Punk rock lyrics are typically frank and confrontational; compared to other popular music genres, they frequently comment on social and political issues. Trend-setting songs such as The Clash's "Career Opportunities" and Chelsea's "Right to Work" deal with unemployment and the grim realities of urban life.[ Especially in early British punk, a central goal was to outrage and shock the mainstream. The Sex Pistols classics "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen" openly disparage the British political system and social mores. There is also a characteristic strain of anti-sentimental depictions of relationships and sex, exemplified by "Love Comes in Spurts", written by Richard Hell and recorded by him with The Voidoids. Anomie, variously expressed in the poetic terms of Hell's "Blank Generation" and the bluntness of The Ramones' "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", is a common theme. Identifying punk with such topics aligns with the view expressed by Search and Destroy founder V. Vale: "Punk was a total cultural revolt. It was a hardcore confrontation with the black side of history and culture, right-wing imagery, sexual taboos, a delving into it that had never been done before by any generation in such a thorough way. However, many punk rock lyrics deal in more traditional rock 'n' roll themes of courtship, heartbreak, and hanging out; the approach ranges from the deadpan, aggressive simplicity of Ramones standards such as "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriendto the more unambiguously sincere style of many later pop punk groups.
In 1976 the Ramones, along with British punk band the Sex Pistols, went on a tour of the United Kingdom. The tour was widely credited for inspiring the first wave of English punk bands such as The Clash, The Damned, and The Buzzcocks. In England, the music became a more violent and political form of expression, represented with the Sex Pistols first two singles "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen". Despite an airplay ban on the BBC, the records rose to the top chart position in the UK. Many in the original punk rock scene claimed that the Sex Pistols and other popular punk bands of the time were compromising a newly emerging underground DIY ethic of punk rock. This phenomenon was the origin of the phrase "Punks Not Dead." The Exploited wrote a song entitled 'Punks Not Dead' which immortalized the saying and claimed that even with the advent of more popular punk rock that hardcore punk was now emerging to raise the level of aggression in punk and take it underground once again. Other bands, like The Clash, were less nihilistic, more overtly political and idealistic. As the Sex Pistols toured America, they spread their music to the West Coast. Before, punk was mostly an East Coast phenomenon in the US, with scenes in New York and Washington D.C.. In the late '70s, California punk bands such as the Dead Kennedys, X, Fear, the Germs, Circle Jerks and Black Flag, gained greater exposure.
Punk's next evolution saw its rise in the underground movement of hardcore punk, a subgenre that originated in North America around 1980. The new sound was generally thicker, heavier and faster than earlier punk rock. Notable bands in this subgenre include Black Flag, Minor Threat and Bad Brains, among numerous others. The songs are usually short, fast and loud, covering topics ranging from apathy, boredom, politics, personal freedom, violence, social alienation, straight edge, war, and the hardcore subculture itself. Hardcore spawned several fusion genres and subgenres, some of which had mainstream success, such as skate punk, melodic hardcore and metalcore.
Since punk rock's initial popularity in the 1970s and the renewed interest created by the punk revival of the 1990s, punk rock continues to fight to remain an underground form of anti-corporate expression. This has resulted in several evolved strains of hardcore punk, such as D-beat (a distortion-heavy subgenre influenced by the UK band Discharge), anarcho-punk (such as Crass), grindcore (such as Napalm Death), and crust punk. The latter of which is a politicized fusion of hardcore and extreme metal which has arguably become a dominant voice for the modern political punk movement. Crust punk is typified by bands such as Doom, Amebix, Nausea, and Behind Enemy Lines. These strains remain largely unrecognizable to the majority of the general public and tend to focus on issues such as anarchism, freeganism, animal rights, sexism, and racism.
In 1976 the Ramones, along with British punk band the Sex Pistols, went on a tour of the United Kingdom. The tour was widely credited for inspiring the first wave of English punk bands such as The Clash, The Damned, and The Buzzcocks. In England, the music became a more violent and political form of expression, represented with the Sex Pistols first two singles "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen". Despite an airplay ban on the BBC, the records rose to the top chart position in the UK. Many in the original punk rock scene claimed that the Sex Pistols and other popular punk bands of the time were compromising a newly emerging underground DIY ethic of punk rock. This phenomenon was the origin of the phrase "Punks Not Dead." The Exploited wrote a song entitled 'Punks Not Dead' which immortalized the saying and claimed that even with the advent of more popular punk rock that hardcore punk was now emerging to raise the level of aggression in punk and take it underground once again. Other bands, like The Clash, were less nihilistic, more overtly political and idealistic. As the Sex Pistols toured America, they spread their music to the West Coast. Before, punk was mostly an East Coast phenomenon in the US, with scenes in New York and Washington D.C.. In the late '70s, California punk bands such as the Dead Kennedys, X, Fear, the Germs, Circle Jerks and Black Flag, gained greater exposure.
Punk's next evolution saw its rise in the underground movement of hardcore punk, a subgenre that originated in North America around 1980. The new sound was generally thicker, heavier and faster than earlier punk rock. Notable bands in this subgenre include Black Flag, Minor Threat and Bad Brains, among numerous others. The songs are usually short, fast and loud, covering topics ranging from apathy, boredom, politics, personal freedom, violence, social alienation, straight edge, war, and the hardcore subculture itself. Hardcore spawned several fusion genres and subgenres, some of which had mainstream success, such as skate punk, melodic hardcore and metalcore.
Since punk rock's initial popularity in the 1970s and the renewed interest created by the punk revival of the 1990s, punk rock continues to fight to remain an underground form of anti-corporate expression. This has resulted in several evolved strains of hardcore punk, such as D-beat (a distortion-heavy subgenre influenced by the UK band Discharge), anarcho-punk (such as Crass), grindcore (such as Napalm Death), and crust punk. The latter of which is a politicized fusion of hardcore and extreme metal which has arguably become a dominant voice for the modern political punk movement. Crust punk is typified by bands such as Doom, Amebix, Nausea, and Behind Enemy Lines. These strains remain largely unrecognizable to the majority of the general public and tend to focus on issues such as anarchism, freeganism, animal rights, sexism, and racism.
