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History of Punk Rock essay
History of Punk Rock essay
Punk's subculture interests
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It starts with a simple beat, a tap on the drums or a guitar strumming, and then it happens. The notes flow into a wonderful array of feelings that you may fear to show. You finally feel like there is someone out there that is feeling the same way you are. Music is food to our soul, it can make us feel happy, and it can make us feel sad. When there are no feelings to be shown, it is still there, comforting us and giving us something to think about. Throughout history, music has changed the lives of countless people. Music is one of the easiest influential things in our society. To some people, music is their life. They breathe it and it speaks to them. Punk Rock music has forever shaped the way music will be made for numerous years to come. Like other genres of music, Punk has come and goes, but the records, albums and mixed tapes will forever be with us. The history of music is a deep topic. With music comes passion, dedication and love. An anonymous poet once said, "Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” Genres like Punk, for example, had many supporters. Were these people actual believers of the music, or did they dress and act rebellious as a way to show people they need affection? Were these rebellious teens acting out in a way just to attain attention from their peers or did they have a strong belief in the history of Punk Rock? In his book, The History of Punk Rock, Brenden Masar states, A fight against mainstream, punk rock typically attracted only a handful of listeners. The rest were disgusted or threatened by what they heard or saw and returned to the music played on commercial radio. But thos... ... middle of paper ... ... Do these teens need help or can they live happily within their groups? There are so many prejudices in the world today that its easy to judge a book by its cover. These teens are seeking some type of recognition and they are getting it. Punk Rock has such a rich history and culture. From the beginning to the end, some dedicated fans have been there. In order to fully understand and be part of such a rich culture, you must understand where it started. Gretchen and so many other young youths today may seem that they are part of the "Punk" genre but they are wrong. They are contradicting themselves in thinking that since they put on the makeup and the clothes they are part of something so rich. All in all, the rich history of Punk Rock will forever be in our history, people may jump on even today in the millennium but to fully understand they must know the history.
Throughout history, music has been the artistic stage of philosphoical output of both ideas, emotions and stories, enducing emotional and cogitational responses from the audience, through it’s representation of ideas and through ‘words in music’. Victor Hugo says- “Music expresses…. that which cannot remain silent” (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885), and is a predominant feature in the early 1990s ‘Riot Grrrl’ movement, in which female-empowerment bands would address modern issues of sexual abuse, racism, and the patriarchy through their underground, punk rock music.
In rock music its target audience is the youth. And by youth I am not referring to teenagers, but instead to the mentality of youth, the adults and teens still in the sociological stage between being a ‘kid’ and accepting the responsibilities of ‘adulthood’ [Weinstein pg6] These youth negotiate the genre and change it to their liking. For example both males and females have different subgenres of rock targeted specifically at them. Males are seen from a young age as being naughty and rowdy, not very responsible and thus given more freedom. While girls are seen as quiet and polite, with very low aggression. These traits have reflected in the genres that are targeted at the two genders. Males were targeted with Heavy Metal as it expressed the qualities the very qualities they will have to give up in order to become adults and how they will lose their freedom. While for females rock music is soft and romantic, females will typically grow up faster than males and leave youth behind in order to take up responsibilities. An example of how the music was negotiated to fit the two genders is seem in the 1960s when performers such as Carole king and James Taylor transformed themes of protest into sentimental commentaries, romance and illusions of youth. [Weinstein pg 12-13] While heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath sung about politicians and how disgusting they are for exploiting young people in the name of greed which is shown in the song Wicked World. This very characteristic of rock being created by the youth for the youth is still alive today, for example during the 2004 presidential election Green Day released American Idiot. The song was about how the media and political are brainwashing Americans to remove their individuality. The singer wanted to warn America of this and prevent them from turning into ‘idiots’ and
Although the style of ‘Rock music’ is easily adaptable to many different sounds, it is still thoroughly identified by its definingly amplified rhythm. The sudden worldwide popularity of rock and roll resulted in an unparalleled social impact. Rock ‘n’ Roll influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language in a way few other social developments have equaled. The social impact is so large that rock stars are worshipped worldwide. In its early years, many adults condemned the style of music, placing a stigma on its name, and forbid their children from listening and following its ways.
As with any trend, grunge began to lose its followers within a relatively short period of time, or perhaps it simply became excepted to the extent that its label changed from “fad” to “mainstream“. Grunge, much like most trends or fashions, relied upon commercialization to exist as such. When newness fades, replacements are sought and new titles created that are designed to draw popularity to address the apparent human need to represent uniqueness, but at the same time fulfill a desire to be accepted by others with similar likes and dislikes. If one (1) views history with regard to fads, it may be observed that fads do not exist unless there is mass-marketing of a concept or series of events to attain the popular interest of people.
I believe that the history of rock and roll demonstrates a link between culture and social class race, and age; by the way a genre brings all the people in these different categories into one big group. When rock and roll began to emerge people from different cultures and social classes started to come together as a group by the way they dressed. It was not only the music but also the fashion it brought along with it. People from this era changed the way they dressed, styled their hair and their means of transportation. This brought together people from different cultures and social class, race and age all together.
The musical counterculture of the 1960s challenged the traditional cultural values and American and group identities that came from the Jazz era. The new age of Rock was seen as psychedelic as it broke free from previous restraints and “social norms.” The youth were the majority of this movement and they desired to break away from the suburbia lifestyle their parents had set up for them. The musical counterculture shattered the American value of music being separate amongst different races. Thus, the musical revolution of the 1960s challenged traditional American values, which created significant opposition.
influential in the North as well. Blacks moved from the South to the North and
Seventies punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures. Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug use. This was often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism an...
The ‘60s were the age of youth, as millions of children’s from post World War II became teenagers and rebelled against the conservative fifties. Denying civil rights to African-Americans and liberation to teenagers in previous decades and Vietnam War, created a vortexes which lead to massive rebellion against the status qua. Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the teenagers and college students were critical of government, business, religious institution and other various aspects of life. Era marked by civil rights movement, Vietnam War, environment of drug abuse and sexual freedom formed new music like: folk rock, soul and psychedelic rock. These genres starkly contrast the teen idol music of ‘50s pop mainstream. Writes John Covach; “World was exploding, and rock musicians were listening more closely than ever.”(Covach, 152) Such stark contrast in pop music directly relay to changing social culture in America, which further echo’s the relationship between music and culture.
In closing, the undoubtable influence of music, more specifically of Rock ‘n’ Roll on American society is responsible for a number of changes to the status quo. These range from sexual liberation and racial desegregation all culminating with other influences to create an intergenerational identity. Despite the desperate attempts of older generations to smother these influences, these changes ultimately shaped the years that followed, molding the country into what it is today. Along the way these changes as well as individual involvement in them has also eased the lives of many through empowerment and a feeling of community and purpose. Despite a lull and renewal Rock ‘n’ Roll continues to serve as an agent of influence and change in today’s youth culture and continues to burn in the heart of past generations of loyal fans.
Many people and many styles of music influenced Rock and Roll. The styles included Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Bluegrass, Boogie-Woogie, and Rockabilly. Each was a major factor into the introduction of a new style of music called Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Think about the most laid back, independent, self-sufficient, and wild or extreme music movement. What is it? The answer to that is DIY punk. DIY punk began in the mid 70’s and had a huge impact on that time period. These punk bands were ones that did not follow societal norms and did not necessarily care about making a profit from their music. In the article “Do It Yourself… and the Movement Beyond Capitalism,” Ben Holztman et al states that DIY members were collective individuals going against capitalism (45). They did not want to be involved in that sort of atmosphere. Instead, DIY music addressed value and social relationships (Holtzman et al 45). It was very important for these bands to form new friendships with others that had the same
The American rock band Nirvana impacted American culture and society by paving the way for the punk rock subculture into mainstream corporate America. Punk rock music stems from the rock genre but has its own agenda. The crux of punk rock is that it is a movement of the counterculture against the norms of society. Punk rock in itself is made up of a subculture of people who rejected the tameness of rock and roll music during the 1970s. (Masar, 2006, p. 8). The music stresses anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian ideas in its lyrics as well as scorns political idealism in American society. Before Nirvana unintentionally made punk rock a multi-million dollar commercialized genre of music, underground rock paved the way for the punk rock genre by creating core values that punk rockers drew upon.
Positive behaviours exhibited by hardcore music fans were examined in a 2009 study. Within the study, the category that included fans of punk, rock, and alternative music were actually more conservative with their money than fans in different categories that included more mainstream genres such as: hip-hop, dance, R&B, and electronic (Leung and Kier, “Spending” 691). Interestingly, within that study, metal, ska and punk genres were additionally grouped together, and it was determined that “this factor [metal, ska and punk genres] did not have any significant relationship with attitude towards money” (Leung and Kier, “Spending” 691). The researcher speculated that the anti-establishment messages within the genres could be a factor, although no concrete explanation was
The subculture defined as “punk” originated in England in 1976, with its end in 1981. There were several reasons for the emergence of such a radical movement. Its popularity grew day by day, with millions of kids who could identify with these people. Millions of kids, not only from the...