Textual Analysis Of Punk Music

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Music, in the past, has often spelled bad news to society at large. It can challenge norms and invoke a sense of hype in places that modern culture may be uncomfortable with, such as sex, sexuality, and drugs. Personally, when I think of punk music, I see a genre that stands to be individualistic, aggressive, and rebellious. Phrases such as ‘anti-establishment’ also come up. This notion comes from many aspects of punk subculture, including dress, music, performance, and my interpretations. Cohesive experience with punk is not something I possess. In addition, I have not listened to or seen many punk related videos. My lens is very fragile and is subject to change because I have only seen images relating to punk, which shapes nearly the whole …show more content…

As a whole, the song focuses on a rebel girl who enjoys enticing sex from others through her actions and appearance, similar to a prostitute. She is restless, cannot stand being in school or at home, and the authority figures are disappointed and chastise her. The first two lines of the song emphasize this. She also mentions in the 6th ‘stanza’ that the dreams of the other girl’s father fail to make her happy. This stresses a boredom with adult wishes and desires for younger people, restricting them and holding them down from play and expressing themselves. The youth have “teenage blues” and the singer encourages other women to have fun like …show more content…

No conditions apply- the women can be promiscuous and are not the humble girl next door trope. Instead, she is the sultry “fox”. Breaking gender and sexual norms and females dressing in a provocative or masculine manner are not uncommon in my perspective. They can engage in homosexual activities and rebel against authority simply because they want to. The singer is the “wild girl” who does what she pleases.
‘Cherry Bomb’ fits this framework for me, with its raspy, moan-like vocals and lyrics that imply erratic, casual, quite possibly homosexual, and unrestricted sexual activities. She mentions the older generation and her parents in a way that makes her sound unsatisfied and prone to misbehavior. The music itself is filled with vibrancy and youth. Rough messages towards authority and destroying perceptions of proper female behavior through sex feel like the overarching themes in not only this song but aspects found in the punk genre as a

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