Anyway, getting super-psyched for the Larry Arms show this weekend. Raw, unpolished showmanship. I was singing so loud on my bike tonight that the trixies on the sidewalk were looking at me funny coming and going.
Sit next to me; we can talk or just kiss.
I wrote this last fall in response to a friend wondering what her boyfriend meant by "punk rock ethics":
Anyway, regarding punk ethics: I agree with Sylvain that they're derived from the concept of "be yourself," but there's a wider aspect to it. The self-respect and self-direction aspect comes from a recognition that no one person is better than another...which also lends itself to the concepts of feminism and other egalitarian political viewpoints. Zinn and Chomsky are both pretty well-respected in the punk scene, for example. Rebellion of some sort is often the first step in straining for self-recognition and self-direction, although, like many youth-oriented subcultures, there is a good deal of rebellion for rebellion's sake simply to establish a self-identity different from life-long authority figures like parents. Still, violating social mores is both a statement of individuality as well as something of a sociological statement about the objective absurdity of those mores; the main, and in many cases only, argument against mohawks, nail polish, most piercings, tattoos, etc. is based on them being unesthetic. I got a lot of weird looks and so forth when I had a mohawk and painted nails even this summer. Not that I'm not a friendly, intelligent, big-hearted guy, but people in public did kind of shy away from me. Punk rock itself is pretty simplistic, often amateurish, high energy music, which at its inception was a pretty sharp departure from the album-oriented prog rock dominating the mainstream. But the concept of anyone can do it, so try yourself, or whatever kind of art you like, was inherent in its development. Parallel to this developed a culture of self-reliance and a hard-charging attitude, often perceived as "macho." (I disagree with the macho assessment - strong and self-reliant do not and should not equate with masculine any more than weak and dependent should equate with feminine.)
Initially, punk was kinda intellectually vapid and self-centered, as well as having a large amount of undirected rebellion. Some of the early proto-punk bands, though sounding nothing like "punk rock" as most people think of it, were intentionally underground and aspiring to many of the values I mentioned above as being part of the punk ethic. There was a very large strain of sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, stealing, and other assholery in early punk, especially as it was developing in NYC in the early 70s. The British wave brought some more politics, but this was initially due to management (Malcolm McLaren in the case of the Sex Pistols and Bernie Rhodes in the case of the Clash) trying to impose a comprehensive stance to the movement as well, something of an avante-garde performance statement and something of a publicity/marketing stunt, but there was also a kernel of truth to it in the English experience. After the concept was unleashed though, the burgeoning scene took it and ran with it, and in a scene where amateurism and self-direction were becoming aspirational qualities, the concept of matching it with politics took hold and crossed back to the States. The fact that the establishment was cracking down on "punk" as a threat to the status quo, in the form of police raids on shows and such, as well as constant harassment by "respectable" members of society (jocks, preps, etc., and their adult equivalents - yuppies, etc.) probably reinforced the blooming anti-authoritarian political stance of many punks and contributed to the continued politicization of the scene. The hardcore scene that developed took some of this to excess, but also elocuted a clearer "punk" lifestyle of enjoying life while living a life compatible with the concepts of respect for others as equal to yourself and all that follows from that (anti-war, anti-slavery, anti-discrimination, anti-racist, anti-corporate). This sometimes went in different directions, like straight-edge (initially just a personal decision, the straight-edge scene became increasingly hardline and exclusionary, violent and almost right-wing in it's didacticism and condescension) and so forth. I think over time, living a moral lifestyle has become a part of the punk philosophy as a result of this.
As an aside, I've read and heard many iconic punk figures decry the stylistic conformity of punk. "Wall-to-wall mohawks and leather jackets." -Johnny Rotten; "The guy at the show in the 3-piece suit was probably taking a bigger social risk than all the tattooed, mohawked kids there." -- Joey Shithead; etc. John Stabb of Government Issue used to wear flowered leisure suits around to mock the intentional nonconformity of punk fashion. The hardcore scene and a lot of the Chicago punk scene that I've seen to a large extent did away with this - shaved heads, plain clothes, etc. were often the "uniform." Although often personally altered (patches, slogans, etc.) and worn to the point of tatters, it did confer a more individual stylistic bent to it. Plus, it's impossible to deny that people are affected esthetically by their surroundings as well. I think the skinhead girls look really cute with their short hair and jeans. I'd dye my hair if it weren't such a pain in the ass (I've done it a few times). My mohawk was a ton of fun, and it felt cool to play with - and have other people play with, mostly girls. ;) I still paint my nails black once in a while. Am I trying to get attention by this? No, I don't think so. I think it looks good, that's all, just like my bike and helmet are covered with stickers and I have patches and buttons on various jackets and articles of clothing.
There are many books that deal with all this both directly and indirectly, but I think my best understanding comes from 10 years spent in the punk scene without ever considering myself a punk. I guess I was as much as any of those kids, but I never identified with it to that extent. I always tried to pick and choose my traits for myself as much as possible. Was I the nerd reading a text book at the punk show in college? Yup. Was I different from a lot of my peers? Yes. Was it because I was trying to be "punk"? Nope. And so forth.
Does this help? Yes, there does exist some of that assholery you describe as punk, but I wouldn't call it anything like punk ethics, or even punk. It's juvenile rebellion dressed up in poser-punker fashion.
