Hardcore (the original version)

Sent this e-mail a while ago. Just felt like posting it here.

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I browsed your site today and I did like the site a lot, but it got my brain running, and so I figured I'd write you.

As a Philly "Old head", I think that one thing, above ALL ELSE needs to be understood/said. We had our share of "poseurs" back in the late 70's - early 80's as well... the assholes from the burbs who would come in and shit in our squat, start fights at the shows... the "weekend punks" that flattened the sides of their hair and spiked the middle and called it a hawk, then went home to their moms and swimming pools and Docksiders.

I don't know jack shit about your scene, whether it be revived or brand new, but one thing that was said on your site is the key to ALL of it.

"When people get involved with something like hardcore, they think it is just the music...IT'S A WAY OF LIFE."

Most of the kids on your scene (as it was on my scene) are just that. Kids. Check back with them in 15 years or so and see where they're at then. That's when you find out who was who. It's not the guy who knows all the lyrics to all the songs and the names of all the bands and which member played in which one. It's not the guy with the coolest leather or the tallest hawk, or the largest collection of CDs. That's not the guy who isn't the poseur.

See that little freak sitting over there in the corner that you barely notice? That'll be the one who LIVES it. In 15 years, that person will still be living it, if they're living at all... because once you get into the adult world, and it's not about how tall your hawk is anymore and a cool jacket doesn't pay the rent, you're forced to lose it or live a life that's little more than torture. Knowing the lyrics doesn't put a roof over your head in the winter... and when you hit about 40, no one wants you crashing on their floor anymore.

That little freak in the corner, the one who's at the show because it's the only place they have to go where they don't get the shit kicked out of them. That's the one that's LIVING IT. That's the one that, 15 years from now, will still be living it, if they're living at all. You'll find them in jails, asylums, housing projects, and coffins. The world isn't made for Hardcore people. The world is made for sheep. If you're not a sheep and don't have a REALLY good run of good luck, your Hardcore ass will be pretty cold in the winter and keeping yourself from being locked up will become your only real job in life.

Today it's "cool", but tomorrow... it's COLD.

Yes, stay true to yourself... but there's a reason why they call it HARDcore. If you're not DAMN hard, you won't make it. You'll just be another Joe in a monkey suit who used to hang out with other kids who liked to stand out too.

See past all the noise and the colors. It's ABOUT something. It's about having a HARD CORE.