Thoreau, Punk, & Music as Culture

The merging of a musical style and a philosophical movement is not unprecedented, and the connection between the concepts is actually a fairly obvious and significant part of cultural scholarship. In the book Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock-n-Roll, esteemed writer, critic, and music historian Greil Marcus explores American culture through its music, a distinction which is integral to understanding the uniquely American voice and the genre of music that grew from that foundation. In explaining his goal of writing the book, Marcus notes, “It is an attempt to broaden the context in which the music is heard; to deal with rock-n-roll not as youth culture or counterculture but simply as American culture.” 

The symmetry between those ideas and cultural markers is integral to understanding the connection between an early nineteenth century philosopher and a late twentieth century music scene. Art is never created in a vacuum, and few critics or scholars would deny that environmental factors play a role in the development of music, paintings, books, and other cultural artifacts. Art is of the zeitgeist, and in this case, as Kevin Dunn asserts in the book Global Punk: Resistance & Rebellion in Everyday Life, “Punk sprang from a … social context [of] … alienation from social, economic, and political forces around them.” 

Clearly, similarities in both social influences and artistic reaction can be seen in the writings of Henry David Thoreau and the songs, styles, and scenes of punk.