Jared Balduzzi

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     One-two-three-four! Bang! Drums start roaring in your face; loud vibrations fill your body as the fast pace beat that the guitarist can barely play begins to shoot adrenaline through your veins and into your body. You’re ready to let loose, screaming, thrashing, summoning that inter primal instinct society looks down upon. It doesn’t matter if the band is good or bad because you and a bunch of other random people that adults always warned you to stay away from are jamming to it. You don’t give a damn about anything because the cruel critics of society can’t judge you here. No one is going to suppress you this time. You and all the other bored, outcasted, rebellious souls are now a part of a community that you can feel comfortable around. You’re free to do whatever the hell society condemns here. This is punk rock!

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Nonsense! Garbage! Filthy sewer shit! These are common terms many critics use to describe the genre of punk rock. But why? Why are so many appalled by this style of music? To put it quite simply, rather than looking at the deeper picture, people judge it due to the type of audience they view. Seeing zit faced teens with multiple face piercings wearing thrashed clothes gives people negative impressions.

 

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     Punk rock is art! But how? Isn’t art enormous statues of naked Roman men used to reflect the realism or reality of human nature through some sort of narrative? No! While it can reflect this idea, art is something that should evoke some sort of emotion within the viewer. Whether it be interpreted in both a negative or positive way, art should give the audience an experience that will leave many debating either with or against one another. While some critics call punk rock ignorant, half-witted nonsense, that only encourages violent behavior, they fail to realize that punk rock is a true form of art due to its freedom of self-expression, inspirational thought-provoking messages and a sense of community that brings many together.

 

“Punk has always been about doing things your own way. What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality.”

 

     One of the main reasons why punk rock should be perceived as art is because of the level of freedom someone is given to express their emotions or feelings. While social standards encourage a more positive, happy outlook, punk was about releasing those negative emotions and frustrations many people had built up inside them. Punk allows a younger generation to freely express themselves without judgment. They could sing about real problems without the worries of censorship. Bands such as the MC5, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, and of course the Sex Pistols, really challenged this idea and represented this belief that you shouldn’t be afraid of self-expression. According to Jon Savage, author of the book England's Dreaming, after the Sex Pistols, “it was possible to make a loud noise, express hostility, learn in public and get attention” (171), allowing many bored young adults to feel alive again in their quelled society:

 

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     One of the most inspiring aspects of this art was that it didn't matter if individuals could play well or not; punk rock was about being yourself and expressing your feelings through the music. Kurt Cobain, a guitarist, and frontman of the band Nirvana, once stated that “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.” 

 

“We are tired of your abuse

Try to stop us; it's no use!”

 

     Music wasn’t the only form of expression punk offers. The culture as a whole can be viewed as an art in itself with many young adults, freely expressing their anti-establishment viewpoints through torn pants, ripped shirts, outrageous body piercings, leather jackets, and just about anything you wouldn't see the “average Joe” wearing. While many at first glance might view these outfits as trashy, a lot of thought and time went into these pieces of clothing, considering that a large majority of them were hand created by the individuals themselves. Vivienne Westwood, a British fashion designer who made clothes for Malcolm McLaren's boutique “SEX" bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream, stated, “My clothes have a story. They have an identity. They have a character and a purpose. That's why they become classics. Because they keep on telling a story. They are still telling it”, demonstrating that punk itself, whether it is music or fashion has deeper meaning underneath its surface. Any aspect of punk will always tell a story.

 

“Punk rock isn't something you grow out of Punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is 'give us some truth'”

 

     Many bands and songs offer bizarre, catchy lyrics that appealed to the emotions of many frustrated young adults. Instead of singing about love and positivity, punk rock was about anger, frustration, and taboo topics that the public deems as inappropriate. Whether it was the Ramones singing about rebelling or the Buzzcocks singing about masturbation, punk rock wasn’t afraid to step over the line. While many punk lyrics seem like random nonsense, looking under the hood reveals that many songs offer a deeper message that reflects society or some sort of personal experience: 

 

“I wasn't born so much as I fell out

Nobody seemed to notice me

We had a hedge back home in the suburbs

Over which I never could see”

 

     The Clash is a band whose messages were thought-provoking, reflecting the period many young adults were living in. According to Jude Davis, author of  “The future of ‘no future’: Punk rock and postmodern theory,” “‘Lost in the Supermarket’ appeared on the album London Calling whose title track is one of the most explicit descriptions of the apocalypse in punk. The song describes the capital, post-apocalypse”(par. 23), which in other words shows a person struggling to deal with a commercialized modern world, surrounded by unbridled consumerism. The hidden meaning behind this piece reflects the feeling of alienation that many young adults felt which made the song relatable.

 

“I belong to the blank generation and

I can take it or leave it each time

I belong to the ______ generation but

I can take it or leave it each time”

 

     Another song with a deeper message was Richard Hell’s “Blank Generation.” Scott Stalcup, author of the journal article “Noise Noise Noise: Punk Rock's History Since 1965”, describes Hell’s song as a way to reach many teenagers mentioning how “empathizing the emptiness of his generation, on the chorus ‘I belong to the blank generation and I can take it or leave it each time,’ Hell dropped ‘blank’ on the refrain” (54). Hell’s song represents this idea that he didn’t belong to generation X or generation Y, he belonged to his own generation, making the song revolutionary in the world of punk. Many could relate to this two and a half minute track, feeling as if they too didn’t belong to their generation due to social differences. Hell’s track represented this idea that he can choose what he does or doesn't want to do. He is an individual and you are too. Not only did this song’s message hit home for many, but it also inspired many bands such as the Sex Pistols themselves. Hell’s lyrics were so influential that it initially started a generation of punk rockers, causing the community to grow.

 

“Punk rock and metal has always been a home to me, it's where I cut my teeth; and those are the friends that I have, and the bands that I love.”

 

     Punk rock was a sanctuary from the outside world. It was one of the only communities at the time where people weren’t judged for being themselves. Although anarchy and rebellion were clearly expressed, punk, ironically, was a safe space where people could feel as if they were a part of something. People felt as if they were actually wanted for once. According to an interview done by the Comet Student Press Network, a senior by the name of Tabitha Parks stated that “‘Before I started getting into punk, I was super, super introverted and had a lot of self-esteem issues,’ Parks said. ‘I started going to all these punk shows and talking to all these people, then I just started opening up. It made me realize that being happy is more important is than caring what other people think’”, demonstrating how punk rock brought these socially awkward individuals together. Even though hatred was expressed, true punk was never targeted towards individuals or specific groups. Whether someone was a different race, age, sex, or had a different sexual preference, they weren’t outcasted. Punk never discriminated. Back in the ’70s and ’80s being gay wasn’t exactly accepted in society standards; however, it wasn’t a problem in the punk community. In fact, there were plenty of bands that either represented or gave some sort of recognition to the LGBT community. According to Jude Davis, a British punk band named the Tom Robinson Band was a perfect example of this demonstration stating that, “They sang about police brutality, feminism, fascism as well as gay rights” (par. 36), proving that punk incorporated many other communities and accepted everyone who was an outcast. 

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