“Today the punk scene is just made up of uniform-grabbing, watered-down kids who completely copy each other and lust over those legends who had that ‘fuck-off’ attitude.” Reasons for being punk have changed in today’s society. No longer is punk a sort of secret society based on a blind conviction that there was a secret to be found. No longer does punk stand as “The Finger” to society. The music, dress and attitude of punk have tried to be evolved into something different. “Everyone is trying to be different. So, be different, be like everyone else.”

Tracing back history to May of 1974 comes to the 101ers; an ancient band that had part of The Sex Pistols and The Clash. There were also The Slits, a feminist punk group formed in 1976. This group was known for their uncompromising attitude and professed lack of technique. Their music was as aggressive and confrontational as the best of punk fraternity. Punk gave the message that no one has to be a genius to do it themeselves. Punk invented a spectrum of do it yourself projects for a generation. It offered a cure to boredom and a sense of revolt to society. Many issues are argued today on whether or not punk is dead, still dying, or nearly over. The real reasons to be punk, in fact, are no longer tangible. Today, it is thought to be cool to be punk, by almost everyone, and just another way to be “different”.

The derived punk style from skinheads has changed over the years. This features cropped hair dyed to startling colors, pasty-white faces with sooty eyes and heavy lipstick. Red, black and white were the favorite colors in clothing, as well as black leather jackets with metal rivets and zippers. T-shirts were printed with vulgar and violent words and often featuring images of rape or murder. As this fashion served as symbolism to identify early punks, it was soon taken over by upper-class youths that tore many punks away from the style. “The punk style was a demand for attention, together with a cry of rage against those who should have paid attention to these kids in the past but had not done so.”

Fight for your rights? Oi! Punk is the way to go. Being punk symbolized a sort of rebellion against the way people should be, act and look. Punk rock music remained the only form of culture that youth care about. For the young, everything flowed through rock and roll: fashion, slang, sexual attitudes, drug habits and poses. Punk rock was supposed to push away society from the group to form an individual society. The music was set to be loud, non-rhythmic, and obnoxiously vulgar. There was a definite dichotomy in general between the masterminds of punk and the listeners. Punk was destined to implode. The general audience was most often the group searching for rules. “This is how you must be if you are against society: costume, all methods of hurting your body, fighting between the factions, the drumbeat, and, of course, plenty of that same apathy you find in the society you are scratching at.”

A lot of bands came along with a definite image of what punk was about in their minds. Sometimes, the original bands were dismissed as not being punk. But whether they are or are not punk is irrelevant. Loving punk is one thing, but there are more important things to do than spend time arguing at a show over whether or not that band is a sell-out. Punk is dead. No longer is punk what it used to be. No longer does it stand for individuality of a person, or the rebellion of society. It is now an image paraded on by many whom have, in actuality, pushed the ideals of punk away, and made it another “different” clique.

“You never listen to the words that I say You only see me by the clothes I wear… Or did the interest go so much deeper It must have been the colour of my hair.
Two sides to every story, somebody had to stop me I’m not the same as when I began Its not a game of monopoly
The Public Image, you got what you wanted The Public Image belongs to me My entrance, my own creation My grand finale, my goodbye.”