This week, I’m going to talk about one of my favourite musical movements that coincidentally happened in the 70’s. Punk rock is not just DIY bands producing fast paced music, it is also a philosophy, a way of life.
Punk rock is, in it’s essence, political. There are various political views in punk like anarchy, nihilism, a need for a revolution, etc… and the thing they have in common is that they’re anti-systemic ideologies. But how did such a radical movement rise?
The first wave of punk rock was a way to show that you don’t need to play like Hendrix to pick up a guitar and play an enjoyable tune and that at that time (1970’s) people were ready to call everything Rock and Roll when to most fans rock meant rebellious music. The Ramones wanted to change that and they were the precursors of punk rock. So it started as an act of rebellion against the rock scene. But how did it get political and philosophical?
Punk rock was described at the time as "rock and roll by people who didn't have very many skills as musicians but still felt the need to express themselves through music". This do it yourself (DIY) spirit is to this day very prized in the punk community and ensures punk can be produced by anyone who has a electric guitar, a bass and a drum set lying around.
British punk rejected mainstream rock, the culture it represented, and their music predecessors: "No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones in 1977", declared the Clash in their song "1977". As nostalgia was discarded, many in the scene adopted a nihilistic attitude that is evident in one of the first punk rock bands, the Sex Pistols, slogan: No Future.
Not everyone was nihilist though. There was space for the leftist utopic ideals of communism too, as seen by bands like Crass who often tried to find a positive outlook on the movement. One of their outlooks on the movement is “Punk rock is meant to be our freedom. We're meant to be able to do what we want to do”. But what about the style of people in the community?
Most people assume punk rockers are these rough looking people and dress and style their hair in very peculiar ways. While this might be true, it wasn’t as hard to dress punk as it may seem. At the time, the greaser movement had died for a long time so second hand stores had lots of leather jackets in stock. The community saw an opportunity and established that leather jackets are punk along t-shirts and jeans since everyone owns those. It is a simple outfit made out of necessity that is very accessible. It was encouraged to personalize leather jackets, following that DIY methodology. Over time, tattoos, (both stick and poke and professional), piercings, and metal-studded and spiked accessories became increasingly common elements of punk fashion among both musicians and fans, a "style of adornment calculated to disturb and outrage" the conservative society at the time. A punk's hair is too an important way of showing their freedom of expression so their hair is basically unique. Inside the community there is banter around which types of food or beverages are more punk. Basically what they mean is what food and beverages are more accessible to all, for example meat isn’t vegan friendly and tofu can be expensive so they’re ruled out. Some of the most “punk” food and beverages are pasta, coffee and even water.
In short, punk rock was a way of life adopted by those impovrished and wronged by the unfair government and society and all around those that wanted to rebel against just about anything. It started in music and evolved to everything else and now is a movement spread all around the world!
Sources:
https://www.tiktok.com/@gravmasterhash?lang=pt-BR
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