‘Talking about my generation’ is a phrase that would nowadays inspire thoughts of selfies and narcissism. The profound lyrics of Pete Townsend would fall on the ears of those who are ignorantly tuned into pop, and the term Punk probably reminds them of a print in Primark. But what happened to our innovators? What happened to anti- establishment ideologies and music that pissed people off on purpose?

We still have the mentality within us. It sits right next to the part of us that hates the conformity that we have accustomed ourselves to. Tap in, tap out, check in, upload, like, swipe, poke, and inevitably choke on the unnecessary bullshit of it all. We should be wearing our Dr Martens and remembering where they came from and who wore them before us. Punk isn’t the guy with the pink mohican. Punk is the nine year old who says no to gymnastics because she likes rugby. We hold it within each of us to follow those who hitched a ride nowhere. Punk shouldn’t be perceived as a shallow cliché, we should be able to type it into Google and see recent images of those who hear and feel the same resounding messages daily. Those who believe in themselves, and the movement that transcended conformist that Britain had become at a time of the repression. Where have we gone? We seem to have turned off at a time when we should be entirely turned on.

Has 2016 marked the point whereby Punk has become merely a shallow cliché? A memory that we barely hold any meaning to, or is the meaning of it still strong in our hearts? We see people wearing Dr Martens because of their image, but what about their soul? What about the history and strength that they represent? I long to ask the guy on the street with the pink mohican what his beliefs are other than “fuck you”. Does he stand up for himself and those around him with the mentality of bettering our society, or will he merely disintegrate into a wasted history?

The mentality of Punk has seemingly disappeared but it’s impossible to state that it died, because its meaning transcends us as people everyday. We have the collective capability to remember where it once was. It’s in our bones yet they are currently bare; carefully being manipulated into a structure much like most of London’s pretentious new infrastructure- boring. Yet, we are not boring individuals. We are just bored. Bored of TV’s incessant blinking. Bored of reading a magazine, which tells us how to look, eat, and make others want us. Bored. Bored of how switched off we are. If we took a moment to open our eyes to the true potential of our surroundings, peers, and ourselves- we would be back to our Punk roots. Punk used to be to say “Fuck You” to normality, yes. But now it has morphed into more of an enlightened state of mind. A strong debate. A mindful capability to embrace what we have and disrupt its canvas. Splatter paint upon the bland, and transcend the barriers we appear to be restricted by.

Punk isn’t a shallow cliché, and we need to remember that. It’s a beautiful mentality that we must wear just as often as we wear our leathers.

By Kelly Macbeth Mackay