The Definition of Punk

“PUNK is the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions”

-Greg Graffin, Singer of Bad Religion



There is no one definition of punk to say that one person’s definition would be right would be an insult to the whole concept.

Mine is socially that you make your own rules and do things your own way I would very much have a DIY or die ethic but then im in it for the long haul as for the music side I would say that Avril isn’t punk or Good Charlotte I would define them as pop (I like both but they aint no Punk!). Punk to me would be The Sex pistols, the Ramones….

There is no dress code, it's just plain and simple- think for yourself. It's not selling out and sticking with what you believe in.

A CD marked with a label saying punk doesn't necessarily make it punk. I think that pop/punk is that bubble gum sh!t with punk elements that’s totally different that’s genres nothing to do with the definition of punk.

Punk is to be yourself, and believe in your self and your opinions... punk isn't a special clothing fashion, or A special sound (in music), it's YOUR way to dress and YOUR sound (In music).

Punk isn't about Pete Wentz being hot (not that I don’t like him), and it’s not about MCR (no offense to MCR shippers). It’s not about crusty leather jackets and Mohawks, punk is just standing up and shoving your fist in the air and saying what you believe in. Any true punk - (whatever that really means) will tell you the same. Don't let any other individual in this world silence you, or put you down or tell you different to what you strongly believe in. Punk isn't about being a loud mouthed shooting crap out of your yap like towers of London; it’s about rebelling with reason and wits. Punk rock is about YOU.

It seems to me that "punk" is something you are born with; how many of you felt as if you had just found a missing part of yourselves when you first heard the music, listened to the lyrics... For me it's a state of mind. I don’t want to generalize, but punks form a minority: they know much more about personal freedom than others do; another thing is that they aware, that it's people who should create norms (if we accept that the basic ones , e.g. the right to live, should exist), while nowadays many people still believe, that only thanks to shaping your character and behavior by even the stupidest social standards you can become a "good person".

That’s what I believe TRUE punk is
Anyway Gotta blaze,
Rock On Ya’ll

HARD_GUY: First of all I would like to state that it true that I said that Avril and Good Charlotte aint no punk, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t listen to their albums or enjoy them. Just to be clear...


Secondly I don’t think the Ramones songs are much good, nevertheless they are one of the first 70’s bands that with them the term punk have been established. So yes they are defiantly punk.


As for the naming of the clothing and music sound I would say that punks don’t have a specific instrumental choice in their music… It varies from a band to another. Also being a punk means to do whatever you want and dress whatever you want. Let me tell you the reason Mohawks became a simple of being a punk:

It all began in the 70’s Punk was an attitude against what the music career was at that time, you had to be reeeally talented to make it in music, and you had to be good-looking' and all, the reason punkers looked like they did in the seventies was a protest against that, instead of dancing like little fairies on stage they just threw themselves about, and the reason punk music sounded so aggressive and so rude was because many punkers was fed up with all the crap that was going on, or simply because they couldn't play and were so tired of all those pretty tunes that was around at the time.

A part of the message was you don't have to play guitar or bass or whatever like a hero to play it, as long as you enjoy it.. Do it! Another part was to be your self. As simple as that, cause that wasn't how things was at the time, not that I was around at the time, but I’ve heard the stories. As soon as the media got hold of "Punk" and named it and defined it, it was over, it was spoiled, cause they turned into A special sound, and A special aptitude and A special way to look. Punk wasn't A persons view or a persons creation, the whole thing of it was that it was your way to think and act, to be an individual instead of a "punker" or even more simple, boy or a girl.

Punk is:
1 not letting anyone stop you
2 rejecting the mainstream
3 not being afraid of the problems in life (unlike how some people think the world is perfect and only care about themselves)
4 never forgetting whats right (or not selling out)
5 "DIY or die" (credit to whoever said that)
6 being different

Punk is difference, definition with Mohawks and leather jackets are just what the media want you to think it is but that doesn't make it that. Blond "punk princesses" "singing" about how they got into a food fight isn't punk just lame.

Sorry you think it’s all ridicules but that’s what real punk is. At least that’s what the people who started the term punk believed