Punk Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old punk quotes, punk sayings, and punk proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Punk is like not about the style, its about the music! Avril Lavigne
To me, punk is about being an individual and going against the grain and standing up and saying this is who i am. Joey Ramone
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. Billie Joe Armstrong
When punk rock came along, the one thing you were not supposed to be was musical. Nick Lowe
To me, rockabilly music paralleled punk's energy and feeling, but the players were much better. Brian Setzer
Punk is musical freedom. It's saying, doing and playing what you want. In webster's terms, nirvana means freedom from pain, suffering and the external world, and that's pretty close to my definition of punk rock. Kurt Cobain
Punk rock seemed like rock n roll music utterly without the music. Steve Winwood
I think punk rock, especially for me, was a big middle finger to talent. Mike Watt
Punk isn't dead. It will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it. Jello Biafra
I would say that punk rock has non-terminal cancer. It's got a lot of growths on it, but it's not gonna die from it. Mike Burkett
I like music that's offensive. I like it to sound like nails on a blackboard, to get me wild. Iggy Pop
You just pick a chord, go twang, and you've got music Sid Vicious
You can't consciously create something that's important. It's a combination of chemistry, conditions, the environment, everything. Siouxsie Sioux
I was a soul boy before I was punk. James brown and Motown— we related to it because we were kind of blue-collar. Mick Hucknall
Because of the artificial popularity that they have created out of punk rock, they have broken the backs of young people for the next two or three years who really have got some genuine artistry to offer. They will have 'punk' stuck on them, no matter what they do. Ian Anderson
I'm no punk anymore if I ever was. I always stood outside looking in, and always will. Pete Townshend
It ain't punk, it ain't New Wave. It's the next step and the logical progression for groups to move in. Call it what you want—all the terms stink. Just call it rock n' roll. Mick Jones
Music completely changed my life, punk rock made me so much more aware of things that I couldn't believe it. Kurt Cobain
If any of them punk rockers go anywhere near my kit I shall kick them square in the knackers. I got fifteen years in this bloody business and what do these bastards know? Keith Moon
I'm a time traveler. To me, it's all still 1970. I've been moving backward at the speed of light. I think the punk rock thing is rubbish Ian Anderson
Needless to say, it was impossible, even after two nights running of Tina Turner, to miss such a landmark exposition of punk-rock. Dave Marsh
At its best New Wave/punk represents a fundamental and age-old Utopian dream: that if you give people the license to be as outrageous as they want in absolutely any fashion they can dream of, they'll be creative about it, and do something good besides. Lester Bangs
Our culture has become something that is completely and utterly in love with its parent. It's become a notion of boredom that is bought and sold, where nothing will happen except that people will become more and more terrified of tomorrow, because the new continues to look old, and the old will always look cute. Malcolm McLaren
I created Punk for this day and age. Do you see Britney walking around wearing ties and singing punk? Hell no. That's what I do. I'm like a Sid Vicious for a new generation. Avril Lavigne
In reality punk people are usually the gentlest, kindest folks you'll ever know. They're like hippies, only they wear way more black. Kate Rockland
Hardcore without punk isn't music, it's a genre of porn. And punk isn't a genre of music, it’s a thought process. Dominic Owen Mallary
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
Questioning anything and everything, to me, is punk rock. Henry Rollins
When you're thirteen and listening to punk, the aggressive nature of music can sway you to the dark side. Dave Grohl
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