This article interested me both from the perspective of co-ordinating
suicide prevention work aimed in part at local young people and I must
confess to having been a 'Goth' in Glasgow, Scotland back in the day (1982
-5).
From my understanding the original scene re-glamourised post punk UK
and it's legacy is still felt in some pretty prolific singers/songwriters
(Nick Cave, Gavin Friday, Siouxsie Sioux, Lydia Lunch, Robert Smith, The
Cocteau Twins - probably all of whom rightly shudder at the term). Like
most 'youth cults' it left a trail of substance use and wreckless sexual
abandon and visually expressed the doom-laden angst that eclipsed young
people in Thatcher's UK at the time. Has history repeated itself?
I'm unsure whether current identification as a 'Goth' relates to this
older term - I observe a current 'gothic look' but am aware of a HUGE
range of musical and cultural influences on this group in Glasgow alone;
Heavy Metal, Metal-Core, Death / Black metal, Emo, Hardcore, Grunge, Post-
rock, Math/tech-metal, Punk, Electroclash etc.
(any reader under 25 is probably cringing right now at my feeble
ramblings). The themes therein range from angst and despair, through
extreme personal pride, to stoned and drunken bliss and onwards to utter
rage. Sounding familiar? Teenage transition & turmoil experiences,
basically.
Either way, as a 'youth cult' it does exactly what it's intended to
do - bond and support young people beyond their family groups, create a
specific and timely language & culture and disturb/offend/perplex the
adult masses with at times transgressive acts and art. I worry that there
could be confusion and assumption here about key 'suicide' figures in
music; Derby Crash (The Germs), Ian Curtis (Joy Division) and Kurt Cobain
(Nirvana) especially - and our assumptions that depressed people making
depressive music equals depressed listeners. Since 1972 the NYC band
'Suicide' have confronted and terrify audiences with a synthesiser and a
microphone, utterly hated for the USE of the word - such is our fear.
Hunter S. Thomson tragically committed suicide last year, how do we now
relate to this great man's books?
I have also observed the ongoing hysteria in mainland Europe as young
'death & black metal' fans occasionally commit horrendous crimes
(murder, infanticide, arson) in small numbers, confirming adults worst
fears about the voodoo-like power of such music. The case of the 'West
Memphis Three' in the USA and the revealing HBO documentaries further
confirm this concern. It is of note, however that 'Gothic' music does not
feature in the 52 songs recently cited as the most depressing ever -
Billy Joel, Phil Collins and The Carpenters do however.
Are these findings concluding that vulnerable young people are self
harming and are DRAWN to this scene or are in greater numbers WITHIN this
group? Either way we must offer more information, support and hope to them
without dismantling, stigmatising and attacking the helpful peer support
element therein. FOSTER youth cult and groups in diversity, while
informing, supporting and valuing young people. My key and eventual
question would be - do we need a specific intervention? Gothbusters
anyone?
Further Unscientific Reading:
'I Hate Myself and Want To Die - the 52 most depressing songs ever
heard' - Tom Reynolds (Sanctuary)
'And the Ass Saw The Angel' - Nick Cave (Penguin)
'Suicide - No Compromise' - David Nobakht (SAF)
'Fear & Loathing - The Strange And Terrible Saga of Hunter S.
Thomson' - Paul Perry (Plexus)
'The Primal Screamer' - Nick Blinko (Spare Change)
'Lexicon Devil - The Fast Times and Short Life of Derby Crash and The
Germs' - Brendan Mullin / Don Bolles / Adam Parfrey (Feral House)
'Gavin Friday - The Light and The Dark' - Caroline Van Oosten De Boer
(Von B Press)
'American Hardcore - A Tribal History' - Steven Blush (Feral House)
'Black Coffee Blues'- Henry Rollins (2.13.61)
'Paradoxia: A Predator's Diary'- Lydia Lunch - Introduction by Hubert
Selby, Jr. (Creation)
'Lords Of Chaos - The Bloody Rise Of the Satanic Metal Underground' -
Michael Moynihan / Didrik Soderlind (Feralouse)
'Bowling For Columbine' - Dir. Michael Moore (2002) Miramax
'Paradise Lost 1 & 2 - The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills' -
HBO Television / Warp Films (2005)
Rapid Response:
Who Ya Gonna Call? - Gothbusters?
This article interested me both from the perspective of co-ordinating
suicide prevention work aimed in part at local young people and I must
confess to having been a 'Goth' in Glasgow, Scotland back in the day (1982
-5).
From my understanding the original scene re-glamourised post punk UK
and it's legacy is still felt in some pretty prolific singers/songwriters
(Nick Cave, Gavin Friday, Siouxsie Sioux, Lydia Lunch, Robert Smith, The
Cocteau Twins - probably all of whom rightly shudder at the term). Like
most 'youth cults' it left a trail of substance use and wreckless sexual
abandon and visually expressed the doom-laden angst that eclipsed young
people in Thatcher's UK at the time. Has history repeated itself?
I'm unsure whether current identification as a 'Goth' relates to this
older term - I observe a current 'gothic look' but am aware of a HUGE
range of musical and cultural influences on this group in Glasgow alone;
Heavy Metal, Metal-Core, Death / Black metal, Emo, Hardcore, Grunge, Post-
rock, Math/tech-metal, Punk, Electroclash etc.
(any reader under 25 is probably cringing right now at my feeble
ramblings). The themes therein range from angst and despair, through
extreme personal pride, to stoned and drunken bliss and onwards to utter
rage. Sounding familiar? Teenage transition & turmoil experiences,
basically.
Either way, as a 'youth cult' it does exactly what it's intended to
do - bond and support young people beyond their family groups, create a
specific and timely language & culture and disturb/offend/perplex the
adult masses with at times transgressive acts and art. I worry that there
could be confusion and assumption here about key 'suicide' figures in
music; Derby Crash (The Germs), Ian Curtis (Joy Division) and Kurt Cobain
(Nirvana) especially - and our assumptions that depressed people making
depressive music equals depressed listeners. Since 1972 the NYC band
'Suicide' have confronted and terrify audiences with a synthesiser and a
microphone, utterly hated for the USE of the word - such is our fear.
Hunter S. Thomson tragically committed suicide last year, how do we now
relate to this great man's books?
I have also observed the ongoing hysteria in mainland Europe as young
'death & black metal' fans occasionally commit horrendous crimes
(murder, infanticide, arson) in small numbers, confirming adults worst
fears about the voodoo-like power of such music. The case of the 'West
Memphis Three' in the USA and the revealing HBO documentaries further
confirm this concern. It is of note, however that 'Gothic' music does not
feature in the 52 songs recently cited as the most depressing ever -
Billy Joel, Phil Collins and The Carpenters do however.
Are these findings concluding that vulnerable young people are self
harming and are DRAWN to this scene or are in greater numbers WITHIN this
group? Either way we must offer more information, support and hope to them
without dismantling, stigmatising and attacking the helpful peer support
element therein. FOSTER youth cult and groups in diversity, while
informing, supporting and valuing young people. My key and eventual
question would be - do we need a specific intervention? Gothbusters
anyone?
Further Unscientific Reading:
'I Hate Myself and Want To Die - the 52 most depressing songs ever
heard' - Tom Reynolds (Sanctuary)
'And the Ass Saw The Angel' - Nick Cave (Penguin)
'Suicide - No Compromise' - David Nobakht (SAF)
'Fear & Loathing - The Strange And Terrible Saga of Hunter S.
Thomson' - Paul Perry (Plexus)
'The Primal Screamer' - Nick Blinko (Spare Change)
'Lexicon Devil - The Fast Times and Short Life of Derby Crash and The
Germs' - Brendan Mullin / Don Bolles / Adam Parfrey (Feral House)
'Gavin Friday - The Light and The Dark' - Caroline Van Oosten De Boer
(Von B Press)
'American Hardcore - A Tribal History' - Steven Blush (Feral House)
'Black Coffee Blues'- Henry Rollins (2.13.61)
'Paradoxia: A Predator's Diary'- Lydia Lunch - Introduction by Hubert
Selby, Jr. (Creation)
'Lords Of Chaos - The Bloody Rise Of the Satanic Metal Underground' -
Michael Moynihan / Didrik Soderlind (Feralouse)
'Bowling For Columbine' - Dir. Michael Moore (2002) Miramax
'Paradise Lost 1 & 2 - The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills' -
HBO Television / Warp Films (2005)
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests