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Punk Ethos Research Paper

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One of the major underlying conventions of punk music is that it tends to reject an association with the mainstream. Punk rock is an all-encompassing out of the ordinary form of music. It goes against mainstream ideals in every possible way, from its grungy sound to the off-putting lyrics and influential ethos. Anti-Flag’s lyrics, message and political/social influences are a perfect example of what the 21st century punk ethos is and means. According to Merriam-Webster, ethos is the distinguishing character, sentiment, or moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, or institution. Punk ethos is the notion in which a group of musicians can guide a group of listeners to become empowered, involved, and entrenched in the ideas and values that a musical group sets forth. Anti-Flag is a master of influence. The punk band was extremely successful from their start at getting their message across. In doing so, they voiced strong anti-war and anti-capitalism messages …show more content…

While popular music is and was increasingly focused on higher profits and competing for popularity, Anti-Flag focuses on bringing important issues to light and giving a voice to those who feel betrayed by the government and society as a whole. The name Anti-Flag came about when other bands in the punk scene were touting the slogan “freedom not fascism” and wearing American flags on their jackets. Justin Sane explained that those bands’ idea seemed great but they weren’t following through with their message. So when the band began using the name Anti-Flag they felt that it could say a lot about the punk rock community. Their thinking was that fans would not be able to treat their music as entertainment, but that their music would force listeners to think for themselves, whether they agreed or not. The whole point of the name was to show that there was a fundamental set of ideas behind the

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