Punk Is Dead
Yes that's right, punk is dead, it's just another cheap product for
the consumer's head. Bubblegum rock on plastic transistors,
schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters. CBS promote
the Clash, but it ain't for revolution, it's just for cash. Punk
became a fashion just like hippy used to be and it ain't got a
thing to do with you or me.
Movements are systems and systems kill. Movements are
expressions of the public will. Punk became a movement cos we
all felt lost, but the leaders sold out and now we all pay the cost.
Punk narcissism was a social napalm, Steve Jones started
doing real harm. Preaching revolution, anarchy and change as
he sucked from the system that had given him his name.
Well I'm tired of looking through s*** stained glass, tired of
staring up a superstar's a***, I've got an a*** and c*** and a
name, I'm just waiting for my fifteen minutes fame. Steve Jones
you're napalm, if you're so pretty why do you smarm? Patti
Smith, you're napalm, you write with you're hand but it's
Rimbaud's arm.
And me, yes, I, do I want to burn? Is there something I can learn?
Do I need a business man to promote my angle? Can I resist the
carrots that fame and fortune dangle? I see the velvet zippies in
their bondage gear, the social elite with safetypins in their ear, I
watch and understand that it don't mean a thing, the scorpions
might attack, but the system's stole the sting.
PUNK IS DEAD. PUNK IS DEAD. PUNK IS DEAD.
I agree that punk pretty much means nothing now. It was supposed to be about self sufficiency. It never was just about the music, it really was a whole way of thinking about things. Building a strong community and making music for fun rather than profit, and staying away from big labels. It is inherently anti authoritarian and always tries to distance itself from the mainstream.
It was never a haircut or a leather jacket adorned with badges. What punk (really) is and isn't is fairly simple but it is safe to say that since Crass' time, most of it really is dead. The music sounds the same but its just middle class kids trying to be edgy so they can feel part of some club. In a couple of years they'll go and get a desk job and forget about all of it. It never means anything to these kids. You start talking about politics, or the music industry, or about squatting or food not bombs or racism or feminism or workers rights or what ever, and you just get a canned response. To actual punks, this is what they live and breathe. To kids just looking for something to do it is just another image to take on so they can feel they are a part of something when they really aren't, because actually doing things takes effort. Dressing up and spiking up your hair is easy and calling yourself a punk is easy.
And for the dumb kids that do make it onto MTV these days (looking at you, Green Day), they quickly forget all that anti-corporatism once they're feeding off the music industry. Now it's just safely-edgy songs about the Iraq war and some vague c*** about how unfair everything is. Yeah, wear your f****** peace ring or what ever. I'm sure it's doing a lot of good. Useless b******s, every last one.
Yes that's right, punk is dead, it's just another cheap product for
the consumer's head. Bubblegum rock on plastic transistors,
schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters. CBS promote
the Clash, but it ain't for revolution, it's just for cash. Punk
became a fashion just like hippy used to be and it ain't got a
thing to do with you or me.
Movements are systems and systems kill. Movements are
expressions of the public will. Punk became a movement cos we
all felt lost, but the leaders sold out and now we all pay the cost.
Punk narcissism was a social napalm, Steve Jones started
doing real harm. Preaching revolution, anarchy and change as
he sucked from the system that had given him his name.
Well I'm tired of looking through s*** stained glass, tired of
staring up a superstar's a***, I've got an a*** and c*** and a
name, I'm just waiting for my fifteen minutes fame. Steve Jones
you're napalm, if you're so pretty why do you smarm? Patti
Smith, you're napalm, you write with you're hand but it's
Rimbaud's arm.
And me, yes, I, do I want to burn? Is there something I can learn?
Do I need a business man to promote my angle? Can I resist the
carrots that fame and fortune dangle? I see the velvet zippies in
their bondage gear, the social elite with safetypins in their ear, I
watch and understand that it don't mean a thing, the scorpions
might attack, but the system's stole the sting.
PUNK IS DEAD. PUNK IS DEAD. PUNK IS DEAD.
I agree that punk pretty much means nothing now. It was supposed to be about self sufficiency. It never was just about the music, it really was a whole way of thinking about things. Building a strong community and making music for fun rather than profit, and staying away from big labels. It is inherently anti authoritarian and always tries to distance itself from the mainstream.
It was never a haircut or a leather jacket adorned with badges. What punk (really) is and isn't is fairly simple but it is safe to say that since Crass' time, most of it really is dead. The music sounds the same but its just middle class kids trying to be edgy so they can feel part of some club. In a couple of years they'll go and get a desk job and forget about all of it. It never means anything to these kids. You start talking about politics, or the music industry, or about squatting or food not bombs or racism or feminism or workers rights or what ever, and you just get a canned response. To actual punks, this is what they live and breathe. To kids just looking for something to do it is just another image to take on so they can feel they are a part of something when they really aren't, because actually doing things takes effort. Dressing up and spiking up your hair is easy and calling yourself a punk is easy.
And for the dumb kids that do make it onto MTV these days (looking at you, Green Day), they quickly forget all that anti-corporatism once they're feeding off the music industry. Now it's just safely-edgy songs about the Iraq war and some vague c*** about how unfair everything is. Yeah, wear your f****** peace ring or what ever. I'm sure it's doing a lot of good. Useless b******s, every last one.