broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, lord

I am constantly amazed at how being surround by screaming people shaking fists in the air and thrashing around can make me so incredibly happy and content. I came late to the punk scene, and when I go to shows now, I am so jealous of these young kids who discovered this environment so early in their lives. I can’t imagine what it must be like at that age, and have found a community that shares your passion so outwardly.

I am so in love with feeling completely safe and engaged with ‘the masses’ and having that crowd screaming with fury at a society devoid of so much social justice. People screaming ‘I pledge allegiance to the world/ Searching for vision not invisibility / I pledge allegiance to the world / Nothing more, nothing less than my humanity’. And ‘searching not waiting / for our reaction / don't let them tell you What you cannot be / searching no longer / for our reaction / don't let them tell you who you cannot love’. For me, to be in such a charged environment, surrounded by smelly boys drenched in sweat and wearing hoodies despite the heat, and still be beaming from ear to ear, bouncing and around and screaming myself just blows my mind. I come home unable to hear, with sore feet from standing on my toes and energy flooding through me.  Just amazing.

So often I feel that people with more liberal or accepting views tend to disappear into the background because they try to be nice and don’t get in other people’s faces and demand to be heard. It gives me hope that there are still groups of people who feel passionately about issues that are important to me. It is cathartic for this meek girl who grew up trying to disappear to find herself screaming in a crowd and feeling joy in the aggression. Without the music, this aggression would make me uncomfortable, but when combined with the power of music, ‘broadcast me a joyful noise unto the times, lord’…