Saturday, December 7, 2013

Hippies vs. Punks: "Punk is Dead"

First, Jeffrey Lewis' cover of the Crass classic, "Punk is Dead" from his excellent 12 Crass Songs (2007):


It says it all:
PUNK IS DEAD
Yes that's right, punk is dead 
It's just another cheap product for the consumers head 
Bubblegum rock on plastic transistors 
Schoolboy sedition backed by big time promoters
CBS promote the Clash 
Ain't for revolution, it's just for cash 
Punk became a fashion just like hippy used to be 
Ain't got a thing to do with your or me 
Movements are systems and systems kill 
Movements are expressions of the public will 
Punk became a movement cos we all felt lost 
Leaders sold out and now we all pay the cost 
Punk narcissism was a social napalm 
Steve Jones started doing real harm 
Preaching revolution, anarchy and change 
Sucked from the system that had given him his name 
Well I'm tired of staring through shit stained glass 
Tired of staring up a superstars arse 
I've got an arse and crap and a name 
I'm just waiting for my fifteen minutes fame 
Steven Jones, you're napalm 
If you're so pretty vacant, why do you smarm? 
Patti Smith, you're napalm, your write with your hand 
But it's Rimbaud's arm 
And me, yes, I, do I want to burn? 
Is there something I can learn? 
Do I need a business man to promote my angle 
Can I resist the carrots that fame and fortune dangle 
I see the velvet zippies in their bondage gear 
The social elite with safety pins in their ear 
I watch and understand that it don't mean a thing 
The scorpions might attack, but the systems stole the sting 
PUNK IS DEAD. PUNK IS DEAD. PUNK IS DEAD.
Then the Crass original in all Steve Ignorant's glory from the 1981 live album You'll Ruin It for Everyone (1993):


Eventually I am going to get to a Hippies vs. Punks post on Crass. But the band is so essential to understanding Hippies vs. Punks, I have been putting the post off until I feel like I can do it justice.

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