32 Best Punk Quotes For Budding Rockers
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Punk (traditionally known as punk rock) is a sub-genre of rock music that became extremely popular in the '70s.
Punk rock can be easily differentiated from other genres by its characteristic hard-hitting lyrics and fast-paced tempo. Having its roots in the garage bands of the '60s, with growing public appreciation, it became a large-scale movement in the '70s.
The iconic band, The Sex Pistols, is believed by many to have started the Punk movement in the UK. The second wave of punk music hit the mainstream during the last decade of the last century, with the formation of bands like Green Day and Blink-182, who became extremely popular among punk listeners.
If you love punk rock music be sure to check these love punk quotes. If you find these punk quotes interesting then do check out these rock and roll quotes and Joe Strummer quotes too.
The Best Punk Rock Quotes
Are you ready to discover the best punk quotes? Listed below are some of the finest punk rock quotes, including pop-punk quotes, punk rock quotes on love and friends. You will also find Billie Joe Armstrong's famous quote on what is punk along with Michael Clifford's quote on being punk rock among these punk quotes!
1. "Punk rock should mean freedom, liking and excepting anything that you like. Playing whatever you want. As sloppy as you want. As long as it's good and it has passion.”
- Kurt Cobain.
2. "Where there is young people and vitality, you're going to find punk rock."
- Henry Rollins.
3. "Punk is like looking at a mirror. I already have a mirror so I don't need the offspring to remind me how gorgeous I am."
- John Lydon.
4. "A lot of punk rock is not going to be in the mainstream. It's below the radar. The beauty of it is that you're not supposed to always know. It's subterranean."
5. "Punk rock has become another viable art form. It always was. But now it's like everyone's doing it."
- Tre Cool.
6. "When punk rock happened, it created an opening in the culture... it made it OK to think you could play music, even though you had no musical training."
- Kim Gordon.
7. "To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It's freedom."
- Patti Smith.
8. "I do what I want – I'm punk rock."
- Michael Clifford.
9. "Punk has always been about doing things your own way. What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality."
- Billie Joe Armstrong.
10. "Punk to me was a form of free speech. It was a moment when suddenly all kinds of strange voices that no reasonable person could ever have expected to hear in public were being heard all over the place."
- Greil Marcus.
11. "I don't think punk ever really dies, because punk rock attitude can never die."
- Billy Idol.
Famous Punk Rock Quotes
Here you will some of the most famous punk rock quotes all about the famed punk ideology. Why not share these famous punk quotes with your friends? Look out for some 'SLC Punk' quotes too from the famous punk film!
12. "I've always been spiritual but I've never had a proper context, and it took me a while to find the proper context. It's hard to realize you can have any kind of relationship with God you want... and so I now have a punk rock relationship with God."
- Billy Corgan.
13. "Music never leaves you alone, and punk rock will always be there when nothing else will."
- Pete Wentz.
14. "I dropped out of high school and I couldn't go to college 'cause I wasn't smart enough, so I'd resigned myself to loading trucks and playing punk rock on the weekends."
- Dave Grohl.
15. "Punk rock has never really had much patience with musical virtuosity. Actually, it'd be more accurate to say that for most of its history, punk has been actively hostile to virtuosity."
- James Surowiecki.
16. "Punk rock was the tsunami that threatened to drown us all in 1977."
- Pete Townshend.
17. "Punk rock is a word used by dilettantes and heartless manipulators about music that takes up the energies, the bodies, the hearts, the souls, the time and the minds of young men who give everything they have to it."
- Iggy Pop.
18. "Punk rock isn't something you grow out of. Punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is 'give us some truth.'"
- Joe Strummer.
19. "The thing about punk is that there are purists. Once you start going outside of that, they don't think what you're doing is punk rock."
- Billie Joe Armstrong.
20. "Punk rock is very rebellious, of course, but it also means thinking for yourself."
- Dexter Holland.
21. "In a country of lost souls rebellion comes hard."
- Stevo, 'SLC Punk!'.
The Best Punk Rock Song Quotes
Here you will find the best punk rock quotes and punk quotes along with quotes from punk rock songs. Which quote is your favorite punk lyric?
22. "Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy."
- Sex Pistols, ‘God Save The Queen’.
23. "I want to take you through
A wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise."
- Green Day, ‘Welcome To Paradise’.
24. "I don't need to be a global citizen
'Cause I'm blessed by nationality
I'm a member of a growing populace."
- Bad Religion, ‘American Jesus’.
25. "I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire."
- Talking Heads, ‘Psycho Killer’.
26. "Don't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?"
- Green Day, ‘American Idiot’.
27. "They're piling in the back seat
They're generating steam heat
Pulsating to the back beat
The blitzkrieg bop."
- Ramones, ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’.
28. "London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared and battle come down
London calling to the underworld."
- The Clash, ‘London Calling’.
29. "Anarchy for the U.K.
It's coming sometime and maybe
I give a wrong time, stop a traffic line."
- Sex Pistols, ‘Anarchy In The UK’.
30. "Efficiency and progress is ours once more
Now that we have the neutron bomb
It's nice and quick and clean and gets things done."
- Dead Kennedys, ‘Kill The Poor’.
31. "All the power's in the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street
Too chicken to even try it."
- The Clash, ‘White Riot’.
32. "I heard you crying loud, all the way across town
Cause you been searching for that someone
And it's me out on the prowl
As you sit around feeling sorry for yourself."
- Green Day, ‘When I Come Around’.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for punk quotes then why not take a look at these funny music quotes or heavy metal quotes too?
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature.
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