A guy walks up to me and asks 'What's Punk?'.

a genre of music with lyrics attacking conventional society and popular culture. beautiful music to people who truly understand the message and care about the meaning.

Not a style, but a way of life, the music

Not a style, not the music, not attitude but a way of life. Punk is anti-establishment, and always stands up for what it believes.

No-one is more punk than anyone else, if you turn it into a punkness competition then you aren't punk, plain and fucking simple, you're just a dicktard.

Punk Bands: The Clash, The Buzzcocks, The Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, The Circle Jerks, Generation X, Iggy & the Stooges... many more. Look for it and listen.

Three chords and the truth.

Punk rock never died, yet it's often spoiled by nazi boneheads such as gg allin (gotta say he's one hardcore motherfucker though) who claim to be punk but really don't know shit cause punk started off fighting for peace NOT hate. To be "punk" all you have to do is...nothing. You don't take orders from "the man". "Punks" have many different beliefs and are very open minded...that's why nazis don't count. Punks don't judge before they listen. Contrary to popular beliefs, punks CARE. Punks aren't the lazy, careless sods society leads you to believe they are. Punks take action...may it be for animal liberation, anti-war, anti-racism, anti-capitalism, or all of them together.

"I'll tell you about punk rock. Punk rock is a word used by dilettantes and, uh... and, uh... heartless manipulators, about music... that takes up the energies, and the bodies, and the hearts and the souls and the time and the minds, of young men, who give what they have to it, and give everything they have to it. And it's a... it's a term that's based on contempt; it's a term that's based on fashion, style, elitism, satanism, and, everything that's rotten about rock 'n' roll.

I don't know Johnny Rotten... but I'm sure, I'm sure he puts as much blood and sweat into what he does as Sigmund Freud did. You see, what, what sounds to you like a big load of trashy old noise... is in fact... the brilliant music of a genius... myself.
And that music is so powerful, that it's quite beyond my control. And, ah... when I'm in the grips of it, I don't feel pleasure and I don't feel pain, either physically or emotionally. Do you understand what I'm talking about? Have you ever, have you ever felt like that? When you just, when you just, you couldn't feel anything, and you didn't want to either. You know, like that? Do you understand what I'm saying, sir?" - Iggy Pop

quite simply, punk rock is a restoration of the original rebellious youth attitude and simple fundamentals of expession in rock'n'roll music that was first expressed in the 50s by the giants like Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis (especially in his personal life), and others, as opposed to the clean cut image of some of the pop stars that were dominant at the time. In the mid-60s there was the Velvet Underground who influenced punk by their lyrical themes and feedback and more. Then came what are now considered to be the protopunk bands, who took the practice of pushing the envelope that British bands like the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Kinks initiated to even greater lengths in terms of sound, image and rebellious attitude (the Stooges, the MC5, and many other bands). The term "punk rock" possibly was first used by rock critic Dave Marsh in a rockmag in the early 70s to describe the sound of ? and the Mysterians. An independent movement in rock developed as a reaction because the music had become corporate, pompous, bloated, pretentious, artsy-fartsy, and along with Top 40 pop, just plain cruddy and stupid. Bands started playing their songs short, to the point, loud, and fast, often a three-chord arrangement in accordance with the idiom KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). The name "punk rock" was applied to this independent movement in rock, the movement was and still a rebellion against the prevailing fads and trends. It has greatly influenced popular music in the 80s decade and beyond, spawning nascent movements like speed metal, new wave, postpunk, grunge and more in terms of style, sound, image, attitude and much more. Punk rock is anti-corporate, anti-establishment, anti-system and anti-conformity. Current bands like Blink 182 and Good Charlotte are NOT punk rock because they don't really have the original rebellious rock'n'roll spirit, gist or attitude of individuality. Music has gotten so corporate now that we very badly need another rock revolution like punk and we need it fast, before rock's just part of the past. Cuz lately it just sounds the same to me... (all due respect to the Ramones).

music with no boundaries. music with no rules. music from the heart.