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Punk music is the most controversial sub-culture in decades

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Punk music is the most controversial sub-culture in decades

Introduction

The 70s and late 60s saw the birth of a new form of music. Youth around London, New York and Detroit were establishing a new way of expressing themselves. They found an avenue of expressing their frustrations of a failed government and some aspects of their lives. Punk music became a household name that attracted various youths around Britain and United States of America. It became a celebrated sub-culture among the youth and people of the 70s. Additionally, it became a genesis for the other kind of genres such as Rock. However, despite its influence and acceptance among the youth, the sub-culture had its controversies that demonstrated a negative side of it. Punk music was characterized with lyrics, which had sexism, racism and violence. These qualities spark several debates in media and among other musicians at the time.

The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to look at the controversial topic in Punk music. It will look at the effects of the controversy and several debates that it stuck for several decades later. It will also look at some of the reasons why the lyrics and message in punk music became a controversial topic. Lastly, it will also analyse if the controversies were adaptable over time.

Controversial aspects of Punk music

The origin of Punk music came in 1970s, where after a generation of rock n’ roll, a faster and energetic kind of music emerged. The 1960s was categorised with slow music of rock n’ roll, which had become a quite popular among the people of the decade. However, in late 1960s a group of young adults came up with a faster version of music. The music would have high frequency, notes and the lyrics were far from conservative. The movement started as a form of rebellion to traditional genres, and in London, it started as a political uprising. The Britain’s government was undergoing depression and majority of the youth lacked employment. Hence, there was a need to express themselves, and music was the language of the youth.

Punk music became characterized with weird looking youths, who had let go of various conservativeness of music. They dyed their hair, wore rugged and cut-out jeans. They were not the typical formal looking men and women. Additionally, with the changed versions of appearance, Punk music also had a change in lyrics and its messages. Artists such as Ramones, Sex Pistol and The Clash wrote lyrics that did not convey a particular message. On the contrary, it was characterised by mentions of racisms, sexisms and violence. The loud nature of their music and the messages in them created a spark of great controversies. There was no longer a message that was passed across to the conservative world, but rather an expression of anger, hate and mixed emotions.

In New York and Detroit, Punk musicians’ spewed out hate messages about racisms and sexisms. They expressed themselves in harsh forms that became a concern to many individuals. Moreover, the messages in the songs were promoting some form of social abnormally. For instance, in the song ‘I wanna sniff some glue’ by Ramones, the artists are advocating for young people to sniff some glue. They claim that young people need something to do and sniffling glue is a better passive activity to engage with other youths. Thus, the messages in the songs were hardly moral but a basis for forming controversies of the exact intention of the messages.

Furthermore, the lyrics were categorised with aspects of racism and sexism. The musicians would express their thoughts, which were promoting certain aspects of the two qualities. For instance, The Deadboys in their song, ‘Son of Sam’ expresses some aspects of this controversy. In the lyrics, the musicians express themselves that they can be taken to an electric chair, but they cannot be killed. They claim that they will always be there. This part of the lyrics expresses the violence nature of the song, which went hand in hand with sexism or racism.

However, the most controversial aspect of Punk music was the classic attack on women. According to an article by Eriksen, punk musicians transformed the lyrics of Rock N’ Roll to attack women in the decade. For instance, Fascist Dictator rejects love and choses to smash the face of the lover. Such kind of lyrics display various aspects of the controversial arguments of the genre.

Lack of adaptation of the controversies

However, with the popularization of the sub-culture around U.S and Britain, its lyrics continued to be a controversy. There was hardly and documented acceptance of the lyrics. Most people at the time would raise questions and debate with any release of a new song in the sub-culture. It became popular amongst the youth but always was a genesis for a controversial debate. There was hardly any documentation of acceptance of the music in any country. The older generation would simply criticise and try to understand it.

Thus, over the years, there was no adaptation of the music. On the contrary, the musicians produced better sounding and ‘mature’ music. For example, in London Punk music was aimed at expressing the political ideologies on the time. They angrily expressed their frustrations at the failed government and increase in unemployment. Although the lyrics were angry and violent, their message was passed across to the intended audience. However, this did not stop the public from criticising and sparking controversial debates. However, bands such as The Clash adopted the art of co-optation they transformed their lyrics into something soft and presentable. For example, in London calling, the band expresses their views in a subtle manner that anger is expressed in care and caution. The transformation shows lack of adaptation, but rather growth in the genre.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Punk sub-culture remained to be a controversial genre of music for decades. The anger and choice of words led to more questioning of the intention of the artists. The messages passed across was easily lost with the angry remarks that were full of racisms and sexisms. However, dspite the controversial aspects of the lyrics, the songs became household names among the youth. There was an increase in youths listening to The Clash, The Deadboys and Sex Piston, thus spreading its popularity.

Works cited

Bergeron, Ryan. "Punk Shocks The World". CNN, 2015, http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/06/entertainment/the-seventies-punk-rock-shocks-the-world/.

Eriksen, Neil. "Popular Culture And Revolutionary Theory: Understanding Punk Rock". Marxists.Org, 1980, https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-6/punk.htm.

Sabin, Roger. Punk Rock, So What?. 1st ed., London, Routledge, 1999,.

Sklar, Monica. Punk Style. 1st ed., London, A,C & Black, 2013,.