Idle Ramblings

Will there be slam dancing at the GOP convention?
This article "examines" the so-called "conservative punk" movement which seems to be emerging in response to similar "liberal punk" sites popping up on the internet. After spending a little time browsing though the sites on both sides of the ideological spectrum of "punk," I'd have to say they are both pretty lame. My problem with either of these is not with the political leanings, real punk rock has politics at its very core, but more the fact that these kids today don't really have an idea of what punk is all about. It's more than having weird, spiked hair and wearing Doc Martins. It's more than having a Sex Pistols CD mixed in with your collection of Creed CDs. Punk was never about liberal or conservative, and definitely isn't about Democratic or Republican. Real punk rock, the kind which hasn't been made since The Clash disbanded, tears all of them to shreds. It puts a mirror up to society's inequities and injustices, no matter where they come from. It doesn't care who it rips up or pisses off, whether it's the Queen, the President or the preacher.

Not only that, but I have to wonder what kind of research the guy who wrote the article did on the history of punk when he describes it thusly: "Punk, however, was as much lifestyle as music. Spawned in the mid-70s, punk rock began as a reaction to bland, homogenized musical fare and a rising tide of music industry commercialization. Punk evolved into its own celebration of anarchy and independence; groups like the Clash, the New York Dolls, Iggy and the Stooges, and the Sex Pistols — punk's enduring archetypes — ushered in the movement that inspired Rizzuto's Web site."

That is true of the musical style of punk, but not the lyrics, lifestyle or punk attitude. It's like describing rap as "a reaction to the music industry's focus on slick, overly produced pop music in the late 70s and early 80s." In fact, punk and rap, socially have a lot in common. They both originally gave voice to groups of people who didn't feel they had a voice in the political/social/economic arena, but could get their message across to people who felt the same way through their music.

I could go on, because these are two topics, punk music and politics, that I feel strongly about, especially at 1:15 a.m. when I realize there no chance in hell that I'll be able to actually sleep tonight.

Oh, and by the way, if you really want to piss me off, group the Ramones in with The Clash, The Sex Pistols and other groups that were actually punk rock groups.

posted by Joseph @ 6/04/2004 12:43:00 AM