The Rank-N-File: A History of Punk Rock Music

The Rank - n - File

Power chords, raw vocals and high-energy performance usually define punk music. Punk rock is, in short, a thinking man's rock music. Hundreds of faithful teens and twenty-something adults pack themselves into basements shows like sardines in a tin, just to have their holy gospel delivered to them by guys with names like "Johnny Rotten," "Justin Sane" or "Davey Havok." Punk rock was considered to be the revolution of music to many people. Ever since the 1970's in Great Britain, punk rock has been considered an underground society that should be shunned, when in fact; they were the ones revolutionizing music.

The reasons might seem simple, but the difference between punk and mainstream music is that punk is just different. It's clever, thoughtful and passionate. On the other hand, "Brittany Spears and the rest of the MTV pop brigade are just dull, witless people trying to see who can be the best on television (about.com)." Punk is written with a purpose. A message is behind every heartfelt yelp and strain of the vocal chords. Their lyrics were directed towards groups of people who felt as if they were outcasts in society. Lyrically, it is about more than just a high school romance. It deals with real issues in an honest fashion.

The punk movement began in England as a medium for overly zealous political patrons to preach their messages of anti-conformity and anti-government to the faithful gathered at their shows each night. In their first single, "God Save The Queen," The Sex Pistols told the youth of England that the Queen was a fascist and inhuman. The Sex Pistols also reacted to the stark social conditions that characterized Great Britain in the late seventies: rising unemployment, a hard-line, conservative government, and a depressed post-industrial economy. With a hopeless future on the horizon, the restless youth in Britain had plenty of things to get angry about. The people who followed these bands were considered "anarchists." Many people considered these punk rockers to be, "
raw, crude and often political. Their concerts were often violent affairs, and they were opening the eyes of the music world (About.com)." These musicians were attracting the minority of the population that was sick of the corrupt lives people were leading. The Sex Pistols embodied their anger and restless ambition. The Ramones, The Clash, The Dead Kennedys and the other punk bands of the late 1960s were all making political claims of their own. There have always been punk bands to carry the torch. In recent years, bands like Angelic Upstarts, Drop Kick Murphy, Flogging Molly and Anti-flag have all had political messages.

There is no shrinking to the sidelines to croon love songs and high school graduation themes. That certainly does not mean that all punk rock is political. It just means that punk rock has always been thoughtful and fully aware of what goes on in society, and that awareness has been reflected in the music. 
 Anti-conformity has always been a prominent thread running through punk. The unofficial creed has always been that to truly define yourself you can't be like your parents or your friends. You have to be yourself and to cut yourself out of stone.

Each punk band you ever encounter will be slightly different from all the others. Some bands are lyrically known for their song lyrics, some for their guitar chords, and some for the theme of their music. But whatever the music is about, you can always be assured that it will be high energy, raw, and honest. The artists always