Ideology Of Punk Rock Ideology

Punk rock music has been used for decades to express dissatisfaction with society, government, or any idea common in mainstream media. Yet punk rock is not simply a tangent of the mainstream, it is a dynamic and fluid genre with many distinct songs. Don Letts, a mainstay in the London punk scene during the 70’s and 80’s, went as far to say that hip-hop was essentially “black” punk. While punk and hip-hop music are stylistically different, the fundamental tone of the two genres is the same. Even throughout the decades, hip-hop has sang the same issues as punk, including the plight of the lower class, police brutality, and gang violence.

Differences in beliefs and values from what the “norm” considers the right way makes you a subculture, but what makes them unique are the instruments they use to make their voice heard. While most people have taken for granted their language, beliefs and values there are some who within their subculture use their music to escape forms of oppression and lack of freedom. Hip Hop and Punk are two large subcultures that are well known through out the world. There are many differences between Hip Hop and Punk and several contributing factors that shape these subcultures but ultimately each one’s existence

Music, in the past, has often spelled bad news to society at large. It can challenge norms and invoke a sense of hype in places that modern culture may be uncomfortable with, such as sex, sexuality, and drugs. Personally, when I think of punk music, I see a genre that stands to be individualistic, aggressive, and rebellious. Phrases such as ‘anti-establishment’ also come up. This notion comes from many aspects of punk subculture, including dress, music, performance, and my interpretations.

Nevertheless, punk shouldn’t be held to such high standards of influence. It’s influential; it’s something that made misfits feel as though they had a place, but not something to be held to the unattainably high standards. All things considered, it did do something positive, it provided a home and inclusive environment for those who were frustrated and just plain angry.

     Anti-conformity has always been a prominent thread running through punk. The unofficial creed has always been that to truly define yourself you can’t be like your parents or your friends. You have to be yourself and to cut yourself out of stone. Each punk band you ever encounter will be slightly different from all the others. Some bands are lyrically different for their song lyrics, some for their guitar chords, and some for the theme of their music. But whatever the music is about, you can always be assured that it will be high energy, raw, and honest. The

The punk music was at that time about the community and politics. Some punk bands like Rites of Spring in 1984 began to sing about more emotions like ro-mance, nostalgia and depression. The new subgenre of music got the name emotional hardcore, emocore, later shortened to emo. A lot of other bands followed in their footsteps. Bands like the Swing Kids from southern California developed their own more aggressive and chaotic version emocore, known as screamo.

Most of the original rebellion was directed towards the British class structure. They wanted to express their disapproval of the structure that governed their country. In The Jam’s “Eton Rifles”, the band sarcastically attacks the upper class, calling them arrogant and preaching to them that rugby is the only thing making them strong (Punk 68). The Sex Pistols’ album “God Save The Queen” portrays the Queen of England with a safety pin through her nose on their cover. The reaction to this outburst of shocking rebellion from the mainstream society was a strong, displeased one. American writer Greil Marcus defined punk as, “…refusing the future society has planned for you.” Thousands of social misfits attempted just that. Through the many causes for this rebellious political expression: communism, anarchy, feminism, etc., the punks of England had a focus and a reason. It was this that made the “punk” a valid, yet undesired member of society, and the British public got to see this sociological change first hand (Chamberlain par.8). Although this movement was short lived, its impact was a phenomenon, and its effects were long- lasting, which distinguished this group from previous generations.

Throughout the entire world, music is one thing that is a constant. From Africa to Antarctica, music can be found. There are literally millions of types of music out there: Rock, Rap, Pop, EMO, Hard-core, Ska, Latin, Classical. The list goes on and on. But one form of music has had one of the most significant histories of them all: Punk rock. A look into the history of this type of music will help us understand why punk rock sounds and feels the way it does. It is necessary to look at the types of dancing, different types of punk rock, and the reasons behind it to understand how and why this type of music formed.

Punk, at the beginning of it's, was a modest thing including of a couple of musicians who played with small sites having a little crowd. Disenfranchised

But based on the quote by Keith Morris and what I observed in the movie, I don’t see how the Punk culture, or the way they live their lives, to be a resistance to the mainstream social and cultural hierarchy. Yes it is different, and no, I do not understand it. To me, and possibly a majority of this class, it may appear that the Punks are resisting the mainstream and social and cultural hierarchy, but in reality they are just doing what they

"Punk is musical freedom. It's saying doing and playing what you want. In Webster's terms 'nirvana' means freedom from pain, suffering, and the external world, and that's pretty close to my definition of Punk Rock." (Kurt Cobain) Punk rock music started in the 1970's and this music created a community, or subculture, of people called "punks" or "punk rockers". This subculture is characterized by individual freedom and the rebellion against the "standards" of society and being "normal". The music of this subculture consists of very loud and aggressive genres of rock music such as: heavy metal, metal, metalcore, rock, hardcore, post-hardcore, hardcore punk, punk rock, pop punk, etc. A stereotypical image of these "punk rockers" usually includes

The ideology of punks is quiet contradictory. There are many subgroups in this subculture, the representatives of which have diverse views on life. Nevertheless, according to the most punks` point of view, they are defined as left wing and progressive in politics. They also stick the principles of anarchism, individualism, anti-militarism, socialism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism, anti-nationalism, anti-sexism, hemophilia, environmentalism, veganism, vegetarianism, and animal rights. Punk politics cover the entire political spectrum. Punk-related ideologies are mostly concerned with individual freedom and anti-establishment views. Common punk viewpoints include anti-authoritarianism, a DIY ethic, non-conformity, direct action and not selling

          Punk rock developed in the United States out of the raw and energetic music adored and played by garage bands of the mid-sixties. Many of these garage bands were started by kids in their teens who hardly knew how to play simple chords on a guitar or bang away at drums or cymbals in their own garages. The music was often played at a high volume as well.

(GREIL MARCUS CITE) The punk rock movement was clearly a counter-politics and counterculture movement uncontained by specific political ideologies. The majority of punk bands were left-wing due to their working class roots. Rebelling against society deemed them outsiders, and they embraced this alienation which was demonstrated in their clothing, music and aloofness emphasized on stage. Punk was embraced by youth culture, turning into a fashion trend which led to clashes between the “real” punks and those who followed trends.

If monogamy is a staple in the family models that we as society reproduce, is punk rebelling against it? Punk fans would most likely say no. Love, and situations surrounding it, are themes that are commonly explored in punk music, just as in most other genres. Bands from the 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, and even new age bands formed more recently, discuss love in mostly the same way. The most notable difference between bands from older generations and more current groups is that there is less of a cultural prejudice against sexual orientation and sexuality. However, it can be observed that love is a concept that in punk music is still approached in a normative way.