Gothic Music Essay

An influential type of music was called new wave and rock during the 1980's. After some time it branched off into it’s own subgenre, gothic rock. Christa Titus believes that “one Philadelphia-based concert promoter has helped build the scene it serves—in this case, gothic music”. This was one of the many steps taken to promote gothic rock through the decades. Through analysation, I have come to the realisation that this music had played an important role in taking great strides with the development of the Goth subculture, especially during the duration of this era.

Prior to the 1980's, Goth was just a word to describe certain aspects in our society, but at this time no specific group of modern people were called Goth. Many years before this there were dark buildings that are a part of gothic architecture, which spread throughout the country mainly in churches, abbeys and cathedrals. This title was in reference to the barbarous Goths, after they conquered Rome, when they built buildings of the same style. People began to give the label Goth to certain somber music during the late 1970’s, which is known as gothic rock today. In an issue of the library journal Matthew Moyer states, “Few genres are as maligned and caricatured as gothic rock…such an adventurous and vibrant music, whose dark and dramatic sound is borne aloft by brittle, icy guitars and electronics.” This statement shows his opinion of the music clearly as a unique music fit of the label Goth. The Goths from ancient times could be seen as rebellious to structure with their ‘uncivilized actions’, compared to the rest of civilization in that day and age. In relation to the subculture they are a perfect match. These labels by no means were given to a subculture as of yet t...

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...e alongside society. Following this pattern the Goth culture will forever be the stain of our society’s ‘necessary structure’.

In a Rolling Stone issue they said that “Shocking Pinks… DFA, the label co-owned by LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy, snatched up Shocking Pinks, the solo project of ex-Brunettes drummer Nick Harte. The outfit's debut draws on the slow-drone Goth rock of Bauhaus and the dour post-punk of Joy Division, and Harte's mental state matches his sound: The twenty-seven-year-old New Zealander mostly sings about shooting heroin, anticipating the end of the world and (naturally) seeing his therapist” the 1980’s dark music has been influential and has allowed the Goth subculture to fully develop into something no one will ever forget. New bands copy the old and change to the times. Goth is now a subculture that is popular for developing during the 1980’s