Let's talk a little bit about hardcore. Not the music genre per se, but rather the adjective itself. Breaking the word into its constituent parts, we find both 'hard' and 'core'. What exactly does their combination imply? Could it be physical toughness, emotional resilience, mental perseverance; or perhaps some combination thereof? I think no matter which characteristics we choose, our forebears far outperform even the most diehard Hatebreed fanatic. Man today is soft. In the developed world at least. He is largely catered to and cared for. Clearly this is not universally true, but the assumption is sufficient enough for my purposes.
Hardcore today is predominantly just a fun game we like to play before returning to the comfort of our cozy beds. Fans of hardcore may not back down from fights or any number of other 'hardcore' activities, but I find such machinations hardly admirable. Imagine instead the fortitude required to scrape out an existence for you and your family amongst the unforgiving wilderness. That was a true test of both body and mind. Granted, however, there are perhaps millions of people struggling to eek a living within our harsh concrete jungles. Which therefore qualifies them by my proposed standards. Yet I hardly think these individuals ascribe to the tenets of hardcore music, which is the issue I mean to take here. I'm really only writing this because the attitudes of genre largely strike me as an act.
My personal vision of hardcore is responsible self-reliance in the face of adversity, not the knuckleheaded stubbornness and war-mongering that lyrics tend to advocate. Homesteading, hunting, fishing, foraging, carpentry, etc. That shit is truly hardcore. No puffy jackets, posses, or flat-brimmed hats allowed. The pre-industrial man was hardcore. Nowadays the concept revolves mostly around misguided attitudes towards conflict and property lines. Despite the fact that it all takes place within the warm embrace of modern society. The music can surely make you feel invincible for its duration, but it's necessary to recognize the fragility of that illusion.
John Muir and his ilk truly represent American hardcore. Just a knapsack, boots, and a steady heart.
As much as I love hardcore music, its cultural baggage has always sort of bothered me. Adherents just takes themselves a little too seriously sometimes. Often without having earned that level of respect. That's all. I can dig the empowerment, self-affirmation and bids for social change however.
Below is the demographic I'm mostly detracting from in this post:
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