shellbournian wrote:Incoming rant...
I'm sick of kids that don't understand that hardcore punk and straight edge are separate issues entirely. It was "Wine, Women and Song" up until 1977, when it became "Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll" and now it's "Beer, Bitches and Breakdowns." These things belong together. "Straight edge bands" are a disgrace to not only rock n roll, but all Western tonal music since the Baroque era.
And to get back on topic, stretching your ears has even LESS to do with straight edge. Straight edge came from the belief among SOME people in the early punk scene that the government was going to control their minds through the use of illicit drugs. It only came to extend to promiscuity later on once the punk movement had already lost all meaning. So you can tell those "elitists" that they don't even know the history of their own music.
These damn kids wouldn't even know what straight edge was if they didn't look up hardcore punk on the internet and find out about Minor Threat. Bunch of posers, if you ask me.
By the way, I'm not saying that you're not a real rocker unless you drink beer and smoke pot, but rock n roll has always been about acceptance and community. Excluding some people from your secret club because of their personal choices is stupid. Especially since the majority of artists (not only in music) that have enriched all of our lives for the past thousand years or so WERE/ARE users. Fact.
/end rant
I do agree with you to a certain extent. Some kids (including myself) found out about the straight edge lifestyle through reading or documentaries (I've known about it since i was in 6th grade, been into punk rock since 4th grade... got into old school hardcore punk in 5th grade.) and since I don't want to be like family members of mine I went straight edge (i had struggled with a pain killer addiction for a while and I've been sober since my freshman year when i became edge).
I don't have a problem with people drinking or smoking, i just want to live a healthy lifestyle and set a good example for my siblings and others who may have gone through addiction. I have friends that smoke and drink, in fact the keyboardist/synth-ist in a band i was in was a huge pot head. Great guy, i love him to death, and i didn't think different of him just cuz he liked to smoke. its just not for me.
Also most "Legendary and Classic" albums would never have existed without drugs. Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, The Beatle's Sgt Peppers, and a bunch of other albums would never have come to be if they hadn't been high. I'm not straight edge because its trendy or its "in", I'm in it because I just want to do whats best for my body and for me, and that just is to abstain from drugs and alcohol... and about the sex thing... I'm in no way a virgin lol. i don't have permiscuous (spelling??) sex but I'm not a virgin lol.
These guys were just being dicks and were posers. Modding isn't a club, its a way of expression and just like they have the right to express their belief that SxE kids can't mod, everyone no matter who has the right to mod, as it is a way to express yourself.
What a lot of people need to realize is that if they want to be respected, they have to respect other people and their choices. If SxE kids want to be respected, they have to respect non edge people as well. Its just common sense. Personally idk why someone would get so pissed off whether someone did drink or smoke or didn't. its not that big of a deal. I'm honestly the only straight edge person in my group of friends, but because I show respect and I get respect back. I mean sure I do get teased in a playful way by some of my friends, but its all in good fun.
Anyway, yeah I agree with a lot of what your saying and you make very valid points... btw i agree that most straight edge hardcore bands aren't that good. I've yet to find one (besides minor threat obviously) that isn't terrible or cliche.