Alena Soundara
Mrs. Lewis
7th Grade Composition
13 April 2021
Punk’s Not Dead
As the punk rock band The Saints once said, “They say I gotta respect the system, but
there ain’t no respect in that system for me.” Beginning as a spin-off from hard rock, punk rock
became a phenomenon in the late 70s, but since the scene’s slow decline, punk has become a
musical stereotype, music for whiny kids and tryhard adults. Was the punk scene really just about
being angry and rebellious? Or was it about real feelings, being an individual and standing up
and saying ‘This is who I am’? By examining punk music, punk artists, and the scene’s
contradictory history and what it stood for, it is clear that punks have pushed the boundaries of
genres and identity.
A big part of the punk scene was its music, sharing common characteristics with other
genres, but also starkly different.
Similar to many other smaller genres, punk music originated from rock. Punk musicians
often learned versions of classic rock songs and then sped them up. Many punk artists learned
how to write music and play guitar by playing other people’s songs. Bands occasionally released
covers of songs from classic bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and others; for example,
the Dickies played a fast version of Led Zeppelin’s song “Communication Breakdown”
(Ambrosh 215). Despite these origins, “American proto-punk bands like the Stooges, the New
York Dolls, the Ramones, as well as new wave bands, were clearly influenced by rock
ideologies, melodies, and fashions, yet they began to assume a critical distance from rock. British
punk bands like the Clash and the Exploited offered increasingly hostile attacks on rock and
mainstream culture” (Grossman, 20). However contradictory rock and roll and punk music were,
punk still had heavy rock origins and influences.
Punk music had many similar characteristics that defined it. Most songs were short, fast,
and loud with distorted electric guitar and heavy drums and bass. Power chords were common
and speed was emphasized over intricacy. The vocal style of punk was the “most significant
innovation of punk rock at the level of musical sound” (Laing 125). Records and vinyls also
made a breakthrough in the punk movement. “Typically, they were made quickly and cheaply in
a small recording studio, often in the band’s home city” (Laing 126). Everything about the
recording, production, and distribution process of punk records had a do-it-yourself element to it
which was much different to past rock and even pop records which were produced by
professionals and distributed by big labels. Punk music simply revolved around making music
and reaching an audience.
Overall, the content and subject of punk music was what separated it from other genres.
In their songs, punk bands talked about a variety of things that had been avoided before, from
political topics like the military and corporate crimes to more apolitical things such as religion,
love, animal rights, and later mental health issues. Personal politics were also often touched
upon. Anger was a common theme as well, as it was anger that fuelled the punk movement
(Ambrosh 215). In one article, it is stated, “In the UK, punk was mainly a movement of
frustrated working class youths ...whose families’ livelihoods were threatened by a declining
economy and rising unemployment. Conversely, in America, punk emerged as a middle-class
phenomnom and a reaction to feelings of social and cultural alienation…” (215). Another adds,
“They attacked mainstream culture as sterile and banal, critiquing capitalism and political
institutions but rarely offering viable alternatives” (Grossman 20), while a third concludes “Punk
drew lines! It divided the young from the old, the rich from the poor, then the young from the
young, the old from the old, the rich from the rich, the poor from the poor, rock and roll from
rock and roll” (quoted by Grossman 20). The lyrics of punk music really defined punk, pushing
people to hear even when they didn’t want to listen, fighting for a voice in the ignorance of
society.
While music was a big reason the punk movement took off, punk artists also contributed
to the scene, sparking creativity in their fans, living and breathing their bands.
One of the main things punk artists were known for, was their style of fashion and
treating fashion as a form of art. Punk fashion differentiated from rock fashion; punk fashion
included ripped, black clothing, leather, patches, and spikes. “Punk clothing, torn and held
together by safety pins in a parody of expensive fashions...was soon transformed into a new
trend” (Laing, 127). Punk fashion was crucial for women's fashion, as teenage girls started
moving away from the idea of being “pretty”, and towards being rebellious and edgy, a style
concept that had been looked down upon before (Almila, Inglis). Band merch and unique
hairstyles became a huge part of punk fashion. Men and women would wear their hair in
mohawks, shave their heads, and dye their hair bright colors unlike the long hair rock stars had.
Makeup acted as a way for artists to create a visual statement onstage, which was another
artform.
As well as being aesthetically different from any other previous music artists, punk
artists’ shows were also in complete contrast to rock artists’. Because of the clear separation
between the audience and the musicians, punk artists opposed the large stadium concerts that
rock and roll artists held (Grossman, 20). So instead of holding shows in stadiums, punks held
their live concerts in small venues ––most of the time at local bars. Shows were sometimes split
into two; one for those under twenty-one and a second for those twenty-one and older. If shows
were held at bars, anyone under twenty-one got a yellow mark drawn on their hand so they
weren't allowed to drink (Grossman, 26). However, many punk artists opposed this with
arguments like, “The 21 year old divide line is imaginary and made up by certain people who
think other certain people shouldn’t drink…” (quoted by Ambrosh, 105). Moshpits originated
during the punk movement. Moshing, a style of dance where participants pushed or slammed
into each other, took place among the audience in the middle of the floor. Punk artists held shows
that opened up doors for other bands, encouraging closeness with fans and loud expression.
Furthermore, punk artists were known for their boldness in sharing their attitudes and
beliefs in everything they sang, said, and did. Almost everything about the punk movement was
political as punks, “adopted a variety of issues popular with the mainstream population…[they]
debated corruption, coporate power, gender discrimination…attacked government and police
authority, and railed corporate capitalism...While a wide range of political view emerged, many
political statements were often rudimentary and ill-formed...Few had worked out the
complexities of the many issues they discussed” (Grossman, 24). Because many bands were
made of young and sometimes poorly educated teenagers, their opinions were rarely taken
seriously and sometimes even mocked (25). Many people argued that punks were too concerned
with minor issues while others made fun of the artistic take many bands’ used for their music
(Ambrosch 215). Despite the criticism, punks continued full force, freely speaking in interviews,
joining and starting riots, and creating controversial music that no one asked for.
Punk artists developed not only the punk scene, but as it has been shown, the music
industry as well. Another important aspect of the scene was its history and the reaction is
sparked, both controversy and division, but also acceptance and connection.
The beginning of punk was much like other genres beginning. The punk movement began
in the late 70’s and quickly became much more than a simple music trend. A huge part of the
scene initially stood for racial equality and feminism, as well as other controversial topics that
few liked to talk about. There is debate on whether the late 60’s band The New York Dolls’
music is punk or not but regardless of there being many claims on who officialy started the punk
genre, a mjority of people agree that the British band, The Sex Pistols, were the first punk band
(Garnett, Rivett et. 15). Bands like The Ramones and the Australian band The Saints soon
followed, gaining popularity. As more and more bands started making punk music, more fans
started copying their clothes, makeup, and hairdos which soon developed into an entire scene of
kids rioting and talking about things they didn’t understand (Turrini 75).
In the beginning, many refused to accept punk as a genre claiming it was just a “bad
version of real music” (quoted by Turrini 62) but as its fashions, music, and political ideas
quickly became some sort of phenomenon, the movement grew culturally. As stated in one
article “[Punk Rock] changed everybody’s life who was touched by it” (64). One of the reasons it
may have been such a big deal was because within the punk community, you could dress and be
who you wanted without the restrictions. However this quickly became a political thing and
many associated democratic and anarchist support with punks while some even went as far as to
label all punk bands as non religious or atheist. Although this was the case for a vast majority of
punks, there were a few punk bands and fan bases and some bands who didn’t speak about
political topics at all, but were still assumed to be democratic, communist, or anarchists (65).
Despite the huge support and community punks had there was also an equal amount of hate
towards the punk movement. Kids who called themselves punks, dressed like or listened to punk
music were often bullied or made fun of at schools, and labelled as tryhards as the idea of punks
and the punk scene was associated with rebellious teenagers.
Despite the fact that the climax of the punk scene happened more than forty years ago,
punk music still lives on. The genre has now split into many sub genres including pop punk,
grunge, and hardcore punk. Some punk bands still stand today while newer ones are taking over
the alternative and rock charts. Old fans and new haters claim that punk is dead, an old past
genre. However punk bands and their fan bases disagree, one article even stating, “Punk’s not
dead, not a fad, not a joke, not a fashion and not a part time thing to get into cuz it’s cool or fun
at the time. If you think it is you better go back to your heavy metal or top 40 music cuz as you
get older it’ll be harder and harder to stay true and you’ll just grow out of it. Society will squash
you into banality cuz your weak and scared. So if you’re not going to believe in and support the
hardcore scene till your dead, please leave and don’t come back! Our scene caves in a bit every
time one of you born to be part of society all along punks runs back with open arms to normal,
safe, and easy life. Punk til you decay or rot with society the choice is yours, either get in or get
out! But do it now!! Hard work, fidelity to hardcore and the unity of true punks and alternative
people is the only key to our success” (quoted by Grossman 23).
While many claim that punk wasn’t really a big deal or some national awakening that
rendered all other music useless, it is clear that punk wasn’t about being a big movement it was
about being accepting of yourself and being heard. Punks were tired of racism, tired of
misogyny, tired of being treated like they weren’t valid in society because of who they were, so
they spoke up. In the beginning, the first wave of punk was very little but what followed it was
radical and life changing to many, having deep effects within mainstream culture. As The Slash
concludes, “And what do you get but exploitation from creeps who are gonna ignore your
situation? Too many people gettin' pushed around gonna end up down the lost and found.”
Annotated Bibliography
Almila, Anna-Mari and Inglis, David. “What is “Fashion” and How to Research it? Polybius for
Punk Fashion Sociology.” ZoneModa Journal. ISSN 2611-0563, University of the Arts of
London, 2020, ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/15355/.
Anna-Mari Almila and David Inglis, fashion sociologists and professors at the
London College of Fashion, analyze the definition of fashion and punk fashion
sociology using a method they call Polybius named after a Greek Historian who
lived in the 2nd century BCd. This source will provide information about how
punk fashion is important to the fashion community. “...the desire to own [an]
aspect of recent cultural history in material orm is an impulse shared by other
punks who are now in their middle years and want to claim their role in what is
increasingly being claimed as the most important cultural phenomenon of the last
quarter of the twentieth century”(p. 1)
Ambrosch, Gerfried. “American Punk: The Relations between Punk Rock, Hardcore, and
American Culture.” Amerikastudien / American Studies, vol. 60, no. 2/3, 2015, pp.
215–233., www.jstor.org/stable/44071906. Accessed 22 Feb. 2021.
Gerfried, a heterodox academic, author and musician, discusses the roots of punk
rock and the differences between punk in the US and in the UK as well as the
importance of the punk movement on music. This source will provide information
on the acceptance of punk in both the US and UK. “In the UK, punk was mainly a
movement of frustrated working class youths ...whose families’ livelihoods were
threatened by a declining economy and rising unemployment. Conversely, in
America, punk emerged as a middle-class phenomnom and a reaction to feelings
of social and cultural alienation…”
Ambrosch, Gerfried. “Punk as Literature: Toward a Hermeneutics of Anglophone Punk Songs.”
AAA: Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, vol. 42, no. 1, 2017, pp. 101–120.
JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26379460. Accessed 22 Feb. 2021.
Gerfried dives into lyrics of popular punk songs, discussing the role that lyrics
play in punk music. This source will provide information on how the content of
the lyrics are mostly what makes songs specifically punk. “Punk fashion is about
looking unemployable, punk politics are about refusing to play the game, and
even punk vocalization is about incomprehensibility, is about becoming wild.” (p.
215)
Garnett, Robert, Rivett, Miriam, McKay, George, Kerekes, David, Huxley, David, Lawley, Guy,
Sinker, Mark, Cartledge, Frank, Osgerby, Bill, Cobley, Paul, O’Brien, Lucy, Sabin,
Roger, Medhurst, Andy, and Moore, Suzanne. Punk Rock: So What? Edited by Roger
Sabin. 2nd ed., Routledge, 2002.
In this collection of works, edited by Roger Sabin, many separate authors and
musicians come together and challenged the standard mythology of punk,
questioned whether punk deserves its reputation as an important cultural scene.
“Many of the people whose lives were touched by punk talk of being in a state of
shock ever since (Historian Jon Savage, speaking at the ICA, London, 1991).”(p.
30) “ It is simply that overall the consideration of punk has been hamstrung by
two things: the narrowness of the frame of reference (how many more times must
we hear the Sex Pistols story?), and the pressures to romanticise (usually equating
with seeing punk as a form of nostalgia).The aggregate result of this has been to
solidify our notions of what went on during punk into a kind of orthodoxy.”(p. 15)
Grossman, Perry. “Identity Crisis: The Dialectics of Rock, Punk, and Grunge.” Berkeley Journal
of Sociology, vol. 41, 1996, pp. 19–40. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41035517.
Accessed 17 Feb. 2021.
Author Perry Grossman talks about he transition from rock to punk, the changes
from punk to hardcore, the conflicts over identity that arose within the American
punk and hardcore scenes, and how these contradictions resulted in grunge. This
will be my main source. “Punk drew lines! It divided the young from the old, the
rich from the poor, then the young from the young, the old from the old, the rich
from the rich, the poor from the poor, rock and roll from rock and roll” (Greil
Marcus p. 20). “‘Punk’s not dead, not a fad, not a joke, not a fashion and not a
part time thing to get into cuz it’s cool or fun at the time. If you think it is you
better go back to your heavy metal or top 40 music cuz as you get older it’ll be
harder and harder to stay true and you’ll just grow out of it away. Society will
squash you into banality cuz your weak and scared. So if you’re not going to
believe in and support the hardcore scene till your dead, please leave and don’t
come back! Our scene caves in a bit every time one of you born to be part of
society all along punks runs back with open arms to normal, safe, and easy life.
Punk til you decay or rot with society the choice is yours, either get in or get out!
But do it now!! Hard work, fidelity to hardcore and the unity of true punks and
alternative people is the only key to our success.’” (the vampire “Letter” p. 23)
Laing, Dave. “Interpreting Punk Rock.” Marxism Today, edited by Martin Jacques. The
Communist Party of London, 1978, pp. 123-128,
banmarchive.org.uk/collections/mt/pdf/04_78_123.pdf.
In this magazine article, author Dave Laing, disentangles the contradictory aspects
of punk rock, as well as analyses its impact on popular music as a whole, and
discusses the question of the “social base” of the phenomenon. This source will be
another main source as it offers a lot of research on punk rock. “Punk rock
represented the first important cultural development in the moment of transition
between the period of increasing consumption and one where the expectations of
that phase have been frustrated. Hence the intensity of its confusions and
contradictions and the ambivalence of the leisure apparatus towards it
(censorship/ exploitation). Unlike earlier musics, punk rock has not been
integrated into a restructured music industry, so much as fractured along the lines
of its own internal contradictions.”(p. 123) “...punk rock was a negation of those
dominant trends in popular music. It contained attitudes, approaches and
subject-matter that had been excluded from the practice of popular music...”
(p.128)
Turrini, Joseph M. “‘WELL I DON'T CARE ABOUT HISTORY’: ORAL HISTORY AND THE
MAKING OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN PUNK ROCK.” Notes, vol. 70, no. 1, 2013,
pp. 59–77., www.jstor.org/stable/43672697. Accessed 22 Feb. 2021.
Turrini, explores the role of oral-history publications created within punk
culture, and their role in creating a collective memory of punk rock, also
touching on the actual history of punk , starting with its origins. This
source will be good for learning about punk’s history and influence on not
just music but in writing and comic books as well. “[Punk Rock] changed
everybody’s life who was touched by it. (quoted by Turrini 64)”
