor Threat or The Leud?Wheres' their recognition. If you asked one of these little teenie-boppers that thought about these bands they wouldn't have a clue because they only know what mtv tells them to know. I just think it's a waste of time to sit around and try to classify all of these great bands. I mean to put Bad Religion in the same category as Good Charlette is just nonsense. Just remember it's not about what you wear but about the music.

[oslorat]

YOU ARE ALL BLIND! YOU MORONS! PUNK ISNT ANYTHING DESCRIBABLE BY WERDS. PUNK IS A LIFESTYLE OF ONES SELF THAT SHOWS HOW YOU LIVE AND WHAT YOU BELIVE NO MATTER WHAT THE WORLD SAYS. STOP TRYN TO BE LIKE EVERYONES ELSE AND GIVE PUNK A STRICT DEFINATION. ALL OF YOU NON CONFORMISTS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. YOU ALL LIVE BY WHAT SOME BAND OR "PUNK PERSON" SAYS. BE YOUR SELF, DO WHAT YOU WANT, LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY YOUR STANDARDS AND BELIEVE IN WHAT EVER YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IN. THATS PUNK. levarticus

[pbstu]

in todays society there is nothing that isnt marketed towards, punk, hardcore, for every name you can think of there is someone out there trying to exploit that group of people for profit, and doing a good job of it too. the only exception(sp?) i can think of is the "hippies", the ones that travel, dont work, make there own clothes etc, you just cant market towards that, there is no way to do it. but getting back to my point, you cant say that punks are out there, being non-conformist, non whatever, because they are just being exploited in a different way. do you think the average teenie bopper can see they are being exploited, probably not. now granted i think most on here would agree the tennie bopper average intelligence is abnormaly low i think you get my point.



stu.

[RetroEclipseMan]

Dude, you just contradicted yourself there Oslorat. You said above that punk is being different from everyone else but in doing that you are being just like all the other "punks". You then say that punk must be given a strict definition but how do you put a "strict definition" on it and still believe in whatever you want to believe in. Also punk-rock is the music first and then a lifestyle. It was given it's name when bands like the Ramones and The Velvet Underground began playing "music" that was new and had no category of its own. And I didn't mean that you had to follow the lyrics of the music to be punk but escentually those lyrics are what punk is. I mean if you don't believe in the lyrics then what is the point of liking the music and the true punk bands unlike Blink 182, Good Charlette, Anti-Flag, Sum 41, ect, don't expect people to live their lives soley off their music. I just think being "punk" nowadays is just one giant hypocracy corrupted by bands trying to get rich.

[oslorat]

.....

retro. your blind in you own closed mindedness. read my post again w/ an open mind and not looking for a reason to call someone on bs to make your-self look better. punk was around long before the music. how do you think it got there to start w/? look at gangster rap, there were gansters then there was gangster rap, not the other way around moron! it just got its title when the music came around. before that they were still known as punk but the music made the name stand. now think about what you said about the origional punk rawkers like the ramones since youve abviously seen little before the ramones (bands like true colors, and hate squad)And the lyrics wernt to follow, they were an opinion and punks strengthened eachother by supporting eachothers opinions. i said that punk was being different, in order to do that you have to quote: "DO WHAT YOU WANT, LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST BY YOUR STANDARDS AND BELIEVE IN WHAT EVER YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IN." :quote. now say what you will about punk but you wernt there when it started and you didnt grow up in the life of a punk rawker. so F*** off! and to all the tru non conformest. RAWK ON!(my horns get thrown to you all)

[Jonno06]

lol...yea..oslorat is right...punk really doesnt have much to do with the music,or how you dress...its about the lifestyle...(watch SLC punk)..that one guy,i forget his name(havent watched it in awhile)...he looks like a dork,and he is very hardcore...its actually pretty funny..

i have red liberty spikes and i do consider myself punk..not by the music i listen to,or how i wear my hair...



btw,oslorat..im sure heat will agree with me when i say..'MXPX RULES!'

[oslorat]

yea i had some lirty spikes. they were short though so i just hawked it up. in my opinion liberty spikes are kool as they get longer. mxpx rules!

[Patron God of Pirates]

I lived with some punks for awhile. Can't say that I liked the music, but I remember some lyrics:

---------------
Guilty by association
Judged by who I know
Can't keep all my friends outta trouble
when they got no place to go

(I think that is H20, they are a straight edge band no?)
----------------

Let's knock and check to is if somebody's home
-Repeat 80,000 times-

(I can't remember the name of that "band" but that is the type of Punk I hate)
----------------

I believe in UFO's
I believe in UFO's
I believe in UFO's
I! B! Lieve! in U F O's!

(This band had a couple of funny songs, screeching Weasel was it?)
------------------

That aside, the Punk lifestyle from my perspective is less about self expression and more about lack of respect.

No offense to anyone who considers themselves "Punk". The people I know who claim that status use it as an excuse to be jerks.

[RetroEclipseMan]

You're right. I didn't grow up as a "punk",heck i was only 7 by the time the 80's ended. How can you call yourself a true-nonconformist if you're trying to be like all the other nonconformist...isn't that just like being a conformist right there. And yeah i know of the Hate Squad but I don't really like them. And how do you support an opinion in lyrics like you said without believing in it. That would be like me, a strong agnostic believer believing in any organized religion.

[SyntaxError]

what is punk? simple! its stupid heehee

no offense to anyone its just my opinion

[mykroft]

Punk is being different, just like all the other punks. Any movement that must define itself by what it's not rather than what it is, is merely adolescent rebellion writ large. By and large, the punk scene is the most conformist scene available to youth.

I like Punk Music, Punk I am not.

Thus spake the Goth/Metalhead/Celt-Rocking mykroft