Punk Music in the 70’s and 90’sJoin now to read essay Punk Music in the 70’s and 90’sPunk music has gone through an evolution ever since the punk explosion in the late seventies. Although today’s punk music retains most of the ideology and sound that defines the punk genre, there are some distinct differences between Nineties and Seventies punk. Most of the punk bands to emerge and gain popularity in the nineties mostly hailed from California (Green Day, the Offspring, etc.). Punk vanguards from the seventies hailed from the East Coast and from Great Britain (the Ramones, the Clash, etc.). The Sex Pistols’ “Liar” and Blink182’s “What’s My Age Again?” demonstrates how conditions — social, political, and physical — are reflected in the nature of the music produced by these punk bands.
The Sex Pistols emerged in the late seventies as one of the first politically charged punk bands, advocating anarchy in most of their tunes. The band embraced and produced songs that reflected the punk ideology: rebellion and nihilism. The Sex Pistols also reacted to the stark social conditions that infected Great Britain in the late seventies – rising unemployment, a hard-line, conservative government, and a depressed post-industrial economy. With a hopeless future at the horizon, the restless youth in Britain had plenty of things to get angry about. The Sex Pistols embodied the era’s anger and restless ambition.
Blink182 first gained popularity as a local band from San Diego. The Southern California environment was completely different from the harsh, cold urban environment of London. The environment from where Blink182 cultivated their style was sunny and suburban San Diego. The mid-nineties were economically good in the United States. The youths of Southern California did not face the same despair as the youths of Britain in the seventies. Moreover, Blink182 gained popularity by producing songs that reflected the “skater” and teen culture of Southern California. Their music is fun, carefree, rebellious, and filled with adolescent, bathroom humor.
The harsh, dense noise that is the hallmark of every Sex Pistols song can be heard in “Liar.” The distorted guitar is the centerpiece of most punk music. The guitarist, Steve Jones, plays with an incessant, down strumming of power chords, creating a “buzz saw” noise. The guitar is palm muted at the beginning and in the parts where there are no lyrics. The technique creates and adds tension to the music. The full fury of the guitar is only unleashed at the interlude and when the vocals come in. In the interlude, the guitar wails were played to sound like sirens. The guitar solo had a hypnotic, cyclic riff in the interlude. The improvisational style and sound of the guitar adds to the seemingly chaotic sound of the song. The drums more prominently produce this chaotic sound. Although the drums are in a simple yet assertive two-beat pattern throughout most of the song, it is interrupted sporadically by drum rolls, helping to produce a chaotic sound. The bass basically provides the rhythm and the framework of the song from which the drums and guitar can syncopate. The song is also somewhat muffled. The crude recording techniques was utilized to produce a more dense and harsher noise. The crudeness also adds a sense of amateurism to the song, one of the ideologies of punk.
The harsh, discordant sound of the song is clearly evident in the vocal style. Johnny Rotten, the lead singer of the group, delivers a smug, confrontational attitude of punk. Rotten sings the lyrics with a whiny and sneering vocal quality, delivering the message with anger and twisted sarcasm. In addition, he sings out of sync at times, adding to the chaotic sound already produced by the instruments. During the chorus, Rotten would scream and crack “You’re a liar.” Rotten’s voice is just as harsh and grating as the distorted guitar. The vocal delivery of Rotten is produced that way to emphasize the raw energy and rage of the song.
The lyrics are very confrontational and angry as it bluntly accuses someone of being a liar. “I want toknow why you never / Look me in the face / Broke a confidence just to please / Your ego shouldve realized / You know what I know.” Taken literally, the lyrics are about accusing the other person in an untrustworthy relationship of infidelity. Given the political nature of the band, the lyrics could also blatantly accuse the system – government, the monarchy, and society – of being a liar. The promise of a better tomorrow by the government and the pompous glory of the monarchy seemed shallow to the unemployed and the youth of Britain. It could have been the system that may have broken the confidence of the people. More importantly, the lyrics reflect the punk ideology of nihilism. The Sex Pistols are
\‡ The lyrics are also about a man that is not being a good man. This is one of the strangest lyrics that have ever appeared in recorded history! The Sex Pistols lyrics would be far more powerful if “the government of your country” had an actual name. In fact, when I spoke with the manager of the band he actually called their lyrics “Fuck the police!”. Their lyrics are a huge amount more offensive. And they are all about the state and government.\‡
If the lyrics were taken literally and taken seriously, in our collective opinion, it would be very difficult to pull off. A person like the Sex Pistols, who has no other band to play with, would very likely not hold their own in a band that is based on a political ideology. To put that off would be to let it slide.
The lyrics are very emotional as the band makes out. The lyrics are about what a man feels like as he is sexually abused or abused, who he is and who he needs to lose control. The lyrics don’t feel very politically sensitive as the whole band is about losing control of their body, or even who they become.
In an interview with Playboy, a man described how when they were young they could never seem to control their emotions. It felt like the album was designed to shock, hurt, shock, and disgust men, who felt nothing against them. They said if it didn’t do it would be because they hated their bodies. They could never understand why men hated them. Men were afraid.
Some people have wondered why The Sex Pistols had a record label and were only able to record some songs because they thought it would be cool. The reason is because it feels like The Sex Pistols just wants to make a record on the Internet like they did. The album label was bought. The record label was bought by the band at a discount. The band had never done a record on Amazon.com before. But it worked. They got the music. They got the CD. I like it so I’ll keep buying it.
The first track Off The Wall is perhaps the most well-known piece of music that The Sex Pistols have ever crafted. The song is so simple and catchy that it is hard to explain away. It started off as a song about how the world is changing and being made all wrong to be good. Some listeners were confused as to how bad this was going to be. They thought that it was because the lyrics were so simple. But you wouldn’t hear a song that’s hard to explain away, and that’s exactly what The Sex Pistols started. The lyrics go so much like our past, just making things up. It’s a sad-good-great time when we all feel guilty and feel bad about ourselves.
The lyrics are very emotional as the band makes out. The lyrics get so much more emotional over the course of this album. The lyrics are about the abuse that men feel, and