smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: Lydon |
| Date | Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:55:41 -0500 |
[Part 1 text/plain utf-8 (1.1 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
----- Original Message -----
From: <zoogang@cox.net>
> I'll allow that what constitutes a "song" will differ from person to
> person, but to me the whole point of punk is to voice aggression.
> For me, that blinds whatever songcraft might be there.
I'm gonna have to disagree with that. Aggression is obviously a huge
part of punk, but calling it "the whole point" is needlessly
reductive. Particularly since what you might term aggression, I
suspect a lot of the bands and fans thought/think of as fighting
*back*, not lashing out. (Or as Joe Stummer put it about the Clash's
"1977," when he was singing about "Sten guns in Knightsbridge," he was
imagining them pointed at HIM, not him pointing the guns at others.)
If anything, I would argue that alienation is a bigger thematic point
in punk than aggression, and frankly, that ties punk lyrics closer to,
say, Paul Simon (who would be the first to say that alienation has
always been his main topic), or even Bob Dylan. But there's also
tenderness and humor in a lot of punk songs, and there are punk love
songs.
S
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.