Punk! And Reflection!

When I was in high school I was labeled or thought of as a punk or “emo”. Probably because I wore black all the time…black shirts, black jeans, black shoes and I listened to different music than most people. Maybe it was because I got in trouble at school a lot (not major trouble) or they thought I had a “rebellious attitude”. I didn’t think of myself as a punk. I thought I knew about punk music but after talking about it in class, I don’t think I really did. Punk started as garage bands. We talked about the different kinds of art…the plain picture of the banana that was actually pink inside and the art that was peed on that showed different colors. I thought it was really cool to see the virtual tour of the NYC club that hosted the first punk bands. The stage was very small and there were papers and memories all over the walls, everywhere you looked! Patti Smith’s song Gloria was very simple. It was only three chords so it was easy to play. I personally did not like the song, it’s not my style. I think because I am religious and have strong beliefs is part of the reason. Also I think I can only stand a certain amount of ignorance. Just meaning that I like songs that can be rebellious or make a point, sometimes it is just harder to listen to some of the words in some songs than others. It makes you feel a certain way. But I do believe every person has their own thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. In class we talked about how some songs were banned in some places. All the punk songs we listened to didn’t appeal to me musically because I really like listening to what the instruments are doing in the background, powerful solos, deep/meaningful lyrics, and uniqueness of voices. This past few week’s material has been very interesting because we went from Folk Revival to New Wave. We covered Funk, Motown, British Invasion, Psychedelic Rock, Surf Rock, Studio Rock, British Blues Revival, Rock, Acid Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Soul, Singer/Songwriter, Glam Rock, Disco, and Punk. There are so many genres! They all bring something unique to music. I discovered many songs I like, heard a lot of old and new songs, and learned a lot along the way. All the time now I get one of the songs we listened to in class stuck in my head.:)

 

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