| Contents > Conveying the Existentialist World: A Goth Perspective by Heather Simmonds |
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Conveying the Existentialist World: A Goth Perspective
Drawing on lyrical content, as well as the literary, philosophical and cultural influences of relevant philosophers and writers on particular Post Punk bands and musical texts, this paper will look at the way in which notions of perception and existence are explored within Post Punk and Proto-Goth music. This study will examine some of the work of two very different Post Punk bands – stylistically different, and from opposite sides of the world – demonstrating the various representations and aspects of existentialism addressed within Goth, and the role played by perception in the development of a musical genre. That is, the use of direct references to existentialist novels, as well as implicit exploration of existentialist ideologies and concepts such as existential angst, as perceived and conveyed by Post Punk and Proto-Goth bands.
Goth is a subculture which is based around the musical genre of the same name. As a subculture, Goth is generally considered to have its origins in the UK Punk scene, although it has arguably come into being simultaneously in Europe, America and Australasia, which is evident in its development as a musical genre. A middle class movement, Goth, like its predecessor Post Punk, tends to put much value on literary knowledge 1. As such, these influences are evident in the music, whether through lyrics that include direct references to literary works, or by simply drawing on more general themes. Musically, Goth arose from the Post Punk music of the late 1970s and is typified by driving basslines, jangly guitars, and tribal or electronic drumming (Tingle, n.d.), with a general preference towards the use of minor keys and a sparse production. Its lyrical themes tend to revolve around love, death, loss, and destruction, often drawing on literary Gothic influences (Gunn, 1999). In addition to this, the exploration of existentialist ideas is common throughout the genre, continuing themes explored by Post Punk/Proto-Goth bands.
As Walter Kaufmann (1956) explains, “existentialism is not a philosophy but a label for several widely different revolts against traditional philosophy” (Kaufmann, p. 11). He goes on to state that it is “not a school of thought, nor reducible to any set of tenets” (ibid.). Furthermore, the major existential writers disagree on various points, meaning that providing any kind of brief explanation existentialism is near impossible. Instead, I turn to two dictionary definitions.
The Macquarie Dictionary (1982, p.426) defines existentialism as:
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any of a group of doctrines, some theistic, some atheistic, deriving from Kierkegaard, which stress the importance of existence, as such, and of the freedom and responsibility of the finite human individual.
The American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (2007) explains that existentialism is:
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a movement in twentieth-century literature and philosophy, with some forerunners in earlier centuries. Existentialism stresses that people are entirely free and therefore responsible for what they make of themselves. With this responsibility comes a profound anguish or dread. Søren Kierkegaard and Feodor Dostoevsky in the nineteenth century, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Albert Camus in the twentieth century, were existentialist writers.
This “existential anguish or dread” (ibid.) – often simply referred to as ‘existential angst’ – plays a significant role in Goth music. Rather than focusing on existentialism itself, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the way in which such ideas are perceived and conveyed through the music of Post Punk and early Goth bands, beginning with an Australian band called The Birthday Party. This band, including front man Nick Cave, formed in Melbourne in the mid-1970s and began playing under the name of The Boys Next Door in 1977 (Hanson, 2005, p. 8-13). In 1980, the band travelled to England and changed its name to The Birthday Party (ibid. p, 21). The name was inspired by a scene in Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment 2 (1866, p. 369), which was not in fact a birthday party, but rather a funeral dinner mistaken for a birthday party (Johnston, 1995, p. 65). The influence of Dostoyevsky’s writing, and in particular Crime and Punishment, is not limited to the name of this band and can be found throughout the work of Nick Cave.
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| Contents > Conveying the Existentialist World: A Goth Perspective by Heather Simmonds |