Fear, musically, were a great band! Listen to their tunes – the guys could really play, and Lee Ving had the penultimate punk voice, but could hold a tune flawlessly!

ANTHEM OF A REBEL

by Thomas Nelford ~ tgn5@mailexcite.com

From what I read posted on the Internet there seems to be some sort of debate as to what punk is. First of all, punk is a family, and foolish squabbles over who’s more punk than who, only serves to disrupt family unity. You can tell me to go fuck off, but you’re wrong if you write hate filled letters. There is no debate over what punk is; the subject deserves no arguing. If you are arguing, however, at least you care about the scene, and its probably because it changed your life.

You weren’t always punk; didn’t it suck before? The more punks the better our chances of making a real change in this fucking world. So grit your teeth and bare the sacrifice. there are still bands that nobody’s heard about to wear the T-shirts of. Whatever you do, don’t talk shit about great punks. Only through unity will Punk Rock prevail to live on.

    Don't listen to things force fed
    By those who mean to break you 
    They'll shake your hand and call you friend
    Then fuck you and forsake you 
    They'll wipe your ass all squeaky clean 
    With dollars that they give you 
    To wipe the ass of someone else 
    And be a puppet mastered
    Don't listen then to anyone 
    Who tells you, you are wrong 
    For seeking life's adventure 
    Before your time is gone 
    Tell those fools to kiss your ass 
    To go wipe someone else
    Tell them that you'll never be 
    Their fucking puppet, 
    Mastered

I’ll start off by explaining what punk isn’t. Punk is not a mohawk, punk is not army boots, spikes or studs, or bright colored hair dyes. Punk is not spitting, puking, pissing, or shitting. It’s not a fast drum beat, it’s not a sub-culture, and it certainly didn’t start with Iggy Pop, The Ramones, or the Sex Pistols. Punk is revolution, punk is rebellion, a punk is the modern day Pirate. How in the world do you think bands like Fear, Minor Threat, and Black Flag got famous? It certainly wasnt for their music ability. No, it was for what they were saying; it was what they were taking a stand against. If they’d been singing about the devil, those bands would be long forgotten by now.

The world is fucked up. Any idiot can see that. But what can we do about it? Lee Ving decided to grab a guitar and scream at the top of his lungs, LOOK! LOOK AT ALL THIS FUCKED UP SHIT! LOOK AT ALL THE FUCKED UP WAYS WE LIVE! LOOK AT THIS FUCKED UP GOVERNMENT! LOOK AT THE SICKNESS! LETS HAVE A WAR AND ALL FUCKING DIE BECAUSE WERE SO FUCKED UP WE DON’T EVEN DESERVE TO LIIVE FOR THIS FUCKING MESS WEVE CREATED! Lee Ving, Ian McKaye, and the likes, took a stand. They revolted.

“Technique is just the means of making a statement.” Jackson Pollock said that. He was a punk and didn’t even own a guitar. Crazy Horse, Haile Selasie, Bob Marley, Martin Luther King Jr., they were all punks long before the word got classified. Being punk is being crazy enough to think you can change the world dammit! And you know what? Together we can. That’s why arguments about hardcore, punk, ska, reggae, whatever, is such a stupid waste of time. You’re all fucking arguing about the technique!!!

So whats this all mean? It means that although I like their music, Blink 182 is not a punk band. The Descendants are a punk band, Bad Religion is a punk band, Good Riddance is a punk band, Ensign is a punk band, NoFx is a punk band, the Dead Kennedys are a punk band, and you bet your fucking ass Rancid and Green Day are punk! Tim Armstrong and Billie Joe are kings of punk rock. Fuck you if you don’t think so because they’re popular.

You see, that’s the problem right there. It’s understandable, but at the same time inexcusable. Punk rock is powerful. It changes peoples lives, and it gives a person a sense of independence, an identity, and an originality. Once you become punk, punk is sacred, and it hurts to see what you love given to the masses who are fools. It’s a feeling of losing something special when a band “sells out”. But dammit! Youre being selfish! Although you are a part of it, punk does not belong to you, it’s not your fucking sub-culture! Rancid and Green Day are artists and poets, their music hasn’t changed, they haven’t changed, and they speak the truth. Besides, Tim Armstrong and Billie Joe came from the slums. Don’t they deserve a little reward for all their dedication and contribution? It’s good they’re on the radio, they’re fucking recruiting people for Christ’s sake!

Sincerely, Tom Nelford, COUCHCASE

http://www.columbia.edu/~mhd13

wow. i should essay about this on the home page. cool.