Punk Rock And Punk Music

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

The attitude common in the subculture is the resistance to selling out, which means abandoning one’s values and changing in musical style toward pop to embrace anything that’s mainstream capitalist culture in the exchange for money, status, or power. Punk rocks’ common thinking wasn’t only anti-authoritarism, and not selling out but also non-conformity, direct action, and a DIY ethic. The DIY attitude was pointed towards stepping forward and speaking without any restraint. To fight with warrior qualities to achieve what you were striving for. The kind of thinking and motives for punk rock subjects was to not settle for what society made acceptable and standard but to think and work outside of the box that was holding them in.

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.

Though many will jokingly argue that “punk is dead” Punk is still very much alive in today’s society. From Mohawks to mosh pits punk has had an impact on today’s culture. Ironically enough punk once known as being a counterculture to the mainstream has now become a large part of it. It can be seen in fashion and dance and especially music. Overtime punk has changed and evolved. It has branched out into numerous sub genres such as pop punk, glam punk, skate punk, and many more. Bands like Fall Out Boy, Greenday, Paramore, The Wonder Years, and All Time Low are modern examples of punk. These bands continue to draw in the younger audiences, because they still exemplify the free and rebellious nature of punk. Punk will continue to live as long

Music is a medium that has shaped the ages in relation to its significant role in social movements. Actually, music has acted as one of the various methods and vehicles through which social movements have existed and developed. The role and significance of music in shaping the ages is primarily attributed to the fact that it represents more than entertainment as it has spoken for generations and exemplified belief systems. Generally, music has had a tremendous relationship to and impact on social movements in every decade from the 1960s through 2000-2010. Music has been used as a means of exemplifying the mood of the decade in terms of high profile events or movements that took place in the respective decade.

There are many key contributing factors to the Civil Rights Movement which have been thoroughly covered however, the influence of music seems to be an aspect that is far less developed. In order to assess just how significant music really was it is crucial to analyse its widespread significance, the nature of its appeal and key role models that contributed to its involvement within the Civil Rights Movement during the period 1962-1969, in order to detect just how influential it really was. Music is an expression of emotion so it is fair to say that music may have made a contribution to the Civil Rights Movement notably in the duration of 1962-1968 as the Civil Rights Movement proved to be at its highest peak especially following the March on Washington 1963[1]. A time when emotions were running high and the African American people needed an outlet for their emotion, music was there to meet their needs. It inspired the people to have the courage to make a stand against the discrimination placed upon them from a society dictated by whites.

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.

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock. Punk bands typically use short or fast-paced songs, with hard-edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often political, anti-establishment lyrics. Punk embraces a DIY ethic; many bands self-produced recordings and distributed them through informal channels.

When I go to the gym to exercise I always listen to music. I’ll normally listen to something fast paced, angry, or motivating. Punk rock is my go to genre for workout music. The fast tempo brings my focus to my breath and step. Another factor in my music choice is the message punk rock conveys to its listeners. Characteristic themes are usually perseverance through some kind of first world oppression (ie. parents, school, judgmental society), wanting to destroy something, or just in general hating things. All three of these pretty much sum up how I feel when working out. Personally, I find that the first ten minutes of a workout are usually the worst so I’ll listen to some of Furman’s “I Wanna Destroy Myself”, or Promise Everything’s

Punk is one of the most written and talked about music and political movements of the twentieth century. What perhaps makes punk special is the way a generation incorporated the attitudes and practices of the music into an entire subculture. In her book Punks: A Guide to an American Subculture, author Sharon M .Hannon argues that "there is no universally accepted definition for punk ."To some, punk mean rebellions against conformity or against parents, school, work, and society at large"(2).Punk means different things to different people depending on whom you ask. One thing that everyone can agree on is that the punk subculture was not just about the music, it was a way of self-expression and undoubtedly a way of life. Punks used their bodies as a way of self-expression. They shaved and styled their hair in unnatural ways. Clothing was often ripped and many used patches of their favorite bands to adorn it. Most were also tattooed and had various facial piercings. Perhaps one of the most significant things in the punk subculture was punk rock, which mostly consisted of loud instruments, hard vocals, and political lyrics.

Punks have always been known for pushing the envelope, but the Sex Pistols pushed it farther than anyone to date in the genre of punk music. The Sex Pistols boisterous lyrics and edgy appearance led for them to be heavily censored by the radio and print media and even banned in many places, Britain and abroad.

"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

me to kick back and relax. A heavy and loud rock song for example, would not fall under my “chill” playlist. A heavy rock song would be more suitable for the “rock” playlist that I have. Songs have different characteristics, while also evoking different feelings within the those who listen. This fact hints at the concept of subclasses and super classes. For example, the genre “rock and roll” could be the super class of “punk rock,” because Rock and Roll is a fairly broad category of music and punk rock is a more specific type or flavor of rock; thus showing how punk rock is a subclass of Rock and Roll. Punk Rock is a category within a category of music. Rock and Roll demonstrates how a genre can evolve from being relatively specific to generally broad as time progresses and new music is introduced over the years. With the superclass of Rock and Roll at the top of the hierarchy, under it could be other subclasses like hard rock, blues rock, pop rock, psychedelic rock, Christian rock, Latin Rock, southern rock, etc.

The punk subculture was one of the influential revolutions on the 20th century, which originated in in the 1970s and spread across countries that included the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Australia. This subculture was based on a loud, aggressive genre of music called punk rock, and it intended to gain individual freedom for the working class. This essay explains the journey from the evolution and widespread of the punk subculture in the UK in 1980s. As the title suggests, punk fashion has been ruptured, tweaked and re interpreted by individuals and fashion designers over and over again, and its style has been re adapted to juxtapose on contemporary trends.