had to get this off my chest, don't read it unless you're bored

I just realized that today is Kurt Cobain’s birthday. He would have been 37 years old.
Maybe I take music a little too seriously, but it works out fantastically for me. It’s in my Top Ten most important things in my life. Taped onto my computer monitor is a fortune from a fortune cookie. It says “Your love of music will be an important part of your life.” I think that goes without saying. My love of music has always been an important part of my life, at least since I was 8 years old. My biggest musical influences are my brother and Kurt Cobain. The things those two taught me formed the basis for my taste in music. Since I got the building blocks from those two, obviously my taste in music has branched out and grown, to the point where I’m not sure either person would have much to do with it. Maybe Kurt Cobain would more than my brother.
I have to stress here that the following rant really isn’t directed at my friends, but it is in response to a lot of the things I’ve been hearing lately. I just have to get it off my chest and respond here to all the idiotic things I’ve heard strangers say.
In the past few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about my personal preferences in music, and how I’m right about everything. Just joking (but not really). The part that’s been bugging me is not the fact that none of my friends really share my opinions (that’s been the case my whole life, and if I expected similarity, I’d never have any friends), it’s the way society in general is largely ignorant of the connections between different types of music, and the things that make them separate from each other. The other thing that bugs me is that the people that do understand the connections (myself included) are so caught up in them that they refuse to see the importance of unity. (Yes, I know I’m as guilty of that as anyone) I can’t even count how many songs I know that talk about unity. It seems to be a central theme in punk rock. In fact, if punk rock had rules, unity would probably be rule #1. That’s not to say that it’s all about the peace and love, because I think it’s pretty clear that there are musical genres that count as being the opposite of punk rock; the anti-punks if you will. They include all forms of hippie rock, classic rock, pop that wasn’t written by the artist, and metal. I can think of at least 3 songs I like that make reference to either killing hippies, bombing hippies, or giving them bloody noses for fun. That’s not the point I want to make however (even though it’s important for people who don’t know that). The central point I’ve been beating around the bush to make here is this: out of the following two groups: 1) punk-based music that should be united, and 2) anti-punk, the genre Indie rock belongs in group 1. Anyone who thinks otherwise, while still eligible to be my friend, is wrong. And you’re probably not very punk rock, no matter what you think about it. If you can’t see that the Cure are more closely related to punk rock than they are to metal, you’re probably not too bright. If you’re not sure that metal deserves a good round stomping 6 days out of the week and twice on Sunday, you’re wrong. If you don’t see that there are worse types of music out in the world than either punk or indie, you deserve the pounding that metal gets. If you aren’t sure that there is crappy punk rock, and crappy indie rock out there, you’re in denial. (Taking Back Sunday, anyone? Louis XIV, anyone?) And if you do see that there’s worse evil out there than whichever of the two (punk or indie) you personally dislike, than you don’t belong in either group. Also, if you think that the term punk only refers to whichever 3 punk bands you pretended you liked once upon a time because your friends did, while you blithely go on listening to all manner anti-punk, you should probably stop arguing. On that same note, if you think that the term indie rock refers to only the likes of the White Stripes, well, you’re not only wrong, but there’s worse evil out there than them too.
I think a huge part of the confusion here is related to the fact that many young kids coming up don’t have any idea of the connections between genres I was talking about earlier. Here’s how I see it (and don’t take it from me, do some reading for yourself, you illiterates): punk and indie are inextricably linked and always will be. Indie rock is the spawn of punk, directly descended from it. It is the most closely related form of music to punk that exists, in fact, with some bands, the line between the two is so blurry, I can’t even make it out. Without punk, there could never have been the fantastic indie bands we’ve seen. If you want evidence of that, comment and I’ll give you the laundry list of facts that back that one up. Without indie (and here I’m referring to the sub-genre of indie that Kurt Cobain started), punk would have gasped it’s last breath in the late 80's as it was being strangled to death by the mulleted, mongoloid fans of metal. If Kurt Cobain hadn’t come and stomped the troglodytes and their crap into oblivion, none of us under the age of 35 would have ever come across it (unless we were blessed with older siblings like I was, or *gasp* punk parents), and if you think otherwise, you’re in denial.
In conclusion, it is time for the punks and the indie rockers to unite, in my book, because we have bigger fish to fry. While I may really hate the fact that some of the young punk bands out there seem to have their influences in all the wrong places (and yeah, some of them really just can’t be called punk. No matter how much I’m in favor of unity, Avril Lavigne and that other Simpson just do not count) it’s time for us older punks to remember that not everyone started out with the best influences, and everyone has to start somewhere. I’m all for unity, and if that means putting up with 14 year olds who like Good Charlotte, then fine. If they’ve got half a brain, they’ll progress to better bands, and if they don’t they’ll pick another direction to follow as they grow up, and leave me alone anyway.
Oh, some of my newer friends might be confused by all of this, because for a few months a couple of years ago, I talked about punk rock, but not as much as I have been in the past 2 years. In case you missed it when I said it earlier, the first time I was introduced to punk was when I was about 16 years old. Admittedly, that is later than it could have been, but give a girl a break, I did live in Montgomery, Alabama. I listened to as much as I could get ahold of at the time, but my sources were limited. Oh, and in addition to that, there is in fact other good music in the world that deserves a listen, or two, or 500. And there are so many good punk and indie bands out there in the world (and the number is constantly increasing) that it would have been impossible for me to have gained an instantaneous knowledge of the entire body of work produced by each and every artist recommended to me by my brother, Kurt Cobain, and every article I ever read. These things take time, and in my case, the journey isn’t a quarter of the way over. I still have a list of bands that I made at the age of 16 or 17 that I haven’t heard yet. And just because I really like the Casualties now, doesn’t mean I ever stopped loving the Smiths, or ever will.