I - am not a punk...


It's true for me, just as much as it is true for hundreds of punk fans in the world today. Just because you like the Who are you a mod? If you like Jimmy Hendrix are you a hippy? I believe there is a huge difference between being a fan of punk and actually being one. I believe the "punk lifestyle", in our time and place, has absolutely no relevancy. What would be the point? There's no shock anymore, all the taboos have been broken. It's not controversial to hate the music industry and press, to play three chords and call it a song... hell, it's not even a controversy if you get on national television and say fuck anymore - The only thing that would render the same response would be wearing swastikas or saying "Hitler wasn't a bad man" - but that's not even relevent in punk today with it's neverending liberal ramblings and hippyish connotations.

Even anarchy has taken a turn for the worse. Even though when Anarchy was brought into the punk movement by none other than Lydon, people just blindly followed it like sheep. "I am an anti-christ - I am an anarchist!" I tell you what, if John would have wrote down communist, you all would be singing a different tune. But on the matter, when anarchy was used, especially in the political and social context of late 70s England - it was meant to shock and offend. Anarchy, an absence of all government, was supposed to strike fear into people, pretty much saying "fuck you all, we have no option, why not waste it away". Today people have taken even anarchy and turned it into a hippy scenerio, where people live in peace and unity without the need for police of government. What a waste of a truly offensive song lyric...

It seems so often anymore, that punk as a subculture is one big happy family. The lyrics of streetpunk and Oi! music so often make it seem like this is one big hippy movement rather than throwing in the controversy or stirring up a little hatred. It can't be done. Punk started over 25 years ago - it's not going to be the same

I love the Sex Pistols. I love the Clash, and Slaughter and the Dogs, and the Ramones, and Richard Hell, Cockney Rejects, Skrewdriver, the Germs, Circle Jerks, Weirdos, and even a little Black Flag when the mood is right. I don't dress like a freak though, I don't say oi, and I don't run around with packs of other punks pretending like I have no where to live and crashing drunk at a squat. It's a music people - not a way of life. Do you honestly think you are going to be doing all of this when you are 50 years old? Don't live fast and die young, prolong your life and save all the fucking brain cells you can.

There's nothing wrong with drugs, parties, or rock n' roll, but holding onto a lifestyle that has no relevance today is a big waste of time. I see people that spend uber amounts of cash on the leather jackets and dickies and boots and old crappy picture vinyl that they find out doesn't work - all the while going to art school and putting on a phoney persona... one day you will wake up and realize you have wasted your money and time in a phoney cause. Punk is just rock n' roll

Deverisify. I do hate that word, unless it's being applied to rock n' roll. Instead of being stuck listening to Cheap Sex and the Unseen, listen to some Led Zepplin, Frank Zappa, Hank Williams, PiL, Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, or Alan Freed work - punk is just one wave in a number or rock n' roll revolutions - get out and explore them all - otherwise you are only cheating yourself

So where does that leave us in the end? So often I hear a punk, or an angry stupid voice on a CD trying to sound cockney scream out something to the effect of "you are trendy", or "more than a way to dress, a way of life" - when the person themself is decked out in full punk regalia, like some miniature army. What's the controversy in hating Hot Topic? Sorry, but that's not going to get your teeth knocked out. The punk lifestyle is ridiculous, irrelevent, and pathetic. It has become accepted in the mainstream, and punk has become a major selling point in the record industries - that's where as a movement, it should have stopped. Punk was something, not necessarily new, but something that had never been confronted and highly exposed. Well, it's been done - and it's time for something new, because quite frankly, everyday I hit myself for getting that stupid Black Flag tattoo.