Comments on: Punk be thy name

By: Martha

Martha — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:18:00 +0000

I don’t really classify myself as any certain type of punk. I still love the music but I am a bit old for “the scene”. I go to shows every once and a while but I gave up my quasi-gutter-punk life when I graduated college. I like my life a little cleaner and quieter now (well, the music is still loud). No regrets though! I loved every minute of it and would do it all again.

I knew a couple of sXe kids over the years. The ones in high school were total pricks and their musical tastes more what would now be called emo. All the straight edge kids I’ve known recently eventually got tired of it and now drink and get laid every once in a while. (A few stayed emo-tastic)

Sally- Funny joke! I’ve never heard that one. :)

By: karina

karina — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:26:00 +0000

i’m straight edge.

sally; thats a stupid joke.
real straight edge people don’t have promiscuous sex but people in long term relationships can have sex.

the reason behind the no promiscuity aspect of straight edge is that the people who started it were sick of everyone fucking groupies, and the sex being meaningless.

By: xJenx

xJenx — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:39:00 +0000

I was straightedge vegan in high school – it was a whole lot easier to give that single explanation to all the punk kids at school than to breakdown my objections to various vices. Oddly, despite being the only straightedge kid at my school, I got a lot respect for it. A lot more than I got for my religious beliefs. For some reason, the Christians had a hard time reconciling my love of punk/hardcore with my faith and the punks had a hard time reconciling my faith with my music.
I loved, and still do, being a contradiction. Nothing will ever make me forget the joys of getting inducted into the National Honor Society with flame red hair or working at the library with purple spikes. Now, my piecings and tattoo are discrete enough to allow me to work at a non-profit for children, then go home and relive my glory days listening to Minor Threat, Earth Crisis and No Innocent Victim. Or curl up with a good book and the Once soundtrack.
Basically, I gave it up when it became too controlling. I never got into drugs or casual sex, but I do enjoy a glass of wine or a few Irish car bombs with friends now that I’m in my late 20s. I think it’s dangerous when we’re saying no to things without understanding why. As a teen, I had plenty of valid reasons to resist the pressures of drugs and booze. As an adult, I’m in a much better place to make decisions about my life and my body. My moral compass is steady enough now that I don’t need rigid dogma to stay true to myself and my beliefs.

recaptcha: bylaws zens

By: Mark M

Mark M — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:01:00 +0000

I get the thing about SE peeps being against substances (alcohol and drugs) and dietary restrictions (vegan and whatnot) but what’s with the personal ban on casual sex? Am I the only one that fails to see the connection between screwing up your body with substances and bad/earth-unfriendly food, and being able to express yourself in a safe sexual manner with other consenting individuals? sounds too much like a religion-influenced thing to me lol.

By: andy

andy — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:16:00 +0000

@moleboy
I love the Refused…they were definitely a band that was ahead of the times. “The Shape of Punk to Come” is an amazing album.

I started listening to punk when i was in 4th grade (early 90′s) when my brother showed me bands like Screeching Weasel, Bollweevils, Smoking Popes, 88 Fingers Louie, and other Chicago bands…along with the Ramones, the Clash, Jawbreaker, etc…and i’ve been listening to it ever since. Unfortuantely i was too young to go to shows to see some of the great 90s chicago punk bands.

And although my musical taste has expanded throughout the years..i still love going back and listening to that old stuff from back in the day.

By: Sibi

Sibi — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:10:00 +0000

I graduated high school (several years ago) in SW FL and I was friends with straight-edge punks. Some went to college, joined the Marines… and couple of them ended up tasting the sweet nectar of Mad Dog 20/20 and they were never the same.

By: swarmofbs

swarmofbs — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:36:00 +0000

I recently graduated fron high school in the d.c. metro area and knew plenty of those strait edge kids. the scene is alive and well although it does seem to be morphing into emo now-a-days.

By: redbeki

redbeki — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:17:00 +0000

I’ve seen a few documentaries on the Punk music scene of the 80s and early 90s. Its interesting how the people who were straightedge all along look way better in their 40s than the punks who were heavy into partying. The lifestyle really takes a toll.
I was into the punk scene in HS and college. I still go to some punk shows and lots of indie rock shows now that I’m in my 30s. But I haven’t really looked/dressed punk since I was a teenager. I was straightedge in HS but not in college. When I was straightedge we used to make fun of people who were “Straight edge…til college” but I became one of them!

By: moleboy

moleboy — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:52:00 +0000

I’m just wondering if anyone here was ever into Refused. They made an album called “The Shape of Punk to Come” in 1999, that basically has laid out the way that it has gone in the last ten years. Anyone else down with them? I am 27 and not really punk at all… My musical tastes expanded, my style of dress matured, but I think the really important part of my experience in “the scene” was the character building political and social statements that I was exposed to by bands like Boy Sets Fire and Jawbreaker. That is still with me, even when I’m rocking out to Pink Floyd.

By: Cooper

Cooper — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:52:00 +0000

I read about straight-edge, sounds like me. XD My parents don’t believe me when I tell them I’m never having alcohol.