From a sense of despair can come a sense of purpose and in punk, these two concepts can be intrinsically linked.
Can despair be a good thing? Can we utilise the feelings of angst and turmoil to something productive and ultimately positive for both the individual and the community? Numerous philosophers think so and many punks have demonstrated they agree with them.
There are a lot of emotions associated with punk and maybe despair is not the first one we think of. Anger, yes but not necessarily despair. But, it has been a key part of the punk output since its inception. Because unfortunately, feelings of existential distress are relatively universal and punk in particular has never been a genre to shy away from the nitty gritty of life. Punk has given voice to the feelings inside of us that make us feel like our struggles are insurmountable and that thriving in an oppressive system is a too hard a challenge. Many of the reasons we might be drawn to punk is because it feels like we’re not alone. That feeling of hopelessness that we will likely all experience can be made more palatable when we are facing it with others, or if we know they have gone through it and so we can to.
And whilst we might have a tendency to think our particular brand of despair is something unique and never-felt-before, the reality is humans have been grappling with these feelings for thousands of years.
In the world of philosophy, how we can apply some framework of understanding to these feelings and make sense of them, has been a big preoccupation. Yes sometimes it has been intrinsically linked to religion ( a lot of philosophy is trying to answer questions about god, afterlife, spirituality etc) but there are plenty of philosophers who have said ‘forget about that, what about what’s occuring on Earth in the here and now?’
When you think of which philosophers are associated with the concept of despair, the first one most people think of is Kierkegaard and for good reason. As the ‘father of existentialism’ he wrote 22 books and death was a big theme of his works which then seems obvious that if he’s thinking about that a lot he might be quite bummed out. But it wasn’t just death. He looked around him in society and was annoyed by the smugness of those who think they have everything figured out or those who are happy to busy themselves with what he saw as pointless preoccupations. Kierkegaard saw that once sentimental illusions are stripped away, you can get into some dark frames of mind as the true nature of life and suffering and everything stretched out ahead of you can be pretty overwhelming. He described that feeling of anxiety and angst we can feel when we are paralysed by the amount of decisions we have to make and the possibilities of changing our life. But this dizziness leads to an awareness of the fact we have choices. And it is those choices that shape us. This also ties in with Kierkegaard’s guidance for what we should be choosing- he saw three levels to individual existence and we need to be trying to move from the first one to the third. The first is the aesthetic level, where we make decisions based on pleasure but that phase should end. To be really good human beings, we should get to the next phase which is ethical- a life defined by guidelines. Being entrenched in the first phase just cements your alienation.
Does the above sound familiar? The idea that a truly meaningful and fulfilled life comes with the choices you make, the discipline you apply to your choices, the thought you give your values and your courage to live them out? It should do, as a significant amount of punk does endorse this idea. The uninitiated may think of punk as nihilistic, hedonistic and more a ‘do what you want’ kind of vibe but that’s not the full story. There may be pockets of that throughout punk scenes but there’s many more that seek to provide answers to the question- how can I be a better person for myself and my community?
The 80s US hardcore punk scene is a Kierkegaard dream- serious consideration on the choices we have to make, an acknowledgement of the challenges of life and the feeling of spiralling despair when you reject the materialistic, the shallow and the harmful and need to find a new spiritual home. Creating an ethical structure around you and sticking to it is key, and your own self-discipline is essential. Minor Threat famously sang about their choice to eschew alcohol and drugs and there were ethical reasons behind that. What started as a way of allowing underage punk fans to still attend shows, became a lifestyle for many adherents, an anchor that allowed them to live according to clear and consistent principles.
And those ethics were important. They gave disaffected youth something positive to organise their life around. It was defiant in a subversive way- it was empowering to carve out something positive in a society that only values economic production or your conformity. Particularly in the 80s Reagan years where a strict set of criteria for the ‘All American’ left many feeling shunned by an uncaring society that was moving on without them. The US hardcore scene brought those realities and those thoughts out in the open and sent a message to young people: we feel the same, we’ve got your back. Here’s somewhere you can belong. But it’s not gonna be a free for all where any behaviour s permitted- you are expected to be a positive contributor to this scene.
Black Flag were a key part of that scene and were no strangers to articulating the personal despair that we can all feel. Tracks like ‘Damaged I’ (1981) ‘No Values’ (1982), ‘Nervous Breakdown’ (1982) amongst others spoke of troubled minds and boiling anger and hopelessness. It was anger at the world, impotent rage that circles back to point inwards and become internalised. Heavy stuff, and has the potential to be demoralising.
But on a personal level, it was clear that figures like Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins had not given into hopelessness completely. His physique was evidence that he took looking after his health and body seriously and that he supported a sober lifestyle. He was uncompromising and intense but not in a mindless way. Rebellion for people like Rollins meant not completely acquiescing to the darkness- that’s what a capitalist society wants you to do. Rebel by using the hopelessness as fuel to propel you forward and don’t let it harden you.
Sartre agreed with the idea that we don’t have to be stuck and powerless. He thought that we are free to invent ourselves- we have choices to make about the kind of people we want to be and we hold ultimate responsibility for our identities. The highest good we can aim for is being authentic, and making choices for the right reasons and because we genuinely agree with them. Not because of peer pressure or for money for fame. Motivations the punks would also try and steer you away from.
You can see this strive for authenticity mirrored in punk- in the idea of the ‘sellout’, in the debates that raged within the pages of ‘zines like Maximum Rock N Roll about what punk should stand for and who can call themselves part of this community. And the DIY element of punk- a big part of all punk scenes- is part of that responsibility and choices. Sartre said you may like to think that you are constrained or unduly influenced by external factors when making decisions but ultimately that’s just a hard cope. And it can be said the same in punk- you may say the reason you can’t be in a band is because you can’t get a record deal, don’t have the means to tour etc but if you want something done, you need to do it yourself. Sartre would be a DIY punk for sure.
Karl Jaspers – a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher- wanted to emphasise the importance of community when trying to interrogate our beliefs when seeking truth. He thought that by communicating our ideas and our values to other people, we can build links with others and either solidify our thoughts or explore them if they are healthily challenged. Sharing your ideas in order to inspire others or create healthy debate is something that riot grrrls did with gusto. At riot grrrl gigs, manifestos and ‘zines were handed out, raising awareness of different political causes and encouraging other people to get involved. Sharing those ideas and creating networks of likeminded individuals gave punk a strong philosophical framework that could expand people’s minds beyond just the records they were listening to or gigs they were attending. Any despair that people felt whilst listening to Dead Kennedys or Bikini Kill could be purged by the catharsis of the live show and then the tangible support offered by the community.
Ian MacKaye’s post-Minor Threat outfit Fugazi led by example, building a culture of affordable ticket prices, independent venues and disrupting and calling out bad behaviour in the crowd. In one infamous example in Illinois in 1995, the band told the audience to sit down on the floor and allow the blokes causing a ruckus and ruining it for everyone else to mosh on their own. They soon tuckered themselves out and stopped.
Punk has not sought to deny the human experience, but for many it is about how we then use those difficult periods to create meaning and make us more empathetic to our community, not shut off from them. Russian philosopher Lev Shestov felt despair was the necessary step to progress- that it is penultimate knowledge. We learn through trials and suffering. As Rollins is credited as saying:
“Pain is not my enemy, it is my call to greatness”.
So, when you feel yourself awash with feelings of sadness, anguish or gloom, that’s OK. These are human feelings and you do not need to deny them or push them down. Philosophers like Sartre, Kiekergaard and the existentialists implore you to find lessons and meaning in those deep feelings and punk teaches us to seek human connection. Combine those two things together and we can support each other through even the most challenging times.
Pics for this post taken from Unsplash. Credits (top to bottom): Road Trip With Raj; Cassidy Dickens and Max Bohme.