The Heart of Punk Rock

I was walking in front of our building the other day when I saw someone familiar. He was a dark, slightly tall guy sporting a one-sided hairstyle that screams defiantly “emo” to everyone. I thought he’s my irregular loner classmate last semester for our Natural Science class, but even before I stepped up next to him, I realized he wasn’t my classmate, and I didn’t know him at all. He was simply a cloned fashion statement of my “emo” classmate, and a copycat of probably a hundred of “rockers” strutting in the same hair style.

I remembered when I was in third year high school. I met a bunch of old-school punk guys at a tattoo shop at a mall near us. They would just lounge around the place, indulging in hard liquor drinks while Anti-Flag and The Ramones play in the background.

It wasn’t the “rockers” season yet at that time. There was no Fallout Boy; no Click Five live at MTV, and no Dashboard Confessional giving the suicidal tendencies lyrics. The bands blasting from everyone else’s MP3s before are not yet in the mainstream. They are still a part of the underground scene, away from the world they think would just criticize them.

Moreover, the punk fashion is a one big daring statement communicating their liberal and bold beliefs. While Mohawk hairstyles and black leather boots paired with ragged jeans are deemed to be the weirdest get-up during that time, the punks would bravely walk around, knowing that their fashion conveys the idealism inside them. It was simply their “form of expression,” and not just a reason to show off their individualistic side.

And that world became my greatest influence. While my quest for real and sensible songs started from simply eliminating mainstream pop bands from my playlist, the world of punk rock introduced me to a genre that conveyed true angst against twisted beliefs, insanity, and the injustices in the society and the government.

This entry to the underground scene also changed my wardrobe. From a no-themed outfit, it turned to a more standout get-up: black tops (and eyelids),Chuck Taylor boots and fitted pants. Although some think that I am becoming like one of the guys, I still feel special. Girls joining such kind of crowd that time are very unusual, but for me it wasn’t a big deal, and to stand beside those kind of people reveals the real punk-rock in me.
_________

And to the “emo” guy I came across with the other day,

I know that you will, too.

_________

But the big threat came when I came across a punk-looking girl one day. She was wearing skintight black pants and high-cut chucks just like I used to do. Maybe I was jealous because I feel I’m starting to be not the only one. No, I just hated the sight. When I noticed that more and more girls at the mall started to be influenced by the same theme, it was obvious that it will evolve to be the reigning fashion trend for the next months.

What was the cause? I realized it was because of the underground-turned-mainstream punk bands, the highlight of which was when My Chemical Romance and their single “Helena” gained its popularity among teens that interpreted the music as super emotional and super angsty. Thus, the long-conceived “emo punks” started to circulate among the music scene, invading teenagers’ mind and telling them that “this is the real music.”

Which is not. From there, the term “poseur” also became the most insulting word to the... well, poseurs. It is also this time that I wrote my first ever i-love-it essay, an article that talks about my anger towards pretentious people, especially to the rock-“fashionistas” who just goes with the flow.

But it won’t change anything. Trend is uncontrollable; it spreads to all corners like fire. We can’t do anything but to let the “rockers” wear the blackest top they could wear and the flash the rattiest Chucks they could flash. Together with the one-sided, pointed bangs, everyone seemed to perfect the wardrobe set called “emo.”

Years have passed, and the trend did not fade. It was even made available to everyone – girls or guys. Whenever I walk around my school grounds, I count the people who have bangs over a part of their forehead. Turns out, almost every girl has them.

I’m not one of them, however. I stopped cropping my hair short at the sides, and I dress in the punk get-up only occasionally.

Now I understand why some of my hardcore friends are just wearing plain t-shirts and jeans. Maybe they’re just trying to avoid being labeled as poseurs, or maybe they just don’t want to express it altogether. However, I also realized that no matter how simple or weird your get-up is, it is your beliefs and thinking which really matters. There are other forms to express it loud and proud anyway, like through music.

Maybe I can’t do anything but to just laugh at the numerous people dressing up under the same theme nowadays. I know they’ll eventually grow tired of it altogether. And to the “emo” guy I came across with the other day, I know that you will, too.

Four years have passed since I met the punks and hardcores at the tattoo shop. The tattoo shop is still a tattoo and punk-rock shop, only relocated to a more business-conducive place. The punks don’t hang out there anymore, they’ve probably went to their own punk-rock ways just like me. But I know that whatever crowd and whatever style we are into these days, we are still united under one genre, one system of beliefs and one heart: the heart of punk rock.