Why Punk Rock Is The Answer To Standing Up For What’s Right
There is no more unifying force to heal the utter chaos of our world than the lyrics, riffs and attitude of punk rock.
I’m talking Black Flag. The Ramones. The Clash. Sex Pistols. Circle Jerk. These bands were on a mission to unearth societal inequities and reveal truths that people today seem too frightened to express.
Punk rock bands championed a movement that spoke to the fear, anxiety, and dubiousness of authority that very well still exists, but has been overshadowed by some tragic cultural craving to fit in with the in-crowd. Well I say, fuck the in-crowd.
Punk, and true art in general, advocates for dismantling crooked establishments, questioning everything, and living life like an individual—not as some Instagram activist appendage of a warped political party.
This MOOD hit me last night after another shitty day spent feeling waves of dissociation and anger at the state of our world. This pandemic. Our government. Blatant anti-semitism. Harsh double standards. Corporate America. And that’s the thing with punk rock, this movement eschewed mass consumption and conformity, and that’s why it died off and was superseded by music and cultural philosophies that are overridden with messages of consumption and submission.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love Migos just as much as the next person who likes to get high and low to a good beat, but our pop/hip hop zeitgeist of today is really just another vehicle for corporate capitalism and the establishment to get us sucked into a zombie loop of materialism and compliance. Conversely, punk rock is the complete opposite.
Just take a look at snippets of punk lyrics:
“Wild in these streets” - Circle Jerks
“With your big crime fighters
And your newspaper writers
Still need a drugstore
To cure my buzz”
“Question authority” - Circle Jerks
“Question authority
Have they the right to say how it should be?
Should one man be able to write it all down?
Half the time he can't tell right from wrong”
“Nervous Breakdown” - Black Flag
“I hear the same old talk
The same old lines
Don't do me that today
If you know what's good for you, get out of my way
'Cause I'm crazy and I'm hurt
Head on my shoulders
Going berserk”
And so on and so forth. In the face of all the vapid TikTok videos, reductive memes, and skewed media reporting, we need to revive punk rock and blare it roaringly for everyone to hear. We need to thrash our heads in solidarity and fight the phony noise. Most importantly, we need to abolish the fear.
If we use the messages embedded within this movement as jumping point to adopt an attitude of strength, confidence and anti groupthink, we may just be able to prod society towards a better place. At the very least, we can try.