"We're not good at propping up old carcasses. We want to be on top of what's vital at any particular time, and not just hold onto something because it has a name"
About this Quote
There’s a punk pragmatism baked into “old carcasses”: a deliberately ugly image that treats legacy as something that can rot, stink, and still be ceremonially wheeled around. Greg Ginn isn’t arguing against history so much as against taxidermy. In a scene that fetishizes “authenticity,” he’s warning that the easiest way to fake being real is to keep repeating the recognizable parts - the name, the logo, the old setlist - long after the spark is gone.
The line does double work. On the surface it’s an anti-nostalgia ethic: stay “on top of what’s vital,” chase the live wire, don’t become your own tribute band. Underneath, it’s a swipe at institutions (labels, scenes, even fanbases) that mistake continuity for relevance. “Because it has a name” is a concise diagnosis of brand gravity: once something is labeled, the label starts doing the living for it. The carcass gets propped up not out of love but out of sunk costs and social proof.
Contextually, this lands as a musician’s defense of restlessness - and a preemptive excuse for difficult pivots. Ginn’s career has been shadowed by the tension between innovation and the expectations attached to a foundational punk identity. The quote stakes a claim: vitality is the only credential that counts, and if the price of that is alienating people who want the past preserved in amber, so be it. It’s not sentimental, but it’s honest about the cultural economy: names sell; life moves.
The line does double work. On the surface it’s an anti-nostalgia ethic: stay “on top of what’s vital,” chase the live wire, don’t become your own tribute band. Underneath, it’s a swipe at institutions (labels, scenes, even fanbases) that mistake continuity for relevance. “Because it has a name” is a concise diagnosis of brand gravity: once something is labeled, the label starts doing the living for it. The carcass gets propped up not out of love but out of sunk costs and social proof.
Contextually, this lands as a musician’s defense of restlessness - and a preemptive excuse for difficult pivots. Ginn’s career has been shadowed by the tension between innovation and the expectations attached to a foundational punk identity. The quote stakes a claim: vitality is the only credential that counts, and if the price of that is alienating people who want the past preserved in amber, so be it. It’s not sentimental, but it’s honest about the cultural economy: names sell; life moves.
Quote Details
| Topic | Letting Go |
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