Straight Edge is the OG of the self-Improvement world.
How the rebellious hardcore punks of the 80s turned the stereotypes onto there heads and led a healthier lifestyle than their rock n roll counterparts
When you hear the term hardcore punk, what's the first image that comes to your head?
Probably crazy colorful spiked hair, studded jackets, covered in tattoos, drug taking, cigarette smoking assholes who hate everyone that isn’t one of them or apart of the scene.
Well what if I were to tell you that there is another side to hardcore that involved no drugs, no drinking, no smoking and in some cases going to the extremes of no promiscuous sexual activity and adhering to a vegetarian or vegan diet?
Your probably sitting scratching your head thinking “what? that doesn't sound like a hardcore punk. that just sounds like some weird hippy dippy guy in Birkenstocks who lives in his van and has a pet goat”
Well I'm here to open your world view to the straight edge lifestyle. the rebels who rebelled against the vices and modern day addictions that fueled the sex, drugs and rock n roll of the generations before them and how they were the original guys and gals who were on self-improvement before it was cool.
The origins of straight edge 1980–1990
For this we need to go all the way back to 1980 when a hardcore punk band named minor threat started.
A song from their first EP called “straight edge” inadvertently started a movement the band never intended on starting.
at only 46 seconds long, its fast, angry and straight to the point, it inspired a generation of punks to leave a life of vices and dangerous substances to focus on clean and sober living.
the lyrics are as follows:
I’m a person just like you
But I’ve got better things to do
Than sit around and fuck my head
Hang out with the living dead
Snort white shit up my nose
Pass out at the shows
I don’t even think about speed
That’s something I just don’t needI’ve gone straight edge
I’m a person just like you
But I’ve got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
Because I know that I can cope
Laugh at the thought of eating ludes
Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never want to use a crutchI’ve gone straight edge
I’ve gone straight edge
I’ve gone straight edge
I’ve gone straight edge
From then on fans began to live the straight edge lifestyle.
It also inspired a whole new generation of hardcore punk bands where there entire lyrical content and theme centered around this lifestyle and included vegetarianism and veganism during the mid 80s
As a side note, A lot of the bands that identified as straight edge didn’t always have members of the band who followed this lifestyle, Some of the bands over the course of their musical careers dropped the title of a straight edge and continued making music less focused on the lifestyle.
Symbolism of straight edge
When it comes to the symbolism, most people who are straight edge wear a large X on the back of their hands.
This originated from bars that held all age hardcore punk shows.
The X was a symbol for the bartenders to not serve them alcohol as it showed they were under the legal drinking age.
This later became the symbol of the straight edge life as it was used to show that they don’t partake in the vices mentioned above.
According to a series of interviews by journalist Michael Azerrad, the straight edge X can be traced to the Teen Idles’ brief West Coast tour in 1980.
The band’s members were scheduled to play at San Francisco’s Mabuhay Gardens, but when they arrived, club management discovered that they were all under the legal drinking age and would be denied entry to the club.
As a compromise, management marked each of the members’ hands with a large black X as a warning to the club’s staff not to serve alcohol to the band.
Upon returning to Washington, D.C., the band suggested this same system to local clubs as a means to allow teenagers in to see musical performances without being served alcohol.
The Teen Idles released a record in 1980 called Minor Disturbance with the cover shot being two hands with black Xs on the back.
The mark soon became associated with the straight edge lifestyle.It can also be used by drinking establishments to note a patron as under the drinking age, regardless of their views towards drugs such as alcohol.
Youth crew era, mid 80s
Youth crew was most popular from 1986 to 1992, primarily in New York City tri-state region and, to a lesser degree, California.
It was inspired by bands such as 7 Seconds, Minor Threat and SSD, whose members were all straight edge, and lyrical concerns included brotherhood and community values.
The branches of straight edge that came about during this era seemed to originate from ideas presented in songs, and many youth crew bands had a strong heavy metal influence.
Notable youth crew bands included: Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Bold, Chain of Strength, Turning Point, Uniform Choice, and Slapshot.
In the mid-1980s, the band Youth of Today became associated with the straight edge movement, and their song “Youth Crew” expressed a desire to unite the scene into a movement.
Vegetarianism became an important theme in straight edge during this era, Starting with Youth of Today’s 1988 song “No More”, which contained lyrics condemning the consumption of meat.
This trend toward animal rights and veganism within the straight edge movement reached its peak in the 1990s
Straight edge into the 90s
By the early 1990s, straight edge became a well-known part of the wider punk and DIY scene and underwent musical and political shifts.
In the early part of the decade, a number of straight edge punks and their bands picked up on the vegetarian and other social justice politics of the mid-1980s and began comprehensively advocating for social justice, animal liberation, veganism, and straight edge.
During this period, the straight edge scene birthed two major offshoots: the more conservative hardline and the religiously influenced Krishna Consciousness.
The hardline scene was even more extreme than typical straight edge.
while it maintained its roots in militant vegan straight edge, it also had some….not so nice beliefs along with it.
Anti-homosexuality, Anti-abortion, Anti-birth control were also apart of the hardline lifestyle along with avoiding Pornography and masturbation
This appeal to the orientation of the punk and hardcore scenes met with little success, and the topics of abortion and homosexuality have always been sources of tension between hardliners and their subcultural cousins.
While the majority of straight edge punks and Hare Krishna converts were pacifists, those influenced by hardline showed a willingness to resort to violence to promote their subculture.
Musically, the straight edge scene increasingly was drawing from heavy metal and was a founding influence on metalcore.
Straight edge into the 00s
By the beginning of the 2000s, only small groups of militant straight edge individuals remained.
Contrary to news reports that portrayed straight edge as a gang, several studies have shown that straight edge individuals as a whole are mostly peaceful people.
In the 2000s, there was a growing amount of tolerance of people who do not follow the straight edge lifestyle by straight edge individuals.
The musical styles evolved over time, people got older and slowly faded from the straight edge life leaving only the dedicated few remaining.
Some notable straight edge people
The list for famous individuals who are straight edge was surprisingly large.
From the rapper Tyler the creator who follows this lifestyle for health reasons.
to Hardcore punk vocalist Toby morse of H2O who has never even tried a drug or had a drop of alcohol in his 53 years of existence while following a strict plant based vegan diet and no caffeine! he was scared off of the idea from his brothers at 13 (more from rich roll’s podcast with him here)
The list goes on. does everyone who follows a straight edge lifestyle listen to the music?
Absolutely not. nor should they if they chose that route.
The lifestyle itself can exist on its own separate from the aggressive music its associated with in my personal opinion.
Of course there's some sour apples amongst the batch who would say otherwise but who are they to say what you can or can’t label yourself as?
What are the shows like?
Enough of the history dump, what do the shows themselves look like?
Well well well I'm glad you asked!
The music itself is usually angry, loud and fast to describe it to any outsiders which usually transfers itself to the crowd causing some pretty gnarly mosh pits from my personal experience.
I wasn't at this show but I wish I was. This is a hardcore band called speed from Australia that played in my city last week, I've never seen this venue as crazy as it was in this video. (not a straight edge band but the crowd has some straight edge folks amongst the chaos)
As you can see the music has never been more alive and well!!
While yes the shows have pretty violent mosh pits usually involving slam dancing, punching and spin kicks with some 2 step thrown into the mix (watch the crowd to see what I mean)
Most of the people are pretty cool to hang around with since people at these shows already knew what they were getting involved with once they get there.
If a new person whos being introduced to the music and scene gets thrown into a pit like those ones from there friends against there will they need to find new friends because that's a dick move lol.
I personally have being going to hardcore and various subgenres of metal shows for nearly 10 years now and whenever new people come check out what all the hype is about.
firstly I tell them to find earplugs where ever they can because respect your ears!!!
Once they are damaged the likelihood of fixing them is basically 0 so take care of them first and foremost.
Secondly DO NOT stand in the pit area unless you are willing to get hit, punched, kicked or landed on from stage divers. The people who throw down as its called are always at shows weather its 5 of them or 100, they always occupy the front area of the crowd near the stage.
Third is just have fun. rock out to the music on the side of the crowd or wherever you're standing (if you’re bold enough you can go into the pit area at your own risk and throw down with the other hardcore guys and gals)
Conclusion
Is this the lifestyle for everyone? probably not
Should everyone at least try the basic straight edge lifestyle (no drugs, booze or cigarettes) for 30 days? I'm sure it wouldn’t hurt most people (unless you have a serious alcohol problem which is fatal when stopped cold turkey so probably talk to a doctor before doing that)
Am i going to judge those who choose to drink or take drugs of there choice? hell no, what good would that do pushing my views onto other people?
I would suggest it at most if it came up in conversation but I would never push people to do it unless they came to the conclusion and choice that it would possibly benefit them in some way.
The entire point of the straight edge life (in my opinion) is the idea of rebelling against modern vices and crutches of life.
To rebel in the pursuit of self-improvement and bettering ones self against the dangerous substances that are out there that are so commonly advertised on billboards around cities.
I my self have been straight edge my whole life. I've never smoked cigarettes, I can count the amount of times I've been drunk on 1 hand since becoming old enough to drink (19–25) and the amount of times being high is less than booze.
I have been actively no drink for a few years now since I turned 25 and now I'm starting to experiment with vegetarian and vegan food to eat less meat since it hasn’t been sitting well for the last few months. (yay Crohn’s disease….)
Ultimately its down to the individual if they wanted to try out this way of living for themselves. It sure would help against the side effects of drinking and drug use but hey, you do you at the end of the day.
Although I don’t throw the straight edge title around when offered a drink or a puff of a joint, I usually just decline saying “no thanks I don’t do that” or “Ill take a water” when offered beer at shows.
The title of straight edge is seen as cringe in the scene today which I am still trying to figure out why? its not seen as cringe in the hardcore world but more so the metal world as its common to drink and smoke a lot so it depends on the scene you involve yourself in.
I'm still going to actively be apart of the metal world because the music as awesome regardless of the fan base at these shows who are usually wasted by the end of the first bands set from the last couple I have been to haha.
If having a few glasses of wine at dinner is your thing, have at it.
Like slamming beers with the lads on the weekends? knock yourself out
BUT always be aware of the consequences of your actions as you get older because it'll be harder to reverse the older you get and longer you have been doing whatever habits it is you do.
I don’t think being straight edge is a gang as the late 90's early 00’s news channels suggested. I see it as a dedicated group of young/middle age people who are extremely passionate about living a sober life free from mind altering substances, which is very rare to find these kind of people these days.
As Ian MacKaye screamed in the 1980s “IVE GONE STRAIGHT EDGE”
Will you be the next to claim the title?