you little non-punks, get off my lawn

[mrissa]

The hopepunk panel at ConFusion was mostly not about the -punk part at all, but Nisi Shawl's punk past weighed in for a moment, when she talked about doing it all with three chords if that many, not with complex technique, just jumping in and bashing out a song on feeling and momentum.

And I thought...wait...but...

That's not cyberpunk at all.

In a lot of ways the cyberpunk movement and the subsequent -punk movements have meandered around how much they are or aren't living up to punk's rebelliousness, sticking it to the man, going against the establishment, corporatism, whatever else they have identified as punk roots.

But musically. Let's be honest. Three-chords-if-that? Is not an accurate parallel to what cyberpunk was doing. Or any of its heirs.

Do you think they'll get offended if I call them cyberprog? Steamprog?

Can I write some solarprog? Like solarpunk but with lots of obscure chord structure and orchestration?

Should I go back to twitter now? Okay.

Comments

[matt_doyle]

I'm so all about this.

[abracanabra]

This made me laugh because it's true.

[anne]

Ohhh please write solarprog.

[genarti]

AGREED.

[lemon_badgeress]

I definitely think you can and should write solarprog, if the spirit moves you!

[gwynnega]

This is so true.

[kore]

I admit I am more than a little mystified at how '-punk' got affixed to a lot of literary genres. I think it's sort of like how people indicate scandal with '-gate.' But I don't really know what '-punk' is supposed to add.

[mrissa]

Well, as above, it originally was the cyberpunk movement's connection to the punk music movement: their anti-establishment cri de coeur, their anti-corporatism, their fixation on lower-class roots/focus for their characters. The hackers of their stories were supposed to smash the system like a symbolic guitar.

...and then, and ever since then, there's been sort of a push-pull between "this is now the suffix that means 'subgenre'" and "no, we should actually do something with the 'punk' part, I like the system-smashing part, down with the man."

[kore]

the cyberpunk movement's connection to the punk music movement: their anti-establishment cri de coeur, their anti-corporatism, their fixation on lower-class roots/focus for their characters

Yeah, it's just weird to me because cyberpunk is all about tech and neon and the nasent internet, and punk was about....three chords, guitar bass and drum, and the most technologically advanced thing was a safety pin. Yeah that's the stereotype and most bands were using synths right from the start (see: Joy Division), but still, weird.


I should clarify the first cyberpunk story I ever read was "Burning Chrome" in Omni and I probably imprinted on it, hah. (Remember Omni??)

[phantom_wolfboy]

"this is now the suffix that means 'subgenre'"

It's like sticking "-gate" on the end of any scandal. No one remembers why now.

[julian]

While I enjoy you on Twitter, I also enjoy this a lot. (Yes, good, solarprog.)

[thanate]

Works for me.

[ashnistrike]

Solarfolk. Steamgoth. Hopehiphop. Yes. There is potential here.

Nisi Shawl's comment makes me think about folk, though, and Utah Philips talking about the difference between "How Many Roads Must a Man Walk Down?" and "Dump the Bosses Off Your Backs." And the times when you want subtle imagery and complex harmonies, and the times when you want a story that screams what you're feeling as loudly as possible.

[mrissa]

Oh yes.

I think that when I see people criticizing the -punk suffix, about half the time it's "ughhh that again" but about half the time it's "WHY AREN'T YOU SMASHING YOUR GUITAR IN THE FACE OF THE MAN WITH THIS STORY I WANT THAT." Which: fair.