What Is Punk?

What Is Punk?

Cody McLees

Mr. Wolf

Language Arts III Per. 2

16 May 2007

What Is Punk?

"Sex and Violence" (Sex Pistols) are two words that refer to the Punk Rock scene, a scene where standing out away from the world is the main ingredient. Punk Rock is a lifestyle that consist of a your heart and mind; the heart to stand up for what you believe when people are putting you down and the mind to know the right from wrong, to know what you want to see instead of what society wants you to see. People say that punk is music that you can't understand or it's a piece of no talent trash. "You see, what sounds to you like a big load of trashy old noise is in fact the brilliant music of a genius," (Justin Bard/ Iggy Pop). If you don't like it don't listen to it because to other people it's very powerful music. Punk rock, to some it's a group of rebels with no cause, to others it's a group of trouble, people that bring nothing but problems. But in fact to the punks that make up the scene it wasn't what people thought it was, according to Bean it was " to stand out, to be different, to have fun, not to be violent but to have fun"(Bean). It was to be every thing that society said not to be. Punk Rock is a way to keep society from holding you down; it's a way to expand the view you have on society. Punk Rock is a way of life that many people will never understand. Its not all rebellious way, it's a way to be who you really want to be.

Punk Rock arose in to California in the late 70s; and it was not welcomed by most of the state. The scene consisted of three bands; these three bands, unknowingly, were about to engage into a musical revolution. They were Agent Orange, Social Distortion, and the Detours. The lyrics that the bands came out with shocked the world. "The lyrics introduced a new honesty of expression in matters both political and sexual, freeing the artist to write in a more personal and honestway" (Silver Dragon Records). It was new and for once you had a chance to say

what you want and not be censored. The violence in the punk rock scene didn't come in the thought of the scene; it came in the southern California scene in 1979. Mosh pits, a group of punks that went in a circle and relieved stress, started in Huntington Beach, because a few people saw this out to be an act of disorderly conduct, Punk Rock was given the stereo type of violent and trouble. The first mosh pit and act of disorderly conduct was in a venue in Orange County. This new and obnoxious way of acting first showed up at the Koo-Koo Nest .Some say that it was he skin heads that took the rowdy step others say it was some jocks tiring to cause problems, but actually created the trademark of the punk show, who ever started this new line of fun in the punk scene will be considered one of the punk gods.

When people see a punk on the street they usually see some one that looks trashy to the normal ball park kid, most see a person with no class and no matching ability at all. The appearance of a punk usually consist of "dyed spiked hair, knock-kneed posture, worn black-leather motorcycle jacket (Bruno)", trashy pants with holes, patches, and a tough look on the face. When this music first came out it came with an appearance that was never seen, with a style that people looked and pointed at as they spoke under there breathe that it was not appropriate attire to go out side with. If you were a punk and you seen people do this you would say 'f**k it, I don't care what the hell you think.' That's what made a punk a punk, that's what made a punk stick out.

Punk is a way to stand out and be a person who society doesn't except, it's a way to have fun and be who the hell you want to be, which no body should tell you how to act and what to wear. "You don't need the world, you return to your roots" (Bean). When you're a punk you don't need money, you don't need to be popular, and it

made you unpopular. When people didn't have money to do what they want or they didn't have the cool things in life that Jimmy did down the block, you had what you had and you made it work. "Punk is simply nothing but doing what one wants to do" (Justin Bard), when you stood out and said I don't need the world, you had a Do IT Yourself mentality that's when you were punk. You can be tall or short, skinny or fat, black or white; it didn't matter because punk was a state of mind.

Punk, music that's defined as fast pace and hard with raunchy power chords, it wasn't made up of fifty beats, you had five or six chords and that was technical. Bands "created short, fast, hard music, with stripped-down instrumentation and often political or nihilistic lyrics" (Punk rock). The typical punk song is two to two and a half minutes long, when bands hit the three minute mark it became a really long song. That's what made Punk Rock so different from anything else. When Rock 'N' Roll came out in the 60s, it was different, and because it was different it wasn't accepted in the older generation, but the young loved it and thought it was amazing. Punk Rock comes out and the youth loved it and thought it was incredible, the older generation that fell in love with the new Rock 'N' Roll criticized and bashed