Having an idea is perhaps the most obvious aspect of Punk’s popularity. People need to
have something to say if others are going to listen to them (Butler). If one wants to elicit social
betterment, they need cooperation. Cooperation can only occur when others agree with one’s
preliminary idea. The idea that started Punk was a reaction to their musical predecessors and
general antiauthoritarianism (Hebdige 63). Pre-Punks were annoyed with the
misrepresentation of the middle class by the Glam Rock groups of the time. They therefore
created their own style which used the authentic gritty and insolent mentality of the struggling
middle class youths.
Similarly for Crass, the band’s drummer, Penny Rimbaud, and lead singer, Steve
Ignorant, were listening to Sex Pistol’s song ‘Anarchy in the UK’ (Thompson 311). At one point
in the song, Johnny Rotten, Sex Pistol’s lead singer, says that there is ‘no future.’ Rimbaud
and Ignorant took this statement as a challenge. They believed that there was a future and it
was something that people should fight for. They therefore created their idea: they were going
to form a band that would instigate social change rather than a complete nihilistic separation
from society. Crass proposed ‘Punk’ as something more than simple criminality. It could be
used to instigate actual change of these oppressive institutions. In Crass' unintentional
anthem, “Do They Owe Us a Living,” the audience can easily understand the band’s position:
Fuck the politically minded, here’s something I want to say
about the state of the nation, the way it treats us today.
At school they give you shit, drop you in a pit
You try, you try, you try to get out but you can’t because they’ve fucked you about.
Then you’re a prime example of how you must not be.
This is just a sample of what they’ve done to you and me.
“Do They Owe Us a Living"
Crass leaves no subtlety to their lyrics. They oppose large political systems because the band
believed that these systems mistreated their members. They saw these systems indoctrinate
children to fit one single ideology and subjugated individuals throughout their lives. As a result,
Crass impressed upon people to challenge the system.
This leads to the second key aspect of the band’s success. They resisted. Resistance is
important because, by definition, a subculture needs to be outside of the dominant culture
(Butler). A subculture represents an identified aspect of what is wrong with the mainstream
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