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The other day someone asked me where all the rebels have gone. It seems that when we were younger and getting into music like punk rock, there were a lot of people proclaiming their truths. There were a lot of bands that stood for something. Mostly bands and punks would criticize the earlier hippie movement, saying they had failed or sold out. The punk movement was supposed to pick up where the rebels of the '60s and '70s had left off or "sold out." In some ways, they did. In other ways, they followed suite. They, too, were criticized for failing and selling out by the newer generations of punks or hardcore music fans or whatever latest genre wave was sweeping the music scene at the time.
That is just it. There will always be someone doing more, and there will ultimately be those rebels who run out of gas. So where have the current-day rebels gone? Nowhere.
I say that in such a way that it has two meanings. The first meaning could be that people who consider themselves rebels have actually done nothing for any cause or have not furthered any ideology. The second meaning is that they have actually not gone away. The rebels are still here. They just look a little different from what we'd expect. There are still those who carry a torch. There are still those who organize and rally with others.
Take my friend John "Devil" Turner. He is a NYC MTA bus driver. He and a dozen or so of his fellow workers headed down to New Orleans to lend a hand to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Lou Koller from Sick of It All told me about a benefit they were asked to play; one of many. You can take that up a notch to a more global level and see people like Michael Moore, who writes sardonic letters to President Bush to ask about the relief aid being offered to the very same victims. Or artist Moby, who collects his corporate sponsorship checks and uses large portions of them to support environmental, alternative energy, and animal rights organizations.
Rebels in today's age are more incognito than you think. Take Noah Levine, author of the book Dharma Punks. He suggests that spiritual practice is the "ultimate form of anti-establishment rebellion." Covered in tattoos and teaching meditation, he might be right. In any case, amid the marketing and commercialism and pop culture revolving-door icons of today, we might have to look a little harder to see them, but there are rebels and heroes among us. Ian MacKaye does not wear a cape or stand outside of corporations in protest, but he does still sing his songs of rebellion. With the aesthetic he's lived his life by, it's easy to stand up to companies like Nike when they (mistakenly or not) rip off that lifestyle to market their own brand of pop culture. It is not a surprise that lawsuits are not flying back and forth. MacKaye wants a creative resolution. He's walked the walk and talked the talk for as long as we've been aware of his expressions, musical or otherwise.
Maybe rather than condemn the former rebels of previous generations, it's important to praise and emulate the longevity of the ones who have stayed and systematically offered a method for going against the grain. Whether it's CBGBs owner Hilly Krystal standing up for his rock 'n' roll club or the newest future musician picking up his instrument for the first time, knowing that playing music and inspiring others is what he wants to do, rebels come in many shapes and sizes, ages and colors. They are here. Find them and support them. Hear them out and see what they have to say and do. Hopefully, you'll find some of them in these pages. Hopefully, you might be one yourself.
With a rebel yell,
Gus
gus@chordmagazine.com
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