Straight-Edge Generation Gap

My recent post about the Chips Ahoy Oi! commercial got me thinking about my days as a straight-edge guy (back before I discovered how much I enjoy beer). I also noticed that I’m experiencing a bit of a “generation gap” when I think about straight-edge back then and today. So I wrote a little about what I was into back then so the kids who are calling them straight-edge now know where it came from back when it was still coming out of the hardcore scene.

This is where I break into the “back in my day” account; you’ve been warned. When I was in junior high, I was straight-edge without even knowing what that meant. I didn’t get into drugs, drinking or smoking. It didn’t hurt that I was living in a suburb of Boston and a complete outcast at the time, having moved into town just before beginning junior high and unable to break into any of the established cliques. It’s hard to be tempted to drink or do drugs when you don’t have anyone around with access to these kinds of things. Of course, I eventually started making friends with other outcasts, one of whom introduced me to heavy metal. Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” was my first metal album and I listened to it for several days straight until I knew all the lyrics by heart). I began branching out with my musical experimentation and eventually made friends with others in the heavy metal clique. It was through these friends that I was exposed to hardcore music. Boston had a strong hardcore scene in those days and I spent some time as a BMHC guy.

Some of my hardcore friends formed a band called “SuckerPunch” that, although included on one Taang! compilation CD, never really went anywhere. If you own a copy of the Tree CD, “A Lot to Fear”, the drummer of SuckerPunch, Chip Adams, is pictured in the mosh pit photo on the back of the CD (he’s got a big ol’ smile). Some of these guys were also into Oi! music, which is how I recognized what the Chunky Chips Ahoy commercial I mentioned earlier was referencing.

I started attending local and Boston-based shows at clubs like the (now defunct) Bunratty’s and The Channel. It was at these shows that I learned how to mosh in the hardcore style (not the stupid-ass shit I’ve seen since those days where jocks in backwards baseball hats punch people in the face purposefully). It was also during these shows that I met many skinheads and got an inside look at the skinhead world. Several of my friends at the time were skins, although I never subscribed fully to their beliefs (although the concept of racial and cultural pride is something I believe in and something which I believe all people should explore, as pride in your heritage is not exclusionary; it led me to read up on the genealogy of my family, as put together by my grandmother).

It was at these shows and in this subculture that I was exposed to the concept of Straight-Edge. It was a concept that appealed to me, as I did not drink, smoke or do drugs. I assumed the label of “hardcore straight-edge” and wore the X’s on my hands proudly at all the shows I attended. This led to a lot of strife with my close friends, none of whom were particularly into the scene (although several enjoyed the mosh pits) and who enjoyed drinking, smoking and drugs. Suffice it to say, there was a lot of drama that came about primarily because I was hardcore straight-edge and they weren’t, but I was still close friends with them all. My extremism led to a lot of conflict, as most kinds of extremism or fundamentalism do.

The basic concepts behind straight-edge haven’t changed all that much, although they’ve certainly evolved over the years. I’ll always associate my straight-edge years with hardcore music, moshing, thrash-metal and, unfortunately, a lot of drama. Perhaps this is why I’m somewhat dismissive of whiny Dashboard Confessional fans who bracket their screen names with x’s; perhaps I don’t feel they’ve earned the right to wear those X’s. That’s where the whole “back in my day” thing comes into play; the same idea embraced in slightly different ways by two different generations.

Luckily, it doesn’t really matter to me because I left straight-edge behind in college (as many kids do). Those of you who are “true” straight-edge “for life” can feel free to berate me now (assuming any of them actually stumble across this blog).

This entry was posted on Friday, March 03rd, 2006 at 8:11pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.