Written by Kevin Tuxford
I’m sure I don’t need to go into the history of punk (or the debate over when and where it “started”) here. Needless to say, as soon as Johnny Rotten snarled out “I am an antichrist, I am an anarchist” punk rock took on political overtones that became part of the “punk rock” idiom ever since. Whether its the Damned’s “Smash it Up” or the politics of Crass or the Dead Kennedy’s later on, punk became a notion of revolutionary change… out with the old, in with the new.
Even though punk eventually became only associated with angry young men shouting “fuck the cops,” I’ve always thought that one of the best examples of the early ideal of hopeful youth rebellion was “We are the One” by San Francisco’s Avengers: “We will build a better tomorrow/youth of today will be the tool.”
