--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was originally like a punker, know what…" description: "\"I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.\" — Etta James" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg" --- # I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the… ![“I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.” quote by Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg) > “I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.” [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflects a rebellious, edgy identity and quick, intense reactions. **In simple terms:** Adopts a punk attitude with rapid emotional responses. Key Takeaway Channel energy constructively. Themes identity rebellion emotion Mood defiant intense Type personal cultural When to use this quote - music scenes - personal conflicts - creative outlets Key Concepts punk culture selfexpression Questions to Reflect On - What does “spit in a minute” symbolize for you? - How can you temper impulsive reactions? A Different Perspective Such intensity can alienate others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Like Punker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-punker-5501238/) [Like Punks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-punks-1450975/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Minutes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minutes/) [Punk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punk/) [Punker Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punker-know-5501240/) [Punks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punks/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Spit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spit/) [Spit Minute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spit-minute-5501239/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [I like punks who also like Saxon. I guess I am one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gylve-nagell/i-like-punks-who-also-like-saxon-i-guess-i-am-one/) [Gylve Nagell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gylve-nagell/) > [We like to be punks. We like to still be kind of edgy and if being edgy means you might teeter on that line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-aukerman/we-like-to-be-punks-we-like-to-still-be-kind-of-edgy-and-if-being/) [Milo Aukerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-aukerman/) > [Like the punks, we just swept all that tedious '70s Rick Wakeman, artsy-fartsy, yellow bell-bottoms, caftans-and-sandals shit aside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/motorhead/like-the-punks-we-just-swept-all-that-tedious-70s-rick-wakeman-artsy/) [Motorhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/motorhead/) > [In my mind I still qualify as punk, though I know four out of five punks would disagree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-k-samson/in-my-mind-i-still-qualify-as-punk-though-i-know-four-out-of-five/) [John K. Samson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-k-samson/) > [All the serious bands, all the punks, came from Bristol.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-orzabal/all-the-serious-bands-all-the-punks-came-from-bristol/) [Roland Orzabal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-orzabal/) > [We were a small group of weirdos and baby punks and gays and free spirits who had to use our imaginations a lot. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/we-were-a-small-group-of-weirdos-and-baby-punks-and-gays-and-free/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [Never mind the track. The track is for punks. We are Road People. We are Cafe Racers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/never-mind-the-track-the-track-is-for-punks-we-are-road-people-we-are/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [“My interest in comics was scribbled over with a revived, energized passion for clothes, records, and music. I'd wandered in late to the punk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/my-interest-in-comics-was-scribbled-over-with-a-revived-energized/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [The great irony was that the punks were more conservative and narrow-minded and musically bigoted that anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genesis-p-orridge/the-great-irony-was-that-the-punks-were-more-conservative-and-narrow/) [Genesis P-Orridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genesis-p-orridge/) > [Remember all those times I stood by your side, gave you evrything, gave my life, when things got tough, all you did was run,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-hoods/remember-all-those-times-i-stood-by-your-side-gave-you-evrything-gave/) [Mike Hoods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-hoods/) > [Typically, people think, 'Oh the hippies and the punks hated each other,' or that those things don't go together musically. Sometimes that is true,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryce-dessner/typically-people-think-oh-the-hippies-and-the-punks-hated-each-other/) [Bryce Dessner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryce-dessner/) > [I got into punk at 17 after discovering an all-girl band from Long Island on the Internet called The Devotchkas - four crazy-looking girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-nash/i-got-into-punk-at-17-after-discovering-an-all-girl-band-from-long/) [Kate Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-nash/) > [I never understood why the metal heads in my school hated the punks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-dunn/i-never-understood-why-the-metal-heads-in-my-school-hated-the-punks/) [Trevor Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-dunn/) > [“Everyone ate as a group, and a huge cauldron of dumpster-dived gruel bubbled over a campfire, tended by a grubby-handed group of chefs dicing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-power/everyone-ate-as-a-group-and-a-huge-cauldron-of-dumpster-dived-gruel/) [Matthew Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-power/) > [I love punks!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-nash/i-love-punks/) [Kate Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-nash/) ## More by Etta James > [I want a Sunday kind of love A love to last past Saturday night And I’d like to know it’s more than love at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-want-a-sunday-kind-of-love-a-love-to-last-past-saturday-night-and-i/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [It feels so good to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/it-feels-so-good-to-be-happy/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [People that can't stand to listen to the blues, they've got to be phonies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/people-that-can-t-stand-to-listen-to-the-blues-they-ve-got-to-be/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [My mother always wanted me to be glamorous. When I thought about that, it really fired me up, and once I lost all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/my-mother-always-wanted-me-to-be-glamorous-when-i-thought-about-that/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [I talked to the record company about what I had in mind. They said they wanted something lush. I figured the best thing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-talked-to-the-record-company-about-what-i-had-in-mind-they-said/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [Now I can stand up on the stage again like I used to after five years of sitting down while I sang.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/now-i-can-stand-up-on-the-stage-again-like-i-used-to-after-five-years/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [What happens is, when I perform, I'm somewhere else. I go back in time and get in touch with who I really am. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/what-happens-is-when-i-perform-i-m-somewhere-else-i-go-back-in-time/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [The music was thunder and joy. Lightning bolts of happiness and praise, foot-stomping, dance-shouting, good-feeling singing from the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/the-music-was-thunder-and-joy-lightning-bolts-of-happiness-and-praise/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [See, I don't like places where people can't dance - don't like clubs or theatres where a bunch of bourgeois people sit around tip,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/see-i-don-t-like-places-where-people-can-t-dance-don-t-like-clubs-or/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [That's where it begins and ends for me and these songs were the ones that touched me the deepest. It was like I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/that-s-where-it-begins-and-ends-for-me-and-these-songs-were-the-ones/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [You know the one with the big ears? Wait a minute, he ain't my president, he might be yours, he ain't my president. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/you-know-the-one-with-the-big-ears-wait-a-minute-he-ain-t-my/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [Bobby Womack is always very real, both with his music and as a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/bobby-womack-is-always-very-real-both-with-his-music-and-as-a-person/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [I'm not starry eyed, and I'm not money crazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-m-not-starry-eyed-and-i-m-not-money-crazy/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [My mother was a jazz fanatic and she wanted me to play the piano so I could play jazz tunes. I wish I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/my-mother-was-a-jazz-fanatic-and-she-wanted-me-to-play-the-piano-so-i/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) > [They said that Etta James is still vulgar. I said, Oh, how dare them say I'm still vulgar. I'm vulgar because I dance in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/they-said-that-etta-james-is-still-vulgar-i-said-oh-how-dare-them-say/) [Etta James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) [Explore all 62 Etta James quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/) ## More Mean quotes > [That we have the vote means nothing. That we use it in the right way means everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-henry-hoover/that-we-have-the-vote-means-nothing-that-we-use-it-in-the-right-way/) [Lou Henry Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-henry-hoover/) > [The problem posed by indirect speech acts is the problem of how it is possible for the speaker to say one thing and mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-searle/the-problem-posed-by-indirect-speech-acts-is-the-problem-of-how-it-is/) [John Searle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-searle/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [A home is not a museum. It doesn't have to be furnished with Picasso paintings, or Sheraton suites, or Oriental rugs, or Chinese pottery.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-cain/a-home-is-not-a-museum-it-doesn-t-have-to-be-furnished-with-picasso/) [James M. Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-m-cain/) > [I painted the words "GREAT ADVENTURE" in Beijing, Dallas, San Francisco, Copenhagen, and Japan. What it means to me is completely different to everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-eine/i-painted-the-words-great-adventure-in-beijing-dallas-san-francisco/) [Ben Eine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-eine/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [Being blonde, for me, means never having to say: 'I'll have the honey-striped half-head of highlights for £200,' to a bored colourist in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-johnson/being-blonde-for-me-means-never-having-to-say-i-ll-have-the-honey/) [Rachel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-johnson/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. 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Halfway between what it really means and what you'd like it to mean?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonin-scalia/what-is-a-moderate-interpretation-of-the-text-halfway-between-what-it/) [Antonin Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonin-scalia/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [The one means that wins the easiest victory over reason is terror and force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/the-one-means-that-wins-the-easiest-victory-over-reason-is-terror-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. 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Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) [Browse all 33,959 Mean quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Etta James" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what-i-mean-like-the-punks-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Mean" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what-i-mean-like-the-punks-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c37/etta-james-10990_mean_i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what_2313061.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was originally like a punker, know what I mean, like the punks are today, I'd spit in a minute.” — Etta James", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Etta James", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/etta-james/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was originally like a punker,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what-i-mean-like-the-punks-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/etta-james/i-was-originally-like-a-punker-know-what-i-mean-like-the-punks-are/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```