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126 Rock Music Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Rock music has been a powerful force in the music industry for decades, influencing countless artists and capturing the hearts of millions of fans around the world. With its high-energy beats, electrifying guitar solos, and raw, emotive lyrics, rock music has the ability to evoke strong emotions and create lasting memories.

If you're a student or writer looking for inspiration for your next essay on rock music, look no further. In this article, we have compiled a list of 126 rock music essay topic ideas and examples to help you get started on your next writing project. Whether you're interested in exploring the history of rock music, analyzing the impact of a specific band or artist, or discussing the cultural significance of rock music, there's a topic on this list to suit your interests.

The origins of rock music
The evolution of rock music genres
The influence of blues music on rock music
The impact of the Beatles on rock music
The rise of punk rock in the 1970s
The role of women in rock music
The cultural significance of rock music in the 1960s
The influence of technology on rock music production
The role of social media in promoting rock music
The impact of rock music on youth culture
The legacy of Jimi Hendrix in rock music history
The influence of psychedelic rock on modern music
The rise of grunge music in the 1990s
The impact of MTV on the popularity of rock music
The role of rock music in political activism
The influence of folk music on rock music
The impact of drugs and alcohol on rock music culture
The role of fashion in rock music
The evolution of rock music festivals
The influence of hip-hop on rock music
The rise of garage rock bands in the 2000s
The impact of streaming services on the rock music industry
The role of nostalgia in the popularity of classic rock music
The influence of electronic music on rock music production
The legacy of Kurt Cobain in rock music history
The rise of indie rock bands in the 2010s
The impact of social movements on rock music lyrics
The role of gender and sexuality in rock music
The influence of world music on rock music
The evolution of rock music album covers
The impact of music videos on the success of rock bands
The role of radio in promoting rock music
The influence of literature on rock music lyrics
The rise of alternative rock in the 1980s
The impact of commercialism on rock music
The role of record labels in shaping the sound of rock music
The influence of technology on live rock music performances
The legacy of David Bowie in rock music history
The rise of emo rock bands in the 2000s
The impact of music streaming platforms on the rock music industry
The role of fan communities in supporting rock bands
The influence of fashion on rock music culture
The evolution of rock music merchandise
The impact of social media influencers on the success of rock bands
The role of nostalgia in the popularity of classic rock bands
The legacy of Freddie Mercury in rock music history
The rise of pop rock bands in the 2010s
The legacy of Jim Morrison in rock music history
The rise of punk rock bands in the 2000s
The legacy of Janis Joplin in rock music history
The rise of folk rock bands in the 2010s
The rise of indie rock in the 1980s
The legacy of Amy Winehouse in rock music history
The rise of metalcore bands in the 2000s
The legacy of Prince in rock music history
The rise of synth-pop bands in the 2010s
The rise of post-punk bands in the 1980s
The rise of pop punk bands in the 2000s
The legacy of Elvis Presley in rock music history
The rise of Americana bands in the 2010s
The rise of new wave bands in the 1980s
The legacy of Michael Jackson in rock music history

Whether you're writing an essay for a music history class, a blog post for a music website, or simply exploring your own passion for rock music, these 126 topic ideas and examples are sure to inspire you to delve deeper into the world of rock music. So pick a topic that interests you, grab your favorite rock album, and get ready to rock out with your writing!

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Guide on How to Write a Music Essay: Topics and Examples

Let's Understand What is Music Essay

You know how some school assignments are fun to write by default, right? When students see them on the course syllabus, they feel less like a burden and more like a guaranteed pleasure. They are about our interests and hobbies and therefore feel innate and intuitive to write. They are easy to navigate, and interesting topic ideas just pop into your head without much trouble.

Music essays belong to the category of fun essay writing. What is music essay? Anything from in-depth analysis to personal thoughts put into words and then to paper can fall into a music essay category. An essay about music can cover a wide range of topics, including music history, theory, social impact, significance, and musical review. It can be an analytical essay about any music genre, musical instruments, or today's music industry.

Don't get us wrong, you will still need to do extensive research to connect your opinions to a broader context, and you can't step out of academic writing standards, but the essay writing process will be fun.

In this article, our custom essay writing service is going to guide you through every step of writing an excellent music essay. You can draw inspiration from the list of music essay topics that our team prepared, and later on, you will learn what an outstanding essay on music is by an example of a music review essay.

What are Some Music Topics to Write About

There are so many exciting music topics to write about. We would have trouble choosing one. You can write about various music genres, be it country music or classical music; you can research music therapy or how music production happens.

Okay, forgive us for getting carried away; music makes us enthusiastic. Below you will find a list of various music essay topics prepared from our thesis writing service . Choose one and write a memorable essay about everyone's favorite art form.

Music Argumentative Essay Topics

Music essays can be written about an infinite number of themes. You can even write about performance or media comparison.

Here is a list of music argumentative essay topics. These edge-cutting topics will challenge your readers and get you an easy A+.

Exploring the evolution of modern music styles of the 21st century
Is it ethical to own and play rare musical instruments?
Is music therapy an effective mental health treatment?
Exploring the Intersection of Technology and Creativity in electronic music
The Relevance of traditional music theory in modern music production
The Role of musical pieces in the Transmission of cultural identity
The value of historical analysis in understanding the significance of music in society
How does exposing listeners to different genres of music break down barriers
Exploring the cognitive effects of music on human brain development
The therapeutic potential of music in treating mental disorders

Why is Music Important Essay Topics

Do you know which essay thrills our team the most? The importance of music in life essay. We put our minds together and came up with a list of topics about why music is so central to human life. Start writing why is music important essay, and we guarantee you that you will be surprised by how much fun you had crafting it.

Popular Music and its Role in shaping cultural trends
Music as a metaphorical language for expressing emotions and thoughts
How music changes and influences social and political movements
How the music of different countries translates their history to outsiders
The innate connection between music and human beings
How music helps us understand feelings we have never experienced
Does music affect our everyday life and the way we think?
Examining the cross-cultural significance of music in society
How rock music influenced 70's political ideologies
How rap music closes gaps between different racial groups in the US

Consider delegating your ' write my essay ' request to our expert writers for crafting a perfect paper on any music topic!

Why I Love Music Essay Topics

We want to know what is music to you, and the best way to tell us is to write a why I love music essay. Below you will find a list of music essay topics that will help you express your love for music.

I love how certain songs and artists evoke Memories and Emotions
I love the diversity of music genres and how different styles enrich my love for music
I love how music connects me with people of different backgrounds
How the music of Linkin Park helped me through life's toughest challenges
What does my love for popular music say about me?
How the unique sounds of string instruments fuel my love for music
How music provides a temporary Release from the stresses of daily life
How music motivates me to chase my dreams
How the raw energy of rock music gets me through my daily life
Why my favorite song is more than just music to me

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Music Therapy Essay Topics

One of the most interesting topics about music for an essay is music therapy. We are sure you have heard all the stories of how music cures not only mental but also physical pains. Below you can find a list of topics that will help you craft a compelling music therapy essay. And don't forget that you can always rely on our assistance for fulfilling your ' write my paper ' requests!

The effectiveness of music therapy in reducing stress and pain for cancer patients
Does pop music have the same effects on music therapy as classical music?
Exploring the benefits of music therapy with other genres beyond classical music
The potential of music therapy in aiding substance abuse treatment and recovery
The Role of music therapy in Addressing PTSD and Trauma in military veterans
The impact of music therapy on enhancing social interaction and emotional expression in individuals with developmental disabilities
The use of music therapy in managing chronic pain
Does musical therapy help depression?
Does music reduce anxiety levels?
Is music therapy better than traditional medicine?

History of Music Essay Topics

If you love analytical essays and prefer to see the bigger picture, you can always write a music description essay. Below you can find some of the most interesting topics for the history of music essay.

The Significance of natural instruments in music production and performance
Tracing the historical development of Western music theory
How electronic music traces its roots back to classical music
How the music industry evolved from sheet music to streaming services
How modern producers relate to classical composers
The Origins and Influence of Jazz Music
How folk music saved the Stories of unnamed heroes
Do we know what the music of ancient civilizations sounded like?
Where does your favorite bandstand in the line of music evolve?
The Influence of African American Music on modern pop culture

Benefits of Music Essay Topics

If you are someone who wonders what are some of the values that music brings to our daily life, you should write the benefits of music essay. The music essay titles below can inspire you to write a captivating essay:

How music can be used to promote cultural awareness and understanding
The benefits of music education in promoting creativity and innovation
The social benefits of participating in music groups
The Impact of Music on Memory and Learning
The cognitive benefits of music education in early childhood development
The effects of music on mood and behavior
How learning to play an instrument improves cognitive functions.
How music connects people distanced by thousands of miles
The benefits of listening to music while exercising
How music can express the feelings words fail to do so

Music Analysis Essay Example

Reading other people's papers is a great way to scale yours. There are many music essay examples, but the one crafted by our expert writers stands out in every possible way. You can learn what a great thesis statement looks like, how to write an engaging introduction, and what comprehensive body paragraphs should look like.

Click on the sample below to see the music analysis essay example.

How to Write a Music Essay with Steps

Writing music essays is definitely not rocket science, so don't be afraid. It's just like writing any other paper, and a music essay outline looks like any other essay structure.

Start by choosing a music essay topic. You can use our list above to get inspired. Choose a topic about music that feels more relevant and less researched so you can add brand-new insights. As we discussed, your music essay can be just about anything; it can be a concert report or an analytical paper about the evolution of music.
Continue by researching the topic. Gather all the relevant materials and information for your essay on music and start taking notes. You can use these notes as building blocks for the paper. Be prepared; even for short essays, you may need to read books and long articles.
Once you have all the necessary information, the ideas in your head will start to take shape. The next step is to develop a thesis statement out of all the ideas you have in your head. A thesis statement is a must as it informs readers what the entire music essay is about. Don't be afraid to be bold in your statement; new outlooks are always appreciated.
Next, you'll need a music essay introduction. Here you introduce the readers to the context and background information about the research topic. It should be clear, brief, and engaging. You should set the tone of your essay from the very beginning. Don't forget the introduction is where the thesis statement goes.
One of the most important parts of essay writing is crafting a central body paragraph about music. This is where you elaborate on your thesis, make main points, and support them with the evidence you gathered beforehand. Remember, your music essay should be well structured and depict a clear picture of your ideas.
Next, you will need to come up with an ideal closing paragraph. Here you will need to once again revisit the main points in your music essay, restate them in a logical manner and give the readers your final thoughts.
Don't forget to proofread your college essay. Whether you write a long or short essay on music, there will be grammatical and factual errors. Revise and look through your writing with a critical mind. You may find that some parts need rewriting.

Key Takeaways

Music essays are a pleasure to write and read. There are so many topics and themes to choose from, and if you follow our How to Write a Music Essay guide, you are guaranteed to craft a top-notch essay every time.

Be bold when selecting a subject even when unsure what is research essay topic on music, take the writing process easy, follow the academic standards, and you are good to go. Use our music essay sample to challenge yourself and write a professional paper.

If you feel stuck and have no time our team of expert writers is always ready to give you help from all subject ( medical school personal statement school help ). Visit our website, submit your ' write my research paper ' request and a guaranteed A+ essay will be on your way in just one click.

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FAQs on Writing a Music Essay

Though music essay writing is not the hardest job on the planet, there are still some questions that often pop up. Now that you have a writing guide and a list of essay topics about music, it's time to address the remaining inquiries. Keep reading to find the answers to the frequently asked questions.

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431 Music Essay Topics & Ideas

5 December 2023

last updated

Music essay topics explore diverse areas of music for academic or personal writing. This comprehensive collection of ideas encourages intellectual curiosity with topics ranging from historical musicology to contemporary pop culture. It also offers thematic ideas, like examining musical elements, understanding music’s societal influences, or analyzing distinct music genres. Aspiring musicologists, students, or avid music enthusiasts will find this article highly valuable for its broad spectrum and adaptable nature, suitable for various writing levels and interests. In this case, people delve deeper into music’s rich legacy, challenging them to form original perspectives and contribute to the larger discourse on music. Hence, this article on many music essay topics is a valid resource for unlocking the academic and artistic potential of music.

Hot Music Essay Topics

The Cultural Impact of British Invasion Bands in the 1960s
Decoding the Evolution of Hip-Hop from the 1970s to Today
How Music Streaming Platforms are Revolutionizing the Music Industry
The Role of Music in Social Movements: A Deep Dive into the Civil Rights Era
The Pervasive Influence of Jazz on Contemporary Music Genres
Punk Rock as the Soundtrack of Rebellion and its Sociopolitical Significance
Exploring the Cultural Phenomenon of Woodstock: Music, Counterculture, and Legacy
A Comprehensive Review of the Effect of Music Therapy on Mental Health
An Analysis of Melody and Harmony in Classical Music
Unraveling the Relationship Between Music and Identity from a Psychological Perspective
Music Meets Technology: The Evolution of Synthesizers in Electronic Music
Behind the Scenes and Processes of the Music Business: The Role of Record Labels
The Cultural Appropriation Controversy in the Realm of Popular Music
Tracing the Influence of African Music on American Blues and Jazz
The Impact of MTV and Music Videos on the Landscape of Pop Culture
A Review of Music Censorship: Historical Cases and Modern Challenges
Women in the Music Industry: Understanding the Barriers and Celebrating the Breakthroughs
The Effect of Globalization on the Dissemination of Non-Western Music Genres
The Role and Impact of Music in Education: An Examination of School Music Programs
The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones: A Comparative Analysis of Musical Style and Influence

Easy Music Essay Topics

Evolution of Pop Music Genre in the 21st Century
Impact of Technology on Music Production
Influence of Classical Music on Modern Genres
Societal Relevance of Protest Songs in History
Examining the Relationship Between Music and Emotion
Significance of Traditional Music in Cultural Identity
Rap Music’s Influence on Youth Culture
Beatles’ Effect on Rock ‘n’ Roll Development
Comparison Between Baroque and Renaissance Music
Exploration of Music Therapy and Its Benefits
Film Scores: Music’s Pivotal Role in Cinema
Interrelation between Dance and Rhythm in Music
Globalization’s Impact on World Music Genres
Cultural Representation in Broadway Musicals
Feminism in Pop Music: Empowering or Exploitative?
Genre Fusion: How Reggae Influenced Hip-Hop
Psychological Effects of Music on Human Behavior
Depiction of Love in Country Music Lyrics
Dissecting the Business Model of Streaming Services in the Music Industry

Interesting Music Essay Topics

Unraveling the Impact of Music on Cognitive Development
Globalization and Its Influence on Music Genres
History and Evolution of Jazz: A Cultural Perspective
Healing Powers of Music: Fact or Fiction?
Pop Culture’s Influence on Contemporary Music
The Role of Music in Social Movements
Analyzing the Cultural Significance of Hip-Hop
The Science Behind Music’s Effect on Mood
Exploring the Artistic Value of Album Cover Designs
Autotune and Digitization: Blessing or Curse for the Music Industry?
Representation of Gender and Sexuality in Pop Music
Ethical Implications of Music Streaming Services
The Connection Between Music and Emotions: A Psychological Analysis
Evolution of Music Production Techniques: A Technological Study
Indie Music Scene: A Study of Its Growth and Impact
Music Festivals: Economic and Cultural Implications
Music Education: Its Importance in Schools
Role of Music in Film and Television: A Comprehensive Analysis
The Phenomenon of K-Pop: Cultural Exchange and Globalization
Copyright Laws and Their Impact on the Music Industry

100 General Music Essay Topics

The Future of Music: Exploring AI and Machine Learning
Nurturing Music Education in Schools
Ethical Considerations in Music Piracy
Women in the Music Industry: Breaking Barriers and Empowering Change
Reggae’s Global Impact on Music Styles
Unveiling the Popularity of K-Pop
Music’s Impact on Cognitive Development
Music Censorship: Perspectives from Around the World
Cultural Identity Formation and the Power of Music
The Interplay of Music and Politics
The Cinematic Power of Music: Exploring Soundtracks
The Music Festival Business: Strategies and Successes
The Emergence of Indie Music: A New Era of Creativity
Latin Music’s Influence on Global Pop Culture
Music’s Role in Enhancing Physical Performance
The Science Behind Sound: An Introduction to Acoustics
Exploring the History of Electronic Music
The British Invasion’s Impact on American Music
Music’s Therapeutic Role: Healing and Transforming Lives
Boy Bands and Girl Groups: Cultural Phenomena in Music
Motown Records: Shaping Music and Culture
Country Music’s Influence on American Identity
The Sociology of Music: Exploring Fan Culture and Subcultures
Music’s Emotional Power: Understanding Mood and Emotion
The Evolution of Music Videos: From MTV to YouTube
Reviving Vinyl Records in the Digital Age
The Beatles’ Enduring Legacy in Modern Music
Streaming Services and the Changing Landscape of Music Consumption
Unraveling the Psychology of Musical Preferences
Music Globalization: Bridging Cultures and Connecting Hearts
Music’s Role in Spiritual and Religious Practices
The Fusion of Music and Visual Arts
Music and Mindfulness: Exploring Meditation and Sound
Blues Music: A Cultural Significance
Opera’s Influence on Modern Theatrical Music
Transforming Music Production in the Digital Era
Music’s Impact on Childhood Development
Rock and Roll: Revolutionizing Social Change
Ethnomusicology: Understanding Music in Cultural Context
The Complex Relationship Between Music and Violence
Music’s Role in Promoting Social Inclusion
Punk Music’s Impact on Youth Culture: Rebellion, Expression, and Identity
Copyright Laws in Music: Balancing Protection and Creativity
Harnessing the Power of Music in Advertising: Soundtracks, Emotions, and Branding
LGBTQ+ Representation in the Music Industry: Breaking Barriers and Amplifying Voices
The Influence of Gospel Music on the R&B and Soul Genres: Roots and Inspirations
Music’s Cultural Role in Indigenous Communities: Tradition, Identity, and Resilience
Music’s Impact on Workplace Productivity: Boosting Focus, Motivation, and Performance
Disco’s Influence on Dance Music: Rhythm, Groove, and Dancefloor Revolution
Music as a Voice of Protest: From Folk Anthems to Punk Anthems
Grunge Music: The Rise of Alternative Rock and Its Lasting Impact
Music Sampling: Artistic Innovation or Plagiarism Debate?
The Influence of Rap Music on Modern Poetry: Rhyme, Rhythm, and Social Commentary
Music Technology’s Impact on Live Performances: Innovation, Integration, and Audience Experience
Music’s Narration in Film: Enhancing Emotion, Atmosphere, and Storytelling
The Evolution of Music Genres: Shaping Sounds, Styles, and Cultural Trends
From Vinyl to Digital: Exploring the Art of DJing and Its Technological Transformations
Music’s Role in Language Learning: Enhancing Linguistic Skills and Cultural Understanding
Music’s Contribution to Raising Awareness of Sustainable Development Goals
Exploring the Frontier of Music in Virtual Reality: Immersive Experiences and Creative Possibilities
The Role of Music in Video Games: Immersion, Atmosphere, and Player Engagement
Evolving Children’s Music: From Traditional Rhymes to Educational Entertainment
The Impact of Online Channels and Social Media on Music Promotion: Reaching Audiences, Building Communities
Classical Music’s Influence on Cognitive Abilities: Memory, Focus, and Mental Development
Flamenco Music’s Cultural Significance: Expressing Passion, Heritage, and Identity
The Evolution and Impact of Music Television Channels: Shaping Popular Culture and Music Consumption
Folk Music’s Influence on Modern Singer-Songwriters: Traditions, Storytelling, and Contemporary Expressions
Music’s Therapeutic Role in Dementia and Alzheimer’s Treatment: Memory, Connection, and Quality of Life
Broadway Musicals’ Influence on Popular Culture: Theatrical Magic, Showmanship, and Entertainment
The #MeToo Movement’s Impact on the Music Industry: Addressing Abuse, Empowering Change
Music’s Role in Teenage Identity Formation: Expression, Belonging, and Self-Discovery
African American Music Evolution: From Spirituals to Hip-Hop
The History and Influence of Bollywood Music: Celebrating India’s Cinematic Melodies
Music Genres’ Effect on Exercise Performance: Rhythm, Tempo, and Motivation
Music’s Role in Climate Change Awareness: Advocacy, Inspiration, and Environmental Impact
Heavy Metal Music: Evolution, Subgenres, and Cultural Influence
Mariachi Music’s Cultural Significance: Tradition, Celebration, and Mexican Heritage
Technology’s Influence on Music Creation: Digital Tools, Production Techniques, and Creative Possibilities
Music’s Role in Autism Therapy: Communication, Expression, and Emotional Support
Music’s Impact on Stress and Anxiety Reduction: Relaxation, Mindfulness, and Wellness
The Influence of Music on Sleep Quality: Relaxation, Sleep Patterns, and Sleep Hygiene
Evolving Music Criticism in the Digital Age: From Print to Online Platforms
Music’s Role in Multicultural Education: Celebrating Diversity, Promoting Inclusion
The History and Influence of Salsa Music: Rhythm, Dance, and Cultural Fusion
Music’s Impact on Consumer Behavior in Retail: Atmosphere, Branding, and Purchase Decisions
Music’s Influence on Memory Recall: Soundtracks, Nostalgia, and Emotional Connections
Music’s Role in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment: Healing, Coping, and Resilience
The History and Influence of J-Pop Music: Pop Culture, Fashion, and Global Fanbase
The Impact of Music on Early Childhood Education: Development, Learning, and Creativity
Music’s Influence on the Perception of Time: Tempo, Rhythm, and Psychological Effects
Music’s Role in Community Development: Collaboration, Empowerment, and Social Change
Psychedelic Rock’s Influence on Contemporary Music: Innovation, Counterculture, and Sonic Exploration
Rehabilitation and Recovery: The Transformative Role of Music
Reggaeton Music: Cultural Origins, Influence, and Global Reach
Music’s Impact on Neuroplasticity: Brain Development, Learning, and Cognitive Abilities
Celtic Music’s Influence on Modern Folk Genres: Traditions, Melodies, and Cultural Connections
The Creative Spark: Music’s Role in Enhancing Creativity
Swing Music: The History, Style, and Enduring Appeal
The Role of Music in Pain Management: Soothing, Distraction, and Therapeutic Effects
Ambient Music’s Influence on Relaxation and Mindfulness: Creating Tranquil Soundscapes

Argumentative Music Essay Topics

Pop Music’s Influence on Youth: Impact or Exploitation?
The Appropriation vs. Appreciation Debate in Music
Evaluating the Effects of Digital Streaming on Artists’ Earnings
Autotune: Enhancing Music or Undermining Talent?
Exploitation in the Music Industry: A Reality Check
Does Music Genre Define Individual Personality Traits?
Impact of Explicit Content in Music: Artistic Freedom or Harmful Influence?
Music Censorship: Necessary Measure or Infringement of Rights?
Should Music Education Be Mandatory in Schools?
Influence of Western Music on Other Cultures: Cultural Exchange or Dominance?
The Commercialization of Indie Music: Evolution or Degradation?
Are Reality Music Shows Truly Beneficial for Aspiring Musicians?
Music Therapy: Genuine Healing Method or Placebo Effect?
Classical Music’s Relevance in the Modern Era: Declining or Evolving?
The Ethics of Sampling in Modern Music Production
Role of Music in Film: Essential Component or Marketing Tactic?
Is The Popularity of an Artist Reflective of Their Musical Talent?
Music Piracy: Fair Use or Unfair Practice?
Do Music Festivals Promote Cultural Integration or Commodification?
Boy Bands Phenomenon: Musical Skill or Mere Fan Frenzy?

Research Music Essay Topics

Analyzing the Evolution of Punk Rock Music
The Role of Folk Music in Preserving Cultural Heritage
Impacts of Technology on Music Production and Distribution
Understanding the Psychological Effects of Music Therapy
Classical Music: Its Influence on Modern Genres
Musical Improvisation: An Analysis of Jazz and Blues
The Impact of Social Issues on Hip-Hop Lyrics
Exploring the Economic Aspects of the Music Industry
Evolution of Music Videos: Artistic Expression or Commercial Endeavor?
The Effect of Digital Streaming on Independent Musicians
The Phenomenon of Boy Bands: Sociocultural Aspects
Censorship in Music: A Comparative Study Across Nations
Evaluating the Role of Soundtracks in Movies
Impact of Music Education on Child Development
The Relationship Between Dance and Music: A Cultural Exploration
Gender Representation in Music: A Critical Analysis
The Influence of Latin Music on Popular Culture
Ethnomusicology: Studying Music in Its Cultural Context
The Role of Music in Historical Events and Movements

World Music Essay Topics

African Music Traditions: Influence and Evolution
The Role of Music in Indigenous Cultures
Exploring the Diversity of Asian Music Genres
Flamenco: An Insight into Spanish Music and Dance
Celtic Music: Its Roots and Influence on Contemporary Genres
The Impact of Reggae on Global Music Culture
Analyzing the Musical Elements of Bollywood Film Scores
Samba: The Rhythmic Heartbeat of Brazil
Origins and Development of American Blues Music
Middle Eastern Music: Exploring Its Unique Characteristics
The Cultural Significance of Australian Aboriginal Music
Understanding the Evolution of European Classical Music
The Role of Music in Caribbean Festivals and Celebrations
The Influence of French Chanson on Popular Music
Traditional Music’s Role in Cultural Preservation: Case Study of Japanese Gagaku
The Impact of Greek Folk Music on Mediterranean Musical Traditions
The Intersection of Music and Religion in Indian Ragas
Exploring the Cultural Diversity in Mexican Music
The Historical Evolution of Russian Folk Music
Musical Instruments and Their Role in Defining Cultural Identity: The African Djembe as a Case Study

Hip-Hop Music Essay Topics

Hip-Hop: A Powerful Medium for Social Commentary
Examining the Influence of Hip-Hop on Fashion Trends
Roles of Sampling in the Artistic Identity of Hip-Hop
Exploring the Controversy: Does Hip-Hop Promote Violence?
The Cultural Significance of Beatboxing in Hip-Hop
Analyzing the Impact of Hip-Hop on Language and Slang
The Influence of Hip-Hop on Pop Culture
Feminism in Hip-Hop: Progress and Challenges
How Does Hip-Hop Music Address Racial Issues?
The Economics of the Hip-Hop Industry
Evolution of Dance Styles in Hip-Hop Culture
Hip-Hop’s Influence on Mental Health Discourse
East Coast vs. West Coast: The Hip-Hop Rivalry
The Impact of Digital Platforms on Hip-Hop Music Distribution
Analyzing the Role of DJs in Hip-Hop Culture
Hip-Hop and Its Influence on Global Music Genres
The Commercialization of Hip-Hop: Artistic Freedom or Selling Out?
Autobiographical Storytelling in Hip-Hop: A Tool for Empowerment

Pop Music Essay Topics

Gender Representation in the Pop Music Industry
The Global Impact of K-Pop: An Unstoppable Phenomenon
Influence of Pop Music on Teenagers’ Attitudes and Behaviors
Autotune: Enhancement or Detriment to Pop Music?
The Role of Music Videos in the Pop Culture Landscape
Analyzing the Success of Boy Bands in Pop Music
Cultural Appropriation Concerns in the Pop Music Industry
Power Dynamics: Examining the Business Behind Pop Music
How Social Media Transformed Pop Music Stardom
From Pop Divas to Feminist Icons: A Shift in Representation
Latin Pop’s Rising Influence on the Global Music Scene
Pop Music Lyrics: Reflection of Social Issues or Simple Entertainment?
Technology’s Role in Shaping the Sound of Modern Pop Music
Science of a Pop Hit: Factors that Influence Chart Success
Mental Health and Its Portrayal in Pop Music
Pop Music Collaborations: A Marketing Strategy or Artistic Choice?
The Influence of Western Pop Music in Non-Western Countries
Exploring the Relationship Between Pop Music and Dance
The Ethical Implications of Sampling in Pop Music

Rock Music Essay Topics

The Crossroads of Rock and Pop: Evolution of Pop Rock
Grunge Rock: Its Origins, Influence, and Decline
Influence of Rock Music on Fashion Trends Over the Decades
The Role of Rebellion Themes in Rock Music
Gender Representation and Dynamics in Rock Music
The Significance of Live Performances in the Rock Music Scene
The Fusion of Blues and Rock: A Historical Overview
How Technological Advances Shaped the Sound of Rock Music
Rock Music as a Tool for Social Activism and Change
Psychedelic Rock and Its Effect on the Music Industry
Heavy Metal: A Subgenre of Rock Music with Distinctive Features
How Has Punk Rock Challenged Mainstream Music Norms?
Rock Music in Movies: Enhancing Narrative and Emotion
Analyzing the Pioneers of Rock and Roll: Their Legacy and Influence
Cultural Impact of the British Invasion in the 1960s
The Evolution of Rock Music: From Roots to Contemporary Forms
Roles of Music Festivals in the Promotion of Rock Music
Examining the Lyrics of Rock Music: Sociopolitical Commentary
The Impact of Rock Music on Teenagers’ Behavioral Patterns
Exploring the Relationship Between Rock Music and Youth Culture

Dance Music Essay Topics

Dance Music and Its Role in Promoting Physical Health
The Rise and Influence of Dubstep in Contemporary Dance Music
The Business of Dance Music: From Record Labels to Streaming Platforms
Role of Technology in the Development of Electronic Dance Music
The Influence of Cultural Diversity on Dance Music Genres
Dance Music in Film: Enhancing Narrative and Atmosphere
Understanding the DJ’s Role in Shaping Dance Music Culture
Tracing the Origins and Evolution of House Music
The Social Impact of Club Culture on Dance Music
Music Production Techniques in Modern Dance Genres
Choreography and Dance Music: An Inseparable Pair
The Impact of Dance Music on Pop Culture
How Does Dance Music Shape Fashion Trends?
Commercialization of Dance Music: Pros and Cons
Exploration of Gender Dynamics in the Dance Music Scene
Dance Music Festivals: Impact on Tourism and Local Economies
Analyzing the Global Appeal of K-Pop Dance Music
The Relationship Between Dance Music and Youth Culture
Evolution of Dance Music: From Disco to Electronic

Relax Music Essay Topics

Science Behind Relaxing Music: How Does It Affect Our Brain?
Evolution of Relaxing Music: From Classical to New Age
The Role of Music in Yoga and Meditation Practices
Analyzing the Impact of Relaxing Music on Sleep Quality
Soundscapes in Relaxation Music: From Nature Sounds to White Noise
Relaxing Music and Its Influence on Stress and Anxiety Levels
The Significance of Tempo and Rhythm in Relaxing Music
The Use of Relaxing Music in Therapeutic Settings
Understanding the Cultural Differences in Relaxation Music
Relaxing Music in the Classroom: Does It Enhance Learning?
Impacts of Relaxing Music on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
Roles of Relaxing Music in Improving Concentration and Focus
Relaxing Music and Its Effects on Post-Workout Recovery
Use of Relaxation Music in Maternity Wards and Its Effect on Newborns
Harmonic Structures Commonly Found in Relaxing Music
The Influence of Ambient Music on Mental Well-being
Roles of Music Therapy in Reducing Anxiety and Pain in Patients
Can Relaxing Music Enhance the Quality of Meditation?
Binaural Beats and Isochronic Tones: Do They Help in Relaxation?
Relaxing Music in Workplaces: Impact on Productivity and Employee Satisfaction

Indie Music Essay Topics

An Examination of the Business Strategies Employed in the Indie Music Scene
The Progressive Influence of Technology on Indie Music’s Growth
Decoding the Artistic Liberty Inherent in Indie Music Creation
Cultural Connotations and Impacts Linked to Indie Music: An Analysis
Indie Music’s Contributions to Fashion and Contemporary Lifestyle Phenomena
The Part Indie Music Plays in Challenging Dominant Pop Culture
Tracing the Evolution and Influence of Indie Music Within the Music Industry
A Comparative Study on the Unique Aesthetics Found in Indie Music
The Rise of DIY Practices in Indie Music Culture: An Ethnographic Perspective
The Correlation Between Indie Music and Socio-Political Discourse Advocacy
Indie Music Festivals: An Analysis of Their Distinctive Features and Attraction
Roles and Impacts of Internet Technology and Social Media in Advancing the Popularity of Indie Music
How Indie Music Affects Identity Development: A Psychological View?
Understanding the Intersection of Indie Music and Independent Cinema
Investigating Gender Depictions within the Indie Music Scene: A Thematic Study
The Challenges and Prospects Faced by Indie Artists in Today’s Digital Era
A Deep Dive into the Shifting Soundscapes in Indie Music Over Time
The Influence of Indie Music on Modern Youth Culture from a Sociological Angle
Indie Music as a Tool for Artistic and Cultural Dissent

Training Music Essay Topics

The Science Behind Music and Its Impact on Athletic Performance
Rhythmic Influence: How Music Affects Training Patterns
Understanding the Psychology of Training Music: A Detailed Analysis
Evaluating the Role of Music in Enhancing Concentration During Training
The Impact of Music Tempo on Training Intensity
Role of Training Music in Stress Reduction and Relaxation
The Use of Music in Rehabilitation Training: A Therapeutic Perspective
Music Preferences Among Athletes: An Ethnographic Study
How Training Music Facilitates Flow State in Athletes
Exploring the Relationship Between Music Genres and Training Types
Music’s Influence on Physical Endurance and Stamina
The Art of Curating Effective Training Music Playlists
Roles of Music in Reducing Perceived Exertion During Workouts
Harmonizing Heart Rate and Beat: Music’s Role in Cardio Training
Psychological Benefits of Incorporating Music into Fitness Training
Music and Mindfulness in Training: A New Approach
The Impact of Lyrics in Training Music on Athlete Motivation
The Interplay of Music and Training in Dance and Choreography
Sonic Branding: The Use of Music in Athletic Training Brands
Historical Development of Music Usage in Training Environments

Love Music Essay Topics

The Power of Love Ballads: Analyzing Their Emotional Impact on Listeners
Unveiling the Romantic Themes in Pop Music: A Comparative Analysis
Exploring the Evolution of Love Songs: From Classic to Contemporary
Melodies of Passion: Examining the Role of Music in Expressing Love and Desire
The Language of Love: Understanding Symbolism in Romantic Music Lyrics
Captivating Melodies, Enduring Love: A Study on Timeless Love Songs
Rhythm of the Heart: Analyzing the Role of Music in Strengthening Romantic Connections
Love in Every Note: Exploring the Intertwining of Music and Romantic Relationships
Harmonic Love Stories: Examining Musical Narratives of Love and Heartbreak
The Influence of Love Songs on Romantic Expectations and Perceptions of Love
The Soundtrack of Love: Investigating the Impact of Music on Relationship Satisfaction
Love Across Genres: Comparing the Expression of Love in Different Musical Styles
Musical Chemistry: Exploring the Role of Shared Music Preferences in Romantic Bonds
Unforgettable Duets: The Magic of Collaborative Love Songs
Musical Love Letters: Examining the Role of Music in Long-Distance Relationships
Love and Lyrical Evolution: Tracing the Changes in Romantic Themes in Music History
The Healing Power of Love Songs: Analyzing Their Therapeutic Effects on Emotional Well-Being
The Intersection of Love and Social Commentary in Music: Examining Love as a Catalyst for Change
Love in the Digital Age: Investigating the Influence of Streaming Platforms on Love Music Consumption

Metal Music Essay Topics

Tracing the Evolution of Metal Music: Unraveling Its Origins and Diverse Subgenres
Identity Formation and Subcultural Affiliation in Metal Music: Examining Its Influential Impacts
Shattering Gender Norms in Metal Music: Defying Stereotypes and Empowering Voices
Mental Health and Catharsis in Metal Music: Unleashing Its Profound Impact on Well-Being
Decoding the Themes and Symbolism in Metal Music Lyrics: Unveiling Perspectives and Social Commentary
The Political Potency of Metal Music: Galvanizing Activism and Fueling Protest Movements
Innovations and Controversies in Metal Music Production: Embracing Technological Advancements and Provocations
Globalization and Metal Music: Cross-Cultural Exchange and the Fusion of Sonic Landscapes
Aesthetics and Visual Imagery in Metal Music: Embodying Power through Striking Album Art and Electrifying Stage Performances
Spirituality, Religion, and Metal Music: Exploring Intersections and Controversial Explorations
Metal Music as a Catalyst for Subversion: Igniting Rebellion Through Its Countercultural Essence
Pop Culture Impact: Illuminating the Profound Influence of Metal Music on Fashion, Media, and Widespread Popularity
Language and Expression in Metal Music: Analyzing Lyrics and Communication within Vibrant Subcultural Communities
Historical and Cultural Contexts of Metal Music: Forging Identity, Revolting, and Carrying Cultural Significance
Metal Music Communities: Forging Unbreakable Bonds through Online Spaces, Fan Clubs, and Transformative Rituals
The Influence of Metal Music on Music Education: Navigating Challenges and Unleashing Transformative Possibilities in Pedagogy
Ethnic Identity and Metal Music: Representing, Appropriating, and Enriching Cultural Heritage
The Economic, Social, and Cultural Impacts of Metal Music Festivals in the Live Music Industry
Metal Music in the Digital Age: Navigating Digital Platforms, Streaming, and Thriving Online Communities
Empowerment, Catharsis, and Resilience: Unleashing the Transformative Potential of Metal Music on Health and Well-Being

Jazz Music Essay Topics

Unveiling the Influence and Significance: Exploring Jazz as a Catalyst for Cultural Revolution
The Art of Improvisation: Unraveling the Creative Process in Jazz Music
Examining the Contributions of Pioneering Musicians: The Innovators Who Shaped Jazz
Blending Genres and Pushing Musical Boundaries: The Fusion of Jazz with Other Styles
The Intersection of Music and Social Change: Jazz’s Role in the Civil Rights Movement
Analyzing the Elements that Define the Genre: The Aesthetics of Jazz Music
Nurturing the Next Generation of Jazz Musicians: The Importance of Jazz Education
Celebrating Black American Artistic Expression: Jazz and the Harlem Renaissance
Exploring Cultural Adaptations and Influences: Jazz in a Global Context
Unlocking the Secrets of Jazz Harmony and Structure: Composition and Arranging in Jazz Music
Celebrating Female Jazz Musicians and Their Contributions: The Role of Women in Jazz
Bridging Cultures through Rhythms and Sounds: Jazz and Its Fusion with Latin Music
Pushing the Boundaries of Musical Expression: Jazz and the Avant-Garde Movement
Tracing the Roots of the Genre: Jazz and Its Influences from African Rhythms
Examining the Unique Style and Artistry of Jazz Singers: Vocalists in Jazz Music
From Duke Ellington to Count Basie and Beyond: Exploring the Jazz Big Band Tradition
Embracing Technology while Preserving Tradition: Jazz in the Digital Age
Understanding the Essential Groove of the Genre: Jazz and the Concept of Swing
Preserving Jazz’s Worldwide Appeal and Adaptation: Jazz as a Global Language

Classical Music Essay Topics

The Influence of Musical Structure on Emotional Responses in Classical Compositions Explored
Gender Representation in Classical Music: A Comparative Study
Relationship Between Tempo and Perceived Expressiveness in Beethoven’s Symphonies Examined
Musical Devices Depicting Nature in Classical Orchestral Works Analyzed
Historical Context of Classical Music and Its Connection to Social Movements Explored
Instrumentation’s Role in Interpreting Baroque Music Investigated
Melodic Patterns in Mozart and Bach’s Piano Sonatas: A Comparative Study
Symbolism of Key Signatures in Classical Music Compositions Explored
Influence of Cultural Background on Classical Music Preferences Examined
Harmony’s Role in Classical Chamber Music Analyzed
Musical Techniques Creating Narrative Structures in Classical Operas Explored
Rhythm and Meter in Classical Symphonies: A Comparative Analysis
Connection Between Classical Music and Spatial Perception Explored
Representation of Mythological Themes in Classical Music Compositions Examined
Dynamics and Articulation’s Effect on Interpretation of Romantic Era Piano Music Explored
Role of Improvisation in Classical Music Performances Investigated
Connection Between Classical Music and Memory Retrieval Explored
Influence of National Identity on Classical Music Composers of the 19th Century Examined
Evolution of Orchestration Techniques in Classical Music Explored
Contrapuntal Techniques in Fugues by Classical Composers Examined

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Blog > Essay Advice , Personal Statement > How to Write a Great College Essay About Music (with examples)

How to Write a Great College Essay About Music (with examples)

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Alex McNeil, MA Admissions Consultant

Key Takeaway

Ask any admissions officer if they’ve read a college essay about music, and they’ll definitely say yes. Between music extracurriculars and academic interests in music, it’s is one of the most common college essay topics.

So does that mean that you shouldn’t write your college essay about music?

Not necessarily. But as with any common college essay topic, some approaches are better than others.

Let’s get into it.

Why you should (and shouldn’t) write your Common App essay about music

As we explained in our Stanford Items exercise , writing your college essay on a common topic isn’t off-limits. In fact, most college essays share common topics and themes. Trying to find a completely unique, never-been-done-before topic is almost impossible. And writing about a quirky topic in hopes of coming across as unique usually backfires.

In other words, it’s likely that you’ll write about the same topic as someone else.

The problem arises, however, when you write about a common topic in a cliche way . Cliches are always a danger in college essays, but in especially college essay topics that tend to surface again and again.

To avoid cliches, your college essay about music needs to be deeply personal, specific, and meaningful. You’ll want to let go of any over-generalizations or truisms and focus on the details of your own story.

Because you’ll need to write meaningfully and vulnerably, you should only write your college essay about music if you have something genuine and significant to say.

The Best Ways to Approach Your College Essay about Music

College essays about music aren’t off the table, but you should be thoughtful in how you write about them. The following two approaches will help you avoid cliches and find an authentic, meaningful story that fulfills all the requirements of a personal statement .

Writing about music as an academic interest

If you’re interested in studying music in college, then you can consider writing your college essay about music as an academic interest. A college essay about your academic interest in music can show fantastic intellectual fit with a school.

Let’s say you want to study music theory or composition. You might write about a topic you find compelling, a problem you’ve solved, or even a recounting of your journey becoming interested in the subject.

Or maybe you’re an aspiring performer planning on studying music performance. As an admissions officer, I read outstanding essays about students performing their favorite pieces, creating emotional music projects, and teaching lessons to young children.

No matter your topic, your goal with this approach is to show an intellectual spark, a curiosity and passion that will demonstrate to your admissions officers that you’ll be a great addition to the music community on their campuses.

Writing poignantly about a deeply meaningful extracurricular

The previous approach is great if you want to study music, but what if music is just an extracurricular passion of yours? Don’t worry—you can still write about it.

In that case, the best way is to focus on meaning. Remember: personal statements should be deeply-meaningful reflections on your personal strengths.

To start, reflect on your music extracurricular. Is it playing guitar in a band? Playing trombone in your school’s symphony? Learning piano from your grandma? How your love of poetry turned into a love of songwriting?

Next, think about what strengths you have to showcase. If you play guitar in a band, maybe you want to highlight your collaborative spirit. If you love poetry and songwriting, perhaps you focus on your creativity.

Writing about your love of music in a way that draws upon your strengths will make sure that your Common App essay avoids the following two approaches and gives admissions officers a reason to admit you.

Approaches to Avoid

While the following two approaches aren’t necessarily bad, they are the most cliche ways of approaching a college essay about music. You might want to consider avoiding them.

An inauthentic tale of triumph

Let me tell you a cliche story.

When I was in fourth grade, I decided to join the school orchestra. I found it exceedingly difficult at first. No matter how hard I tried, I never could seem to place my fingers correctly on the fingerboard. Every sound I made mimicked a screeching cat. But I decided not to give up. I practiced every day after school and on the weekends. By the time I was in ninth grade, I had made it into my high school’s top orchestra.

Is that a lovely story? Yes, absolutely. Is it hearty enough for a college essay? No. While it tells a good narrative of growth and progress, it remains on the surface of the writer’s life. It comes across as a convenient way to brag about your strengths instead of exploring them in a genuine way. In this example, the story also focuses on events that happened way too far in the past.

A song that changed your life

This approach is by far the most common cliche in college essays about music. We’ve all been there: a favorite song that transports you to a moment in your life whenever you hear it. It makes sense that you’d want to write about yours.

But there’s a problem with this approach. Too often, it reads as trite or unoriginal, and the end result usually doesn’t say much about the writer. And when it does, the message an admissions officer gets doesn’t typically give them any more reason to admit you. Since you want your college essay to be meaningful, even vulnerable, and strengths-based, you’re better off choosing another topic that better speaks to who you are.

Key Takeaways + Examples

College essays about music aren’t for everyone. But when you get it right, you can strike the perfect chord with admissions officers (you’re welcome for the pun).

As you go, dig deep, find something genuinely personal, and try to avoid the most common and cliche ways of approaching the topic.

Want to see some examples of college essays about music before you get started? Check out our examples, The Time Machine and The Band .

Liked that? Try this next.

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Rock History: A Dialectical Narrative

Photo via Rolling Stones Lyrics

The history of Rock music, like that of virtually any prominent cultural form, is constituted by a series of chaotic changes during its relatively short lifespan. From our own particular historical vantage point, more than forty years after rock’s “golden age” (roughly, the late 1960s), it is now possible to identify and ascribe cause to some of these historical changes. Of course, for any rock fan, the various narratives and value systems that make up rock culture are so familiar that they have assumed the shapes of reproducible clichés. The narrative of rock as music for the “rebel” has been reworded, reconstituted, and resold so often that it has required constant revision in order to remain fresh (and, by extension, to continue to fit into its own definition as “rebellious music”).

Unlike other cultural forms, however, rock occupies a unique position as the preeminent musical form of the era of mass media. The emergence and subsequent historical progression of rock has occurred almost coextensively with that of television. Consequently, rock, perhaps more than any other musical form, has been subject to commodification, its musical qualities often subsumed within its status as a cultural artifact and social tool. Piero Scaruffi writes that “’rock music’ was never a definition of the music, but a definition of the audience. Rock music was music for young white rebels.” In other words, rock has, historically, been defined more by its status as a cultural product, a set of social signifiers, than as a distinct musical form.

Any musical qualities that rock does possess tend to be particularly significant insofar as they relate to the production and dissemination of cultural narratives (including, but not limited to, the narrative of the “rebel”). The narratives and attendant signifiers that constitute rock have undergone a historical progression informed by continuous dialectical movement. Rock’s “golden age” represents a kind of “thesis” that established the narrative of the countercultural rebel. This historical era eventually hardened into a set of clichés, thus giving way to the “punk” era, which represents a sort of “antithesis” to the Golden Age by re-presenting rock as a negative image of itself, a new version of rock that defined itself through opposition to its own source. As rock proceeded toward the end of the 20th century, its own values became increasingly vague and ill-defined, a historical shift that constituted a sort of “synthesis” in which rock began to reject both its own definition as well as its own opposition to said definition. Today, rock artists continue to navigate a continuously shifting cultural landscape that seems to incorporate all of these cultural gestalts into its constitution.

I. The “Golden Age”

The “thesis” that is rock’s origin seems to have sprung from a kind of antithesis; and antithesis, that is, to a perceived notion of mainstream, “square” culture, an opposition to the life of conformity promoted by American suburbs and conservative political and sexual mores. The images and sounds of early rock, from Elvis’s censored pelvis to Little Richard’s coital yelp, served as indications that it was possible to escape the strictures of American culture and helped construct a cognitive, ideological basis upon which youth culture was able to build a self-identity apart from the mainstream. This process has been recounted endlessly in the pages of so many mainstream (and non-mainstream) publications that there is no need to continue to reiterate it here. What is important, however, is the extent to which these rebellious cultural impulses fermented into a set of reproducible clichés and cultural narratives.

If we fast-forward to rock’s “Golden Age” in the 1960s, we can see that rock’s rebellious impulses eventually “matured” into serious socio-political statements (sometimes explicit and sometimes implicit), which worked to shape the countercultural identities so prevalent during this particular era of American history. What is particularly significant for our argument here is the “sincerity” with which the artists of this era were able to make these statements, as well as the degree to which the signifiers produced by rock at this time “authentically” shaped the American counterculture. As we see in later era of rock, this “sincerity” eventually became nearly impossible to express in subsequent cultural milieus. During the “Golden Age,” however, it was perhaps the defining element and sentiment of rock music and rock culture.

This “sincerity” is not a simple case of artists “saying what they mean”; rather, it is a seriousness of purpose that pervades the music and cultural signifiers of the era. So many of the cultural signifiers of the era convey a sense of this serious, including the names of the era’s major artists. The Rolling Stones, for instance, were famously named in reference to a Muddy Waters song. Such a name indicates something “actual” about the content of the band’s music, namely that it is blues-based (or at least blues-influenced). Pink Floyd were, similarly, named after blues musicians, while The Doors were named after a line from a William Blake poem, presumably to underscore the band’s ostensible mission to open listeners’ minds and oppose cultural norms (as Blake did). This observation is not particularly striking until we begin to compare these names to those of more contemporary major artists, which are often intentionally mundane (Pavement, Shins), obtuse (Modest Mouse, Built to Spill), or sardonic (Replacements, Cat Power). Of course, to suggest that all artist names follow these kinds of patterns would be an unwarranted generalization, but the names themselves are not as important here as the specific cultural milieus within which these names enter into. I believe that “sincere” names such as the ones adopted by “golden age” musicians would fail to be taken seriously in contemporary times, as today’s musicians tend to strike more ironic poses (more on this later).

The “sincerity” of “golden age” rock is, more significantly, reflected in the content of these artists’ music and lyrics, as well as in widespread public perceptions of these artists. The protest music movement, of course, flourished in this era, in a way that would have been unlikely in today’s cultural milieu. Of course, political music has continually been produced throughout the rock era. What distinguishes the political music of the “golden age,” however, is once again the “sincerity” of the music, the seriousness of purpose with which artists of the era composed and conducted themselves.

Bob Dylan is, of course, the prototypical example of the rock protest singer, and so much of his early output (“Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They Are a-Changin’”) has been received by the music-listening public as sincere statements of socio-political import. The archetype of the “protest singer” would eventually harden into a cliché, a phenomenon that Dylan himself seems well aware of, as his work during the later part of the 60s became increasingly obtuse and/or ironic. However, he continued to be perceived as a cultural figure of serious socio-political import. Subsequent figures have attained similar status, but it has rarely been for the “sincere” content of their music, but instead for their status as commercial, pop cultural figures (Michael Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears) or as “negative” versions of seriousness (The Sex Pistols and the punk movement in general [more on this later]). Even satirical, ironic songs of the era tended to have a “sincere,” or serious intent. Country Joe and the Fish’s classic “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” was a parody of older musical styles with satirical lyrics, but the song’s intent was to offer a serious (or at least semi-serious) critique of the Vietnam War.

Just as Dylan and other artists of his ilk were perceived as serious cultural figures, so many major artists of the “golden age” were serious musicians in ways that artists in subsequent eras were unable to be (or be perceived as). Jimi Hendrix is the prototypical example of the golden age “musician,” a status that is clearly justified by his performances. His rightly famous Woodstock performances show a man constantly pushing his musical craft toward new heights. Hendrix operated in much the same way that a great jazz musician did, using the art of improvisation to find new modes of musical languages appropriate to specific moments. Hendrix, as well as similarly-minded peers such as the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, stands in stark contrast to “great musicians” of subsequent eras. Eddie Van Halen was, arguably, technically superior to Hendrix, but he was not known as an improviser, and his work tended to fit into conventional pop structures. Even Phish, who are often compared to the Dead, tend to take a more ironic stance in their music. This is not to suggest that they lack musical talent or that they are not sincere, but that the musical and cultural landscape has altered in such a way that “sincerity” is perceived differently, perhaps more suspiciously (again, more on this later).

Of course, as I noted earlier, the musicals and cultural signifiers that constituted the musical culture of rock’s golden age eventually ceased to be fresh statements of socio-political import and became stale clichés. This is not a fact to be bemoaned, but simply a continuous historical tendency of human culture and language. As Richard Rorty says in Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity , if a sentence is “savored rather than spat out, the sentence may be repeated, caught, bandied about. Then it will gradually require a habitual use, a familiar place in the language game. It will thereby have ceased to be a metaphor – or, if you like, it will have become what most sentences of our language are, a dead metaphor” (18). In other words, an original statement, when it is used often enough (or when it becomes culturally pervasive), eventually becomes a cliché, a “dead metaphor,” with a fixed meaning in language.

We see some of the first stages of this “deadening” process in the work of a counter-countercultural artist like Frank Zappa, who famously critiqued the culture of “golden age” rock, particularly on his 1968 LP, “We’re Only in It for the Money.” On this record, Zappa satirizes what he sees as the cultural clichés embodied by rock culture when, in the voice of an aspiring participant in the culture, says “I’m goin’ to a love-in to sit and play my bongos in the dirt.” The fact that Zappa was able to make such a statement indicates the degree to which the cultural signifiers of rock culture were “deadening,” becoming overused. Zappa is, of course, frequently cited as a spiritual and intellectual forerunner of the punk movement, precisely because of his critical stance on rock culture, a stance that punk would adopt (and which would itself become a cliché in time).

II. The Punk Era

The notion that the “punk” era of rock (roughly, the late 70s and into the 80s) was defined largely by a rejection of existing cultural norms has already been clearly elucidated in a multitude of publications. What is important to note here, however, is that “punk,” as a cultural notion, was able to arise largely because rock had by this point hardened into a set of reproducible clichés. Punk musicians and punk culture were able to define their own cultural identities largely by positing themselves in opposition to rock culture. Paradoxically, this opposition worked because it was able to position itself as a return to rock’s “original” notion of rebelliousness and cultural opposition.

As a cultural movement that defined itself through opposition, punk stands as a watershed moment in the dialectical historical movement of rock music and rock culture. This is precisely the kind of historical movement that Hegel discusses in the Phenomenology of Spirit when he writes that

What scepticism causes to vanish is not only objective reality as such, but its own relationship to it, in which the ‘other’ is held to be objective and is established as such, and hence, too, its perceiving, along with firmly securing what it is in danger of losing, viz. sophistry, and the truth it has itself determined and established, Through this self-conscious negation it procures for its own self the certainty of its freedom, generates the experience of that freedom, and thereby raises it to truth. (124)

What Hegel seems to mean here is that skepticism, by defining itself negatively in relation to something “other,” is able to generate its own truth. This is an essential part of Hegel’s historical process, and one that we see enacted in the punk movement. Whereas the major artists of the “golden age” tended to define themselves and their artistic projects “sincerely,” musicians of the “punk era” tended to define themselves in opposition to the cultural norms established by “golden age” musicians. Hence, “punk” era musicians tended to take up names that were intentionally ugly and/or confrontational, such as “Sex Pistols,” “Germs,” “Circle Jerks,” etc.

This “definition by opposition” is borne out in so many of the era’s defining cultural productions. Glen Matlock, the original bassist of the Sex Pistols, was rumored to have been fired for “liking the Beatles.” Whether this rumor is true or not is irrelevant here; what is significant to note is the fact the name “Beatles” had by this time become what Rorty describes as a “dead metaphor,” a signifier that meant, roughly: “an older era that we no longer want to be associated with.” Citing a love of the Beatles as a reason for dismissal was a perfectly acceptable linguistic gesture within the cultural milieu of the time. Similarly, The Clash, in the song “1977,” sang “no Elvis, Beatles, or The Rolling Stones/ in 1977.” Once again, the artist names cited here serve as signifiers of a bygone era, one which The Clash were defining themselves as “against.” America’s Minutemen took a somewhat more stoic approach to this process of self-definition in their classic 1984 song “History Lesson Part II” when, in a discussion of his musical idols (John Doe, Joe Strummer, and E. Bloom), lead singer D. Boon says “this is Bob Dylan to me.” Boon seems to be suggesting that his own musical idols are for him what a singer like Dylan was to musicians of the “golden age.” Here, the name “Bob Dylan” is used to stand in for the bygone “golden age” of rock as the band suggests that it has found its own idols to replace this era.

More significantly, the musical styles and signifiers that constitute the music of the punk era also work to define said era through its opposition to the music of rock “golden age.” It is well-known that punk culture has valued amateurism and “do it yourself” aesthetics. Paradoxically, these aesthetics often, at their most elemental level, resembled very closely the aesthetics of previous rock eras. The chord structures and melodies of the era’s major artists tend to be based on familiar blues progressions and pop melodies, however, they also tend to be played and presented with a sense of amateurism, or at least an oppositional sense of intentional “ugliness.” The early songs of the Sex Pistols and The Clash, the two defining artists of punk’s “codified” era, incorporate just such an aesthetic. Even as punk artists started to incorporate more complex musical elements, the music remained intentionally “ugly.” This strain of punk music is exemplified by the later work of Black Flag, who incorporate dissonant guitar melodies into song structures inspired by American jazz music, and is perhaps best exemplified by the prominent “no wave” artists of New York, who stressed dissonance as a musical element. These artists stand in stark contrast to “golden age” artists; Hendrix’s music, after all, was often dissonant and noisy, but it always remained “sincere,” rather than intentionally “ugly.”

The new musical “language” spoken during the punk era was clearly meant to oppose the “language” spoken during rock’s “golden age.” These twos eras managed to development contrasting “language games” that came into conflict with one another during the historical transition between said eras. Jean-Franҫois Lyotard, in The Postmodern Condition , defines a language game (by way of Wittgenstein) as a sort of linguistic structure in which “each of the various categories of utterance can be defined in terms of rules specifying their properties and the uses to which they can be put – in exactly the same way as the game of chess is defined by a set of rules determining the properties of each of the pieces” (10). In other words, language (which can include any form of communication, including music) operates according to a set of rules, rules which are continually renegotiated in order to specify what can and cannot be stated within a specific cultural milieu.

Punk, in its effort to define itself through opposition, constituted a shift in rock’s “language,” a new “language game” that rock began to operate within. The disjunction that existed between the “old,” “golden age” language game of rock and the “new,” “punk” language game is exemplified in a 1977 Rolling Stone interview in which “golden age” rock star Stephen Stills was asked for his opinions on some of the new records of the day. Commenting on the Ramones’ song “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” Stills says “This is that punk shit everyone’s going nuts over? Sounds like four 6-year-olds picking up instruments for the first time. This sucks.” Commenting on The Clash’s “White Riot,” he says “This is worse than the one you just played me. Whatever happened to singing?” Stills’ lack of appreciation for these songs is, of course, not a result of a lack of musical acumen; it is, rather, the result of his operation within an older language game just as the new, “punk” language game was coming to take its place in the popular consciousness. The singing that appears on the Clash record may not succeed according to the rules of the old language game, but it was appropriate within the context of punk’s musical “language.”

Of course punk, while it offered a possibility of opposition to the cultural and musical norms established in the “golden age,” was also subject to many of the same historical changes. Eventually, the oppositional stance of punk became, itself, a cliché, and by 1978, the Crass were declaring on record that “Punk Is Dead,” a refrain that would come to be repeated (and denied) repeatedly. Of course, by time the early 90’s rolled around, punk’s oppositional stance had become acceptable enough to become commercially viable. This left forward-thinking musicians to attempt new responses in order to continue to push forward original ideas in rock music and rock culture.

III. The Age of Irony

As punk’s oppositional stance became a cliché, or a “dead metaphor” in Rorty’s terms, rock’s capacity to comment meaningfully on the outside world seemed to be exhausting itself. As rock progressed forward, many of its major artists responded by ceasing to attempt to actually say something “meaningful” about the world and instead adopting an ironic stance toward the music-making process. Of course, it has already been well-documented that ironic attitudes have been predominant in the youth cultures of generations X and Y. In the realm of rock music, these ironic attitudes seem to have emerged largely through a self-conscious integration of both the “golden age” paradigm of “sincere” music and the punk paradigm of “oppositional” music. Many of the major rock artists of this era referenced elements of both paradigms while taking neither entirely seriously.

Pavement, while not the most commercially successful band of the era, probably best exemplify the ironic turn that rock eventually took. The band was widely known for their “slacker” approach to music; the TV characters Beavis and Butthead reflected this approach when they commented during a Pavement video that “these guys should, like, try harder” (quoted from memory, so it may not be entirely accurate). This is not to say that the band wasn’t “trying” or that they weren’t “sincere.” Rather, the signifiers that constituted their music generally embodied a kind of ironic take on rock as it was constituted at the time. What is truly significant here is that the musical and vocal styles of a band like Pavement could be received as serious within the cultural milieu of the early 90’s in a way that they could not have been received in earlier eras of rock. On the other hand, the “sincere” styles of “golden age” artists could not have been perceived as sincere during this historical era, because they had already become clichés.

Pavement’s music, while it displays a strong sense of song craft, frames this very sense of craft in an ironic light. The vocals proceed in a kind of flat, monotonous style that was not often heard before this era. This vocal style (heavily influenced by bands such as REM) has continued to be influential, as major rock artists such as Broken Social Scene and Modest Mouse have employed similar style. The singing on a Pavement record is an ironic take on traditional rock styles. This ironic take extends to the basic elements of the band’s music; Pavement employed traditional rock tropes (such as the I-V-VI chord progression of “Summer Babe”), but plays them in a kind of “detached” manner. This “detached” manner differs significantly from the “oppositional” stance of punk. Whereas as punk adopted the musical tropes of rock to oppose its hegemonic cultural stance, an ironic artist such as Pavement appropriates many of these same tropes, but does so in a kind of playful manner.

In a seemingly opposite vein, Nirvana, the major commercial rock force of this historical period, seemed to present a new kind of intense sincerity in their music. This sincerity seems, at first glance, to hearken back to the sincerity of “golden age” rock artists. The difference, however, is that Nirvana’s sincerity (a kind of sincerity that would proceed to influences a countless number of artists) is more self-reflexive; rather than address the problems of the world, it addresses the problems of the self, but in a somewhat obtuse manner. It is hard to imagine a “golden age” rock artist singing a line like “I’m so happy, ‘cause today I found my friends/ They’re in my head.”

The band’s musical signifiers also embody these self-reflexive properties, which have continued to hold sway over entire subsequent veins of rock culture. The band’s vocal styles are, on the surface, nakedly emotional, employing high-volume screeches and unchecked vocal tics (which can be traced back to “naked” records such as Neil Young’s classic “Tonight’s the Night”). These kinds of screamed vocals have continued to show up in strands of rock such as the various incarnations of “emo,” and they demonstrate a significant shift in the way that rock vocals are perceived. Singing has always, presumably, served as a way to represent human emotion. By this point in history, however, it seems that much of the listening public was skeptical of singing, believing that it wasn’t “real” enough. Screamed vocals seem to present to the listening public a style that is more “real” in that seems to be a more direct expression of emotion. Of course, the paradox that we see here is that these vocals, in spite of their apparent “realness,” remain a mere representation of emotion, and not the emotion itself.

What the music of both Pavement and Nirvana (and, perhaps more significantly, a whole host of artists contemporary to and/or influenced by these bands) have in common is a sense of detachment from direct interaction with the outside world. In the case of Pavement, this sense of detachment takes on the form of irony, the ability to not take existing form of rock expression seriously. In the case of Nirvana, this detachment takes the form of self-reflexivity (with its own healthy dose of irony), as the band sang of the trials and travails of angst with occasional seriousness and occasional self-deprecating winks (such as the song title “I Hate Myself and Want to Die”).

These artists also share an ability to appropriate familiar rock tropes in a way that simultaneously aims for serious musical expression and ironic detachment. The chord progressions and melodic phrases that the artists of this era employed aimed to both “hook” listeners in the same way that the music of “golden age” artists had, while at the same time displaying an ironic detachment from the seeming limitations of these very structures. The Pixies, one of the central artists of this era, famously formed out of a want ad asking for musicians who were fans of both Hüsker Du and Peter, Paul, and Mary. The references in this ad to both a paradigmatic “oppositional” punk band (Hüsker Du) and a “golden age” folk group (PP&M) highlight this dichotomy. These artists aimed to employ traditional rock song structures into their music, as well as the very opposition to said structures. This has lead to music that is both “noisy” (in accordance with the “language game” played by punk music) and “sincere” (in accordance with the “language game” played by “golden age” rock music). It is important to note that within the cultural milieu of this era, neither an oppositional nor a sincere stance carries the same validity as it originally did, as both stances are not taken entirely seriously.

Modest Mouse was a band that came into its prime towards the later half of the 90s, after the aforementioned artists, but they came to crystallize some of the ironic, yet personal statements that this era of rock came to make its own. In the song “Interstate 8,” band leader Isaac Brock sings: “I drove around for hours, I drove around for days/ I drove around for years and months and never went no place.” Here, the band expresses a sense of meaninglessness (“I never went no place”), but makes this meaninglessness personal through the constant self-reference to the artist’s own driving. The band has also made fascinating socio-political statements; unlike the “sincere” artists of rock’s “golden age,” however, these statements tend to convey a sense of detachment from their source. In “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine,” the leadoff track from their classic 1997 album “The Lonesome Crowded West,” the band sings “The malls are the soon to be ghost towns/ well, so long, farewell, goodbye.” This apparently anti-capitalist statement is couched not in the vocabulary of reform, but in that of stoicism; rather than call for a destruction to the consumerist culture of the mall, the band shrugs off said culture, seeing its dissipation as an inevitability.

Rorty suggests that the changes occurring in language games are constantly accelerating, and as we survey the musical landscape of rock today, this seems to be the case. So many major artists seem to be re-appropriating “sincere” vocal styles, such as Grizzly Bear and the Fleet Foxes. These artists implement their styles in a way that is, to my ears, truly exciting, and yet also self-conscious, in a way that the music of “golden age” artists was unable to be. Ultimately, what we seem to be hearing in the contemporary era of rock music is a synthesize of the style’s multiple incarnations. The aforementioned artists, as well as other significant groups (such as The Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective, etc.) all incorporate musical tropes from all of the various eras of rock history. They tend to be, in their own way, “sincere,” while at the same time displaying opposition to musical norms.

This new era seems to have harvested a veritable treasure trove of artistic talent. Of course, as Hegel and other skeptical historians have noted, any historical is uniquely situated, and is contingent on the eras that came before it, as well as on its own unique cultural environment. What I ultimately hope to have demonstrated here is that rock music has, on the one hand, continued to generate exciting and unique cultural productions and has, on the other hand, depended on historical and cultural situations and environments in order to generate these specific brands of creation.

Eric Casero is a graduate student with a Master’s degree in English literature. His interests include modern and postmodern literature and culture, and the relationship between culture and the human brain. He will begin studies at Kentucky University in the fall.

He is also the author of the fantastic Pop Matters essay: Mental Machine Music: The Musical Mind in the Digital Age .

Reader Comments (9)

I'm with Stephen Stills.

This is a rather chewy piece. I felt like I was reading a college thesis.

This is not intended as a slam, btw, I read it all the way through after all. It's just that I'm not sure what to make of it as regards navigating one's way through todays music biz landscape. I've been reading MTT since its inception and I don't recall a piece of this nature. (I could be wrong, of course. Have been before, will be again.) I'm still trying to make the mental adjustments between what I expect to read here and what I perceive this to be. Maybe I just missed (or didn't understand) something in the aim(s) of MTT.

That being said, I did enjoy it. Whether I'm right or wrong on how I interpreted MTT's goals, I'd read more posts of this nature and, in fact, as soon as I hit "Create Post" I'm heading over to read Mr. Casero's "Mental Machine Music: The Musical Mind in the Digital Age."

It doesn't matter if it's pointed at a sort of "how to do something career enhancing in today's music biz" tip or not, it's good to be challenged to think a bit. All of us are "standing on the shoulders of giants" and getting a perspective on where we -- personally or as a "community" -- are coming from can only be positive.

That might be the "takeaway" from this piece for me. If I'm not capable of defining where I stand on my musical presentation, how am I supposed to convince some nice venue to hire me?

(hmmm... that might have been a whole buttload of words just to say, "good post!".)

@Howlin' Hobbit

I am the new Editor / Community Manager here at MTT, taking the place of Bruce Warila. Your quite right in your observation that this piece lies outside of the typical narrative that you would expect to find here at MTT.

As well, you've explained my goal is posting this essay quite well—the idea was to broaden the range of discourse that one might expect here and to put out something challenging. A piece that provokes a little deeper introspection. I believe this is a great form to help artists enhance their careers in this chaotic industry and also felt like the readership may like pieces this as well—even if it is a little academic.

Glad to hear that you've enjoyed Eric's post and didn't think that it was completely out of place. There will certainly be more and more of what you'd normally expect here—from a wide range of great authors. With that, I will also try to nurture some new authors, like Eric, who are interested in expressing some bigger ideas and engaging in some cultural criticism. I found Eric over at Pop Matters and loved his piece that he posted there—that's why I've since brought him here and let him express more of his ideas.

Hope this clears everything up and thank you very much for commenting.

Artists need to create an anti-environment to mirror back where their culture is at. The technology was new, the players were new, but rock, like any other "genre" is just re-playing the same archetypes human culture has always been working with. We still have Sun Gods and we still sacrifice them, too.

Speaking of "The Age of Irony" -- how many of the artists you reference here were remotely conscious of the larger implications and causes of what they were doing?

When the academics explain it, the party is long over.

Along with sincerity, there was also the concept of originality. I agree with many of the concepts laid out throughout this piece about the 'sincerity' of rock music, how it used to be and how it is becoming once again, but originality also played a heavy hand into what made rock n' roll edgy and rebellious. Looking at bands like Led Zeppelin, who were edgy, rebellious, and original, but were also the center of their own universe. Im not sure I would consider their 'The Song Remain The Same' movie a work of sincerity, what with the dream sequences, white horses and shiny clothes. It seems that throughout rock history, sincerity and originality were equal counter-parts, that if a band did not possess one characteristic, they surely possessed the other.

Though I will admit, that in today's world of 'rock music', originality is harder to come by, so sincerity is a welcome return.

One thing this essay could have used was an exploration of how modern rock became the context-free and meaningless heap of macho noise that it is today.... while still being the most popular form of "rock."

Eric is correct when he writes about Pavement and Modest mouse being representative of the 90's irony zeitgeist. But when these bands were playing shows for a few hundred people, bands like Creed, Korn, and Limp Bizkit were beginning to emerge as MTV's torchbearers of rock. Or go back to the 80's - postpunk may have been where are the meaningful music evolution took place, but it was Hair Metal that was bringing in the rock dollars.

I think it goes all the way back to Punk. At that point, there was a fundamental disconnect between what was important\interesting, and what was popular. Only in the "Golden Age" did the two manage to coexist in the same music scene. Since then, to an increasing degree, people have liked less interesting music.

This is why irony and authenticity have become such awkward touchstones in Indie rock. This is why "music doesn't mean what it used to." There is no social context for listening to good music anymore. Groundbreaking rock is appreciated by the minority, while everyone else just listens to Nickelback. No wonder detachment and irony are all that Indie musicians have left.

Neat summation of a mess, with many statements I would disagree with. Basically, I have this theory that you can tell someone's musical taste and a certain amount about them from how they relate pop history. I smell math rock. That gives Eric an axe, the sound of which grinds right through.

How you can write a piece like this and barely touch on music made by black artists, either from the States, UK or W Indies amazes me. And if you would like to see self-aware irony in action during the apparently more authentic 'golden age' you could start off with reading Absolute Beginners by Colin MacInnes, Tarantula by Bob Dylan and the lyrics to a range of Beatles's songs, from Revolution to Norwegian Wood. Many artists, from the Monkeys to The Stones knew exactly what their place was, unless you credit Jagger with genuine revolutionary beliefs (check the story of the Stones tour that led to Alltamont for a story of breathtaking cynicism and ego)

And surely you have to acknowledge the cultural differences between the UK and the USA where punk came to mean crazily different things, let alone the direct language (or, at least, 'accent') collisions.

Too neat, for me. But good point about the major cultural explosions being a world away from critical pop history, Justin. A quick trawl through the decade's sales figures will always put some context on the bones: where sits Engelbert Humpledink? Where sits The Birdy Song and Olivia Newton John? How ironic was the Van Halen solo on Michael jackson's Beat It? (Were the metallers having a laugh?)

And Led Zeppelin, original, Jon? I think they were like the Sha Na Na of heaviosity, a little bit Who, a little bit Cream, a little bit 13th Floor Elevators, a little bit Blue Cheer... and a lot of a whole bunch of blues guys, many of whom are still waiting for their royalties. Now that IS ironic.

Yeah, I'm on Team Tim. To include the quote "Rock music was music for young white rebels" is both a bold and troubling statement. To a degree, I see how the music/culture made from the sufferings of people from the African Diaspora has influence many major musical stylings. Blues origin steming from Western Africa, Blues influences UK bands, Chuck Berry's Rock N' Roll, Jazz, First Wave Ska as the choice of music for the "Kitchen Sink" youth of the UK, and many more.

I remember in my philosophy classes in college that the new popular discourse include race and gender. As I did enjoy reading this piece(because I learned a new way to look at our past), your discourse lacked the issues of race & gender. Or atleast, acknowledging its presence and stating why you choose to ignore it or otherwise.

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Chasing the Narratives in Rock Music

Jessica Hopper’s latest book spotlights her writing on the biggest names in rock to the smallest up and comers from her beloved Chicago.

The book’s revised and expanded edition pops with sharpness and color

The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic

More than a critic, Jessica Hopper is a storyteller. The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic displays this time and time again. She dives into her pieces not only as a journalist, but as a fan, making it clear even in the introduction–her 2002 essay “I Have a Strange Relationship with Music”–that she’s not impartial. Hopper has a voice that demands to be heard. Music is everything to her, and not in the typical way. “It is strange by virtue of what I need from it,” the journalist confesses, “having developed such a desperate belief in the power of music to salve and heal me, I ask big, over and over again.” This piece begins as an analysis of Van Morrison’s T.B. Sheets . Hopper professes her love for the album and then dives into an illustration of the miraculous power of rock music. She shows her devotion to exploring its meaning through her work as a critic: “the exhaustive chronicling of what it is that artists possess that we mere mortals do not.”

This job description is a gutsy and possibly over-the-top statement from her earliest days. But even then Hopper was doing far more than just chronicling. She started conversations about the treatment of women in underground rock scenes through her piece “Emo: Where the Girls Aren’t.” She tackled harrowing tales that weren’t getting enough attention in “The “Stomach-Churning” Sexual Assault Accusations Against R. Kelly.” She even disclosed stories from her teenage years about the journey to her musical awakening through Bikini Kill in her essay “Louder Than Love: My Teenage Grunge Poserdom.”

The latter showcases Hopper’s greatest strength: putting herself in the narrative. Personal anecdotes and opinions saturate the pages, somehow in a way that adds to her credibility. She grew up in the world of punk and rock and she is just as dedicated as ever to uncovering the stories inside it, especially those of women who weren’t always given a voice. “It Was Us Against Those Guys” tells the story of the six women who formed the first Copy and Research Department for Rolling Stone in the 70s, led by Marianne Partridge. “A galvanizing feminist force, Partridge deputized these ambitious young women to turn Rolling Stone into a true journalistic endeavor: a credible music magazine.” Hopper blended their interviews in order to tell their important and often overlooked story. Her resolve to bestow their long overdue credit flowed into an empowering chronicle of determination in the face of sexism.

Hopper also fights to give a voice to the modern woman. “Cat Power is Doing Just Fine” deconstructs the idea that an artist’s well-being should be measured by their ability to entertain and perform. “Kacey Musgraves, Janelle Monae, and the Year of the Woman… Again” applauds the female artists who were able to control the top of the charts in 2019. “A Woman Every Hour” questions why there aren’t more women in country music; it’s certainly not for lack of talent. Radio stations don’t play female country, so record labels don’t sign them, and then festivals can’t book them because there isn’t enough fame attached to their names. “All of this, as both artists and activists attest, has created an environment in which women are locked out of opportunities and subject to systemic discrimination and barriers, and one in which a growing pool of talented young women are pitted against one another,” Hopper reports with an appetite for change.

She has no patience for those who maintain or defend the status quo. This is even more prominent in “The Silver Lining Myth.” After the 2016 presidential election, many people were desperate to find a bright side to the dismal reality. One misguided mindset involved the idea that Trump’s presidency would somehow improve the production of music during that time. “Punk will rise up and ‘be good again,’ pop will get ‘real,’ gain meaning, become explicitly political.” Hopper shut this down in no uncertain terms, calling out the perspective for what it really is: “indifference to the plight of others and to the many possible ways by which Trump’s presidency threatens to ruin lives.” She isn’t afraid of getting political. Hopper follows her sense of justice to every corner of the music industry.

Another topic she tackles the merits of numerous times is selling-out. She shoots down re-releases put out by Fleetwood Mac, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, and Nirvana because they reek of a thinly veiled cash-grab. She demolishes Sonic Youth, avowing that “buying the whole new Daydream Nation nostalgia package, and the late-’80s/early-’90s nostalgia-fest in general, feels pathetic–as if the only way to sandbag against encroaching obsolescence is with our wallets.” She similarly shuts down the twentieth-anniversary box set of Nevermind , asking ““Does anyone imagine that kids deafened by two decades of increasingly shitty mastering and overcompression will even be able to hear the difference…”? Hopper’s realness and wit combine to form engaging reads that attempt to hold artists accountable to their fans. Her evocative vocabulary and industry insight allow her to unmask those she deems to be aging frauds.

She isn’t afraid to attack larger institutions either. “Punk Is Dead! Long Live Punk!” gives an account of her summer following the Vans Warped tour in 2004. From its secretive set-times to its menacingly methodical layout, the Warped tour was always meant to squeeze every penny it could from the expendable income of its teenage attendees. Hopper wasted no time breaking down the corporate practices poorly hidden under the guise of a purely punk festival. And she made sure to put a spotlight on the few bands with a true rock-and-roll essence, namely Juliette & the Licks and Mean Reds, while she was at it. Hopper is always on a mission to find music that moves her.

As a result she was quite adamant about boycotting Lollapalooza despite it taking place in her hometown, publishing a retort titled “Not Lollapalooza.” The whimsical festival grounds may elicit feelings of excitement and community at first, “but the idea that mega-festivals somehow create ad hoc communities out of their mega-crowds–an idea likely owed to Woodstock–is ridiculous. The only thing everybody at Lollapalooza has in common is the willingness to be painfully gouged for a ticket.” Not at all worth it when Chicago has so much else to offer. Hopper recalled some of the most moving shows by no-name artists that she had attended. Rollin Hunt, Screaming Females, and Abe Vigoda had given her far more meaningful experiences than a festival full of drunk teens ever would. The underground scene breeds connection, “in the basement, you can feel the band’s humanity as well as your own.”

Reading Hopper’s compilation in succession certainly gave way to larger themes and ideas. Her articles work together to put rock music on display: its culture, contributors, and concerns. But despite this, there are certainly weaknesses in the book’s structure. Each individual piece comes across as thought out and captivating, but they fit together like a puzzle that was jammed into place. The book is broken up into nine different sections, each with four to eight articles that span numerous lengths, publishers, and decades. The themes of each section range from places to feelings to juxtaposing ideologies. Certainly more creative than laying out her articles chronologically but not all of the fifty-six articles feel quite in the right place.

The first section, Chicago , left me hopeful. The deep love and understanding that Hopper has of her city is engaging and leads to passionate writing. But so much of her writing centers around Chicago it begs the question of why those articles were chosen to represent the city and others were swept into broader categories like Strictly Business or Personal/Political . A similar argument could be made for the final section of the book, She Said , given that a large portion of her writing also focuses on empowering female artists.

That being said, The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic is overall an engrossing and informative read. It aptly achieves its goal of highlighting the best so far of Jessica Hopper. Her journalism goes above and beyond, covering superstars to up-and-comers and treating them all with the same level of care and respect. Whether she’s writing Sufjan Stevens a letter on his misconceptions of the state of Illinois or analyzing a photograph of Lady Gaga in the airport, she can make a compelling story out of anything. The structure of the book can be overlooked. Besides, with a career as long and fruitful as she’s had, Hopper can’t be blamed for having too much work to organize neatly and nicely. She’s far too busy tackling the patriarchy and moshing in Chicago basements to worry about playing by the rules.

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141 Inspiring Music Essay Topics: Unleashing Your Inner Musician!

Are you looking for a couple of captivating music essay topics? We realize you want something original; something that none of your classmates have thought about. You are in luck; we have some of the best essay topics about music right here on this page. They are all free, so you don’t even have to give us any credit.

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Writing An Excellent Music Essay

Truth be told, finding some excellent topics in music is not enough to get a top grade on your paper. Even though this article is about topic ideas for essays and research papers, we will give you a short guide that should help you write the paper quickly and get a good grade on it:

Choose a topic: Decide on a specific aspect of music that you want to write about. You can find 141 original topics right here on this page! Research: Gather information about your topic from various sources such as books, articles, and online resources. You can also buy articles online to get high quality content. Outline: Create an outline of your essay by dividing it into different sections such as introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Introduction: Start your essay with an engaging introduction that sets the tone for the rest of the essay. Body Paragraphs: In each body paragraph, present a different aspect of your topic and support it with evidence from your research. Conclusion: Sum up the key points you have made in the essay and restate your thesis statement. Revisions: Once you have finished writing, revise your essay for grammar, clarity, and coherence.

Argumentative Essay Topics About Music

Looking for the best argumentative essay topics about music? Take a look at this comprehensive list of original ideas:

The impact of music on emotions
Music as a universal language
The future of live music performances
The ethics of music sampling
Importance of music in film soundtracks
The influence of music on society
Music as a political tool
The value of music education in schools
The pros and cons of music streaming services
Music and its effect on memory retention

Easy Music Topics For Essays

We have some pretty straightforward topics right here, in case you want to write the paper as fast as possible. Check out these easy music topics for essays:

The influence of blues music on other genres
The role of music in therapy and mental health
Blues music and the development of other genres
The history of rock and roll
Impact of technology on the music industry
The significance of music in religious ceremonies
How has the history of rock and roll shaped the music industry?
The cultural impact of pop music
How has hip hop changed over the years?

Persuasive Essay Topics About Music

Do you want to write a persuasive paper on a topic in music? No problem, we’ve got your back. Here are some original persuasive essay topics about music:

The role of music in promoting cultural diversity
Importance of live music performances over recorded music
The impact of music piracy on artists and the industry
The influence of music on fashion and style
The economic benefits of hosting music festivals
Impact of music on political and social movements
Role of music in advertising and commercials
The influence of music on our mood and behavior
Benefits of listening to different types of music
The importance of preserving musical heritage

Insightful Music Essay Topics

Our team of writers and editors has just added this brand new list of insightful music essay topics. Choose one and start writing your essay in minutes:

What is the cultural significance of musical icons?
The role of music in storytelling and narrative
The influence of world music on modern pop
How has music been used as a form of dissent?
The impact of music on human emotions and behavior
The history and evolution of musical theater
What is the role of musical improvisation in jazz?

Music Topics For College Students

If you are in college and need a relatively complex topic for your paper, don’t hesitate to pick one of these unique music topics for college students:

The role of music in shaping cultural identity and society
The impact of music on memory and learning
An analysis of the lyrics of protest songs throughout history
The history and evolution of electronic dance music (EDM)
An exploration of the relationship between music and spirituality
The role of music in advertising and commercials
Impact of technology on the music industry and distribution
An examination of the economics of the music industry

Hip-Hop Music Essay Topic Ideas

Interested in writing about hip-hop music? Great! We have a list of 9 excellent hip-hop music essay topic ideas just for you, including some controversial music topics:

A history and evolution of hip-hop music
The role of hip-hop in promoting social and political activism
An examination of the lyrical content of hip-hop songs
The influence of hip-hop on global popular culture
An in-depth look at the impact of hip-hop on fashion and style
The role of hip-hop in shaping urban identity and communities
The relationship between hip-hop music and spoken-word poetry
An exploration of the role of hip-hop in promoting representation
A critical analysis of the commercialization of hip-hop music

Definition Essay Topics About Music

A definition essay is a paper that aims to explain and describe a specific object, event or feeling. Why don’t you take a look at our excellent music essay definition topics:

The definition of harmony in music
Talk about the meaning of rhythmic syncopation
Discuss the significance of musical dynamics
The role of chords in music
Discuss the concept of musical form
The definition of a creative improvisation
The definition of counterpoint in music
Talk about the meaning of orchestration in music
The role of a conductor in a musical performance
Discuss the significance of music theory

Latest Music Topics To Write About

Of course you want to write your paper on a topic that’s still of interest. This is precisely why we have a list of the latest music topics to write about right here:

Discuss the impact that streaming has had on record sales
The increasing popularity of hip hop and rap music
Talk about the revival of vinyl records in recent years
The pervasive influence of EDM on mainstream music
Discuss the emergence of new and innovative genres
Music’s role in various social movements
Music as a form of protest and expression
Social media’s effect on music discovery and promotion

Interesting Music Topics

This is a selection of the topic ideas we think are most interesting. They should impress your professor, that’s for sure. Check out our latest interesting music topics:

How does gender and race impact the music industry?
To what extent does music shape politics?
What are the effects of technology on the music industry?
How has streaming changed music consumption?
Influence of celebrity culture on music
Role of music in culture and identity
Intersection of music and fashion
Music as form of protest and social activism

Music Topics For Research Papers

Writing a research paper is never easy, we know. However, if you choose one of our music topics for research papers, you should be able to write your paper in record time:

Talk about the role of music festivals in developing countries
A comparison of music streaming services and their effects
Analyzing the influence of music on consumer behavior
The use of virtual reality in the music industry
Discuss the implications of copyright laws on music production
Talk about the effects of live music on local economies
Discuss the cultural significance of music awards shows
The impact of music videos on artist popularity

Topics About Music History

The history of music is rich and diverse. And the good news is that we’ve managed to compile some of the most exciting topics about music history for you below:

Talk about the evolution of jazz music in the U.S.
Exploring the roots of hip hop music
An exploration of the birth of rock and roll
How classical music influenced modern genres
The origin of country music in America
Talk about the history of the blues
An in-depth look at the impact of the British Invasion on music

Music Topics For High School

High school students should choose topics that are a bit easier to write about. For example, here are some perfect music topics for high school students:

How does music reflect societal attitudes?
What is the impact of censorship on music?
The influence of illegal downloading on the music industry
An in-depth look at the commercialization of music
Exploring the relationship between music and art
Examining the influence of technology on the sound of music
How has music evolved over the years?
Talk about the influence of social media on music

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Are you required by your professor to write an evaluation essay? Don’t worry about it! Here are the most captivating evaluation essay topics related to music:

Talk about the influence of music on consumer behavior
Evaluating the impact of virtual reality on the music industry
Assessing the influence of technology on music composition
An in-depth look at the effects of live music on local economies
Evaluating the power of music to influence politics
An in-depth look at the intersection of music and fashion
Analyzing the relationship between music and mental health
Talk about the implications of copyright laws on music production

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We’ve got some pretty hot music ideas to write about, if you’re interested. Just take a look at the list below and choose the topic you like the most:

Evaluate the changing role of music in politics
Investigate the impact of digital media on music consumption
Explore the power of music to unite people
Talk about the effects of censorship on the music industry
Investigate the implications of copyright laws on music production
Discuss the intersection of music and fashion
Analyze the effects of AI on music composition
Investigate social media and music promotion
Analyze the effects of technology on the sound of music
Discuss the influence of record labels on music
Examine the role of music in education

Research Questions For A Music Paper

Research questions are a great way to help you come up with a great topic on your own. Here are some intriguing research questions for a music paper:

How does listening to music impact the brain?
What role does music play in the expression of personal identity?
Is music therapy an effective treatment for mental health conditions?
How much does cultural background influence musical preference?
What is the impact of lyrics on society?
How does music contribute to the formation of social bonds?
Does musical training in childhood affect academic performance?
Can music be used as a tool for social activism?
How can we use music for the interpretation of historical events?

Our Latest Musical Topics

This is the list where we’ve added our latest musical topics. Don’t worry, the rest of the topics are also 100% original, so you can choose any of those as well.

Talk about the evolution of musical styles and genres over time
Music as a tool for therapy and healing
The influence of musical education on cognitive development
Discuss the effect of music on athletic performance
The historical significance of music in different societies
Music as a tool for emotional regulation
An in-depth look at the cultural significance of musical instruments
Music as a form of cultural diplomacy
Talk about the impact of globalization on the spread of musical genres
The role of music in spiritual and religious practices
Discuss the influence of music on behavior and decision-making

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Personal Narrative Essay: How Music Changed My Life

Everyone has a passion for something, whether it be sports or public speaking. Well, for me, that passion is music. I have always loved music, and that love has increased more and more over the years. From being in music classes for most of my high school career, I have felt a lot of love and support from my friends and teachers. When I had realized the family bond there is in musical groups, I never wanted to leave. As I was often in either band or choir, I would often see the joy of my teachers when things went according to plan and when we played or sang something amazing. One piece in particular comes to mind. While in my junior year of high school, I was in the chamber choir. My choir director had introduced us to a Christmas piece called “Go, and Tell It on The Mountain.” This arrangement of the song was a very jazzy version of the original piece. After several days of practicing in class, my director stopped us and asked us if we had thought about the words and what they meant. This really took me back, as I had never really been asked such a question before. This experience let me gain more gratitude for the words we were singing, and it helped me to be more expressive and have a love for the music. By the end of singing this piece at our concert, my friends and I were tearing up at the message of joy that the song gave to the audience. I want to help students realize the joy of music and the way that it can touch the souls of the people who listen to them. I want them to feel that they can be united as a family of musicians, that, no matter what part they sing or play, each one of them matters and contributes to the ensemble. I also want them to feel how blessed they are for being able to create music with the talents that they have.

I have felt deep emotions when singing in choir in high school, but nothing has compared to having the privilege to sing in the Brigham Young University Men’s Chorus. Several times I have felt overwhelming joy or deep sadness from singing songs in that choir. For instance, one of the first songs we sang was an arrangement of “How Great Thou Art.” In that song it spoke about the wonderful creation of the earth, the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, and the power of the Atonement in our lives. Every time we sang that in class, I nearly wept with immense sadness and deep joy at what we were singing about. Countless times our director, Rosalind Hall, would also be in tears because she could feel the joy of music radiating from those men who sang the truth of Jesus’ Creations and His Atonement. From this experience, I have felt the power that music has in our lives and the way that it can change people.

In high school, I always considered myself lucky to be in such amazing groups with such amazing people. When I wasn’t doing as well as I thought, I would often ask myself if it was worth the effort to be in these good ensembles. When I thought about it, I would always think about what my middle school band director always said to us. He would say, “Each of you has a part to play here, each one of you matters. To this ensemble, to me, to your friends, your parents. But you should always matter to yourself.” This has stuck with me throughout all my years in junior high and high school. Even to this day, when I don’t feel like I’m worth it, I always remember what my band director said to us. I want kids to feel like they belong together, and that they matter. Not just to an ensemble, but to me, their peers, their parents, and most importantly to themselves.

I have always been told how talented I am. I’ve gotten comments from my friends, my teachers, and even my parents. Often, my parents would tell me that I should share the talents that I had with others. I had always learned in church about sharing our gifts with others, so I had always kept a high standard when I practiced, so that I could share my talents with others and make them feel happy and to help them feel joy. I have many younger siblings, and when they were all little, I would always sing to them to make them happy. This was especially apparent when I would sing to them as infants. Many times I would have to put them down for naps or calm them down when they were screaming. When I did, I would sing soft hymns to them and within a few minutes, they would calm down or go to sleep. I would often pray to God for allowing me to have this gift of music and to have the opportunity to be able to share it with others.

Music has changed my life in so many ways, and it will continue to change my life as well as others’ lives. I have seen the ways that it can bring joy into not only the lives of the audience, but to the lives of the performers as well. I have seen the ways in which people can contribute to the ensembles that I have been in. Often people don’t think that they matter or that they have an important part, but in reality, everyone is important. I have also learned about how using our talents for good purposes can bless the lives of others. Overall, music has influenced many of my decisions in life, including what college I wanted to attend. I want to be able to share the effects of music with everyone that I meet.

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Rock Narratives and Teaching Popular Music: Audiences and Critical Issues

Related Papers

Journal of Popular Music Studies

Susan Oehler Herrick

David Blake

Journal of Popular Music Education

Gareth Dylan Smith , Kat Reinhert

Popular Music Education A White Paper by the Association for Popular Music Education Introduction The Association for Popular Music Education (APME), founded in 2010, is the world’s leading organization in popular music education, galvanizing a community of practice, scholarship and innovation around the field. Popular music education (hereafter PME) is exciting, dynamic and often innovative. Music education – meaning formal schooling in music – has tended most of the time to exclude almost all forms and contexts of music, and therefore has also elided most models of music learning and teaching. Popular music is among these excluded musics. The report is based on the knowledge, perspectives and experience of APME Board members, and therefore reflects the Anglophone and largely US American orientation of the contributors. We recognize that popular music is as diverse as the world’s cultures, and that writing on popular music education is as nuanced as the languages in which it is communicated. What is Popular Music Education? Popular music is qualitatively different from other forms of music, in function and aesthetics (although there are areas of commonality). PME, therefore, may also be understood as necessarily different from Western Art Music (WAM) education. However, APME does not intend to construct or to construe PME as existing or working in opposition to existing music education programs and paradigms. PME, like popular music, is highly complex, problematic and challenging, as well as being inspiring and deeply meaningful to many people, individually and collectively. This is true of all musical traditions, their associated hierarchies, embedded practices and assumptions, and attendant educational practices. APME recognizes that change, stasis and tradition all constitute the lifeblood of popular music. As such, and to reflect that ongoing change, the authors assert that popular music education practice and scholarship must remain reflexive, allowing for and embracing constant revision and re-contextualization. As such, this paper marks a moment in time, but is not intended to codify, define or delimit PME. Popular music has a growing presence in education, formal and otherwise, from primary school to postgraduate study. Programs, courses and classes in popular music studies, popular music performance, songwriting, production and areas of music technology are becoming commonplace across higher education and compulsory schooling. In the context of teacher education, classroom teachers and music specialists alike are becoming increasingly empowered to introduce popular music into their classrooms. Research in PME lies at the intersection of the fields of music education, ethnomusicology, community music, cultural studies and popular music studies. Who are the Popular Music Educators? The following page quotes and borrows from the editorial article introducing the issue 1, volume 1 of the Journal of Popular Music Education. 1 The popular music education world is populated by two largely separate but far from discrete communities. One of these groups comprises mostly school music teachers and those who work in higher education institutions to ‘train’ teacher/musicians for the workplace. For them, music education is a high art and prized craft; PME is one part of the jigsaw puzzle of a schoolteacher’s diverse portfolio of approaches to learning, teaching and assessment. The other community primarily teaches popular music studies (including popular music performance, business and songwriting) in institutions of higher education. For them the goal is to learn (about) popular music; ‘education’ is implicit in the fact that this activity takes place in a college or university. These two communities (crudely bifurcated as they are here, for the purposes of this short paper) collide and collaborate at APME conferences. They rarely seem to bump into one another, however, at meetings of IASPM (frequented primarily by members of the popular music studies community) or ISME (attended mainly by music teachers and music teacher teachers). People’s experiences of education are frequently self-defining and life-changing – affirming, uplifting, crushing, celebratory and (dis)empowering by turns; the same can be said of people’s encounters with music. Humans’ engagement with popular music and experiences of education are vital to people’s understanding and tolerance of themselves and one another. APME believes in the necessity and transformative power of deep educational experiences that critique and enable, challenge and transform. Popular music exists at the intersection of folk and celebrity cultures, combining the everyday with the exceptional and fantastic. It merges commerce, community, commodity and the construction of meanings. People live their lives both as popular musicians and through popular musicians, realizing identities as fans, consumers and practitioners. Popular music scenes, communities and subcultures are local, regional, national and international. PME thus takes place at the cross sections of identity realization, learning, teaching, enculturation, entrepreneurship, creativity, a global multimedia industry, and innumerable leisure, DIY and hobbyist networks – online, and in physical spaces. Popular music education is business and social enterprise. It is personal and it is collective. It is vocational and avocational, and it builds and develops communities. Popular music stands as a vital part of our modern lives. A valuable form of artistic expression, it embraces all facets of the human experience. It blends art with contemporary culture and tradition to make relevant the ever changing now.

Randall E Allsup , Nathaniel Olson

don lebler , Rupert Till

This Popular Music in Education (PME) special issue includes contributions discussing developments in several countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Singapore and the United States. It covers a range of approaches, exploring technology, hermeneutics, theory, guitars, jazz, songwriting, DIY/DIWO, politics and music industry perspectives. As music institutions have increasingly opened their doors to popular music, this has inevitably led to a greater level of interest in how you teach and learn popular music. PME is presenting a louder presence within Popular Music Studies (PMS), as the ground prepared by PMS has made space for a wave of new PME courses and students to sweep through educational contexts. In the wake of such expansion, this special issue intends to promote a further understanding of pedagogical best practice. The development of PME is something that is long overdue, and that seems likely to greatly expand and enrich the frame of PMS.

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Narrative, Interpretation, and the Popular Song

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Keith Negus, Narrative, Interpretation, and the Popular Song, The Musical Quarterly , Volume 95, Issue 2-3, Summer-Fall 2012, Pages 368–395, https://doi.org/10.1093/musqtl/gds021

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The value of narratives in human understanding of the world is widely recognized. The importance of narrative is apparent in varieties of everyday storytelling as well is in written fiction, drama, spectacle and ritual, visual art and film, architecture, legal proceedings, scientific reports, and political theory, to provide only a partial list indicative of the range. Yet the popular song—one of the most pervasive narrative forms that people encounter in their daily lives—has been almost entirely ignored in the vast literature on narrative. 1 Whereas narratological methods have often featured in the interpretation of Western art music 2 and film music, 3 and literary approaches to lyrics have sometimes emphasized a poetics of storytelling, 4 theories of narrative have rarely been foregrounded in the study of popular songs. 5

In this article, I will focus on narrative to explore practices of interpretation in both scholarship and everyday discussion about popular songs. I will emphasize the intersubjective interpretation of song meanings and advocate an “intercontextual” approach to the understanding of song narratives, drawing from research that emphasizes how our knowledge of the world is cumulative and always in a process of becoming through time. Overall, I argue for a musicological hermeneutics of the intersubjective production of value, belief, and judgment. In developing this theme, the structure of this essay journeys from textuality through intertextuality toward intercontextuality. I shall illustrate how popular songs participate in the wider cultural dialogues through which historical understanding is narrated, and explore how songs connect with more personal expressions of self and individual identity.

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The Importance of Music in Youth

Thursday, february 14, 2013, personal narrative essay.

Love that movie! I can remember doing some of those same things haha.

Ellison’s Living with Music: Narrative Argument Essay (Critical Writing)

In Living with Music , Ellison’s primary argument revolves around music’s utmost significance in everyone’s life. He argues that music and creativity have a positive impact on how people perceive the world around them. However, he also shows that having too many restrictions can have the opposite effect. To prove this point, he recalls his personal experience describing how teaching children according to classical music standards can make them hate music. In Ellison’s opinion, this approach eliminates creativity and makes music much less impactful and beneficial for the person. Following this line of reasoning, he develops the argument that music is a part of life that helps people better understand themselves and enjoy their lives.

First, Ellison argues that music, in general, is a valuable instrument of self-discovery. It helps people connect with the world around them and express themselves through notes. Secondly, he compares different types of music, such as classical and jazz, showing that musical freedom is necessary. For instance, he states that strict classical music lessons might harm one’s understanding of music. On the other hand, free jazz allows people to express themselves even if the melody is far from perfect. Next, he connects music to culture, showing the contribution of jazz to the African-American community in the United States. In his opinion, it is the critical role of music to unite people culturally. Lastly, he argues that inspiration that helps people express themselves is essential in music. Moreover, he returns to the topic of jazz, showing that this music style is particularly efficient in conveying one’s emotions through notes. However, although he enjoyed jazz, he argued that everyone should choose the style that they can personally relate to. In summary, music can help people understand and express themselves, but only if they enjoy and feel the music.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, December 29). Ellison's Living with Music: Narrative Argument. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellisons-living-with-music-narrative-argument/

"Ellison's Living with Music: Narrative Argument." IvyPanda , 29 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/ellisons-living-with-music-narrative-argument/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Ellison's Living with Music: Narrative Argument'. 29 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Ellison's Living with Music: Narrative Argument." December 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellisons-living-with-music-narrative-argument/.

1. IvyPanda . "Ellison's Living with Music: Narrative Argument." December 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellisons-living-with-music-narrative-argument/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Ellison's Living with Music: Narrative Argument." December 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ellisons-living-with-music-narrative-argument/.

Ralph Ellison and His “Living With Music”
The Novel "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Faulkner vs. Ellison on Terror in the South
Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal"
Lynching in "A Party Down at the Square" by Ellison
Race Issues in the 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison
Ellison's “Ergonomics for Telecommuters" Critique
Racism in Ralph Ellison's “Battle Royal”
"Battle Royal" by Ralph Ellison Review
“Battle Royal” by Ralph Ellison: Literary Critism
Music: Genres, Instruments, and Elements
Effects of Different Music on Psychological State
Understanding The Doors' Music: Listening Journal
Roots of Contemporary Popular Music
The Evolution of Popular Music

How Music Crafts A Narrative

Music has this wonderful ability to mean multiple things to a myriad of different people all at the same time. It can be an affirmation of convictions or experiences, a form of emotional escapism, or a muse to inspire. It accomplishes this through a wide range of complicated psychological principles as well as preying on subconscious listener expectations, but the area that seems to be the most salient from what I gather – and the one I wish to focus on today – is that of how narrative plays into this.

So what exactly is narrative, then?

McCabe and Peterson, in their book Developing Narrative Structure (1991), by some fashion boil down narrative to a sequence of events that describe an experience, be it literal or fictitious. Most definitions you will come across elude to much the same, with divulgences into the fields of speech, literature, oral history, and theater, alongside many other studies and mediums. Simply put, a narrative is a story . And if there is one thing the human brain is innately wired to do (and do exceptionally well), it is to seek out and understand stories.

It goes without saying that you can apply this principle to the world of music without stretching the idea as if it were off-brand laffy taffy. As I’m sure you might have guessed, this goes beyond simple lyrical devices and textual framing. Fred Everett Maus, in his article Music as Narrative (1991), manages a pretty comprehensive dissection of how instrumental music can be used as narrative, and Richard Walsh digs a bit deeper into the psychology of the topic in his study The Common Basis of Narrative and Music (2011) – if you want a something a bit more analytical.

In this way, narrative can be as small as two temporally ordered notes or as grand as any form of polylogy (yes, that is a word). At its most efficacious, music will blend the lyrical context with a diegetic musical counterpart to conceptually elevate the listener’s experience. You could then argue that narrative, in some way, becomes ingrained in the identity of music, both as it is created and consumed; two equally valid interpretations of an experience coming from the creator and the recipient.

But how do composers and musicians successfully navigate narrative when writing more contemporary music, and what is the listener’s role in this in aural monologue? Strap in and let’s find out together on this lengthy meander through musical meaning-making!

Approaches to exploring narrative

There are a handful of umbrella approaches that artists and composers use to accomplish a more effective narrative in their music. Each of these have the own individual techniques, in addition to more broad methods we will discuss below.

The self-contained narrative is a microcosm of aural storytelling, one that can span a single track or act as a single movement within a song. The former is, in essence, the basis of nearly all music. A single referential piece with a beginning, middle, and end, all in one tidy package. In the context of today’s conversation, this approach nears vapidity. The more interesting of the two here is within a movement, such as how a tonal shift from a major to a minor scale can convey a sense of loss or tension. These miniature stories can also be crafted using the negative space in music .

The thematic narrative is one that ties together a number of seemingly disparate elements with a unifying template of tone or theming. This is how Steven Wilson crafted a cohesive piece with The Raven That Refused to Sing , or how Caligula’s Horse manage to tie four smaller vignettes together in their most recent release, In Contact (I’m dating this article by phrasing it like that). In both cases, the self-contained stories are loosely tied together by a theme, supernatural stories and the personal struggles of artists respectively.

The overt narrative is the all-encompassing long-form story. The scale tips from multi-part suite a la “ Shine on You Crazy Diamond ” and “ 2112 “, to the full concepts such as Thick as a Brick or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway , and eventually to the expansive epics akin to The Dear Hunter or Coheed and Cambria ‘s The Amory Wars . These all have distinct characters that follow arcs, in which each song acts as its own larger movement in addition to the micro-movements within the tracks themselves. Most references to narrative in music refer to these, as they are the clearest example of melding music and story.

Styles of conveying narrative

As mentioned earlier, many of the techniques used for the umbrella approaches above are transferable across the spectrum. The division for which is used and when depends more on the style the music is going for than the scope of the narrative. This division seems to be primarily split into two categories: emotive and story.

The emotive style more heavily leans on tonal shifts and phrasing in music to do the heavy lifting. In discussing The Optimist , Anathema guitarist Danny Cavanagh stated: ‘ It’s like a story, it’s like a narrative, but not in the traditional sense…we don’t say exactly who this person at all and we don’t say what exactly happens to him or where he ends up or what he does in the end. That’s really up to the listener to decide that for themselves. ‘ On the whole, you could describe much of Anathema ’s music as more emotive than internally consistent, narratively speaking. The music swells and cedes, the instrumentation flutters in when needed to hit that intended feeling and then passes, all in the name of imbuing the listener with a sense of agency in interpretation.

In a more ‘of course that’s the case’ sense, barring any supplemental material such as artwork or connections to other media, instrumental music is essentially wholly dependant on this style. Fred Everett Maus (1991), as mentioned before, covers this topic fairly comprehensively, but we could easily apply this to modern instrumental – or heavily instrumental – music as well. Post-rock uses slow builds and catharsis to engage, jazz conscripts a commanding use of spontaneity to stimulate, and doom decimates by tonally consuming the soundstage. There is a whole field of study that could tell you why one progression of notes elicits a specific emotional reaction versus another, so I will leave you with this link if you want to dig in deeper.

The story-based style is far more reliant of the written lyrics, though the application of the music in this context can be far more complex depending on the intended result. The most prominent technique is how the use of language is supplemented by the accompaniment. Think the ambient loneliness Riverside conveys as it builds in “ Escalator Shrine ” alongside lyrics that suggest a faltering conviction while immersed in a post-apocalyptic, ironically-yet-unironically religious context. Consider the unbound piano laden whimsy of “ Streams ” that Haken use when introducing the mermaid figure, a harsh contrast to some of the events this character would endure. The music relies on the emotive principals from the previous style to create new meanings when paired with text.

Techniques for presenting narrative

Can you recall seeing a movie in which the events on screen were sharply juxtaposed to the score of the film? Many filmmakers will utilize this contrast to play upbeat, happy music when there is violence being portrayed. In the same vein, we can apply this technique to both impress the significance of an event or provide a bit of humor. Coheed and Cambria turn the intent of murder into a lullaby in “ Always and Never ”, while The Darkness ’s unnervingly foreboding atmosphere in “ Bald ” is used for purely comedic effect. Both are more memorable as a result of this contrast than they would have been otherwise.

Another often-used technique that has a number of implementations is the use of point of view. Rael from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and Pink from The Wall are the epitome of an unreliable narrator, in which the narrative of the music is focused on their unique experience more than on the true events of what might have happened. Furthermore, shifting between character perspectives is most effectively done through an equal shift in the music, as seen in the change from the protagonist to the priests in “ 2112 ” or the narrative gymnastics between the three main characters in “ Finally Free ”.

The flip side to this equation is that lacking these or similar techniques can both reduce the impact of the emotional intention or cohesion and, more importantly, result in a less coherent experience overall. At the risk of angering many a reader here, I feel Coheed and Cambria – a band I love dearly – are a prime example of this. Claudio’s space opera is rife with lyrical acrobatics that, while well thought out conceptually, suffer from a strong lack of clarity that is only partially alleviated by the supplementation of other media such as comics and novels . The exception to this is the fantastic The Afterman: Ascension/Descension , which not only offers a much deeper and rewarding self-contained narrative experience, but also manages to do this while having themes that are relatable to the average listener.

I’ve avoided referencing the use of outright narration seen in many fantasy or science fiction-based concepts due to the fact that while they may be entertaining or even internally diegetic at times, for the most part they come off as lazy and uninspired – not using any of the medium’s strengths to convey meaning.

Playing with expectations

Music relies on expectation and repetition. Choruses and riffs recur regularly, and listening to music more than once often garners a more positive experience as you learn the intricacies of each track and anticipate your favourite parts. As such, the motif, which at its core is a pattern or prevalent and recurring idea, is a perfect fit for how we experience music. In many ways, music is built on motifs, and we enjoy its repetition because we’ve been conditioned to this style. But I digress. The motif is a fundamental building block of narrative in music, and finding ways to incorporate and play with these patterns is a powerful tool in conveying the emotions of a story by giving the listener a something to latch on and return to throughout the experience (see Trivium ’s “ Shogun ” as a prime example).

In particular, the recontextualization of the motif is a way an artist can play with both the satisfaction of experiencing the pattern and as a subversion of expectations, heightening the memorability and overall experience. Thematically or emotively, this can be accomplished by taking a particular passage or phrase and layering on a new musical texture and imbuing a new tonal identity, such as the way the main theme is continuously revisited in new ways on Transatlantic ’s The Whirlwind . More ambitious still is when this concept is woven into the context of the story, like how a handful of lyrics and musical refrains are reused within a different perspective to imply new meanings during the first and second halves of Mile Marker Zero ’s The Fifth Row .

One additional example of how expectations can be played with to a unique effect lays in Protest the Hero ’s “ Caravan “. I’ve touched upon this topic in more depth before, as this group is particularly adept at weaving narrative into music, but it’s worth a quick mention here as well. The final passage of the song has a chant/counter-chant in which the music is laid out in such a way that the audience would repeat a caricature of an argument that Rody then goes on to refute as the music alternates. It is a novel approach to have the audience play such an active role, essentially playing the villain.

How the listener fits in

The final piece of the puzzle lies in how the listeners themselves factor into the equation. Without leaning too much on Barthian philosophy or dead authors, it is undeniable that the interpretations that the listener makes while experiencing music is an active and pivotal element in the overall picture.

Berklee Online has a fascinating deep dive into the idea of ‘ narrative gaps ’ under their Take Notes series that you should definitely take a look at if what we are about to touch on here is up your alley. The article goes into how the human mind searches for connections and ‘fills in the gaps’ with experiences they’ve personally had as an inherent search for closure. It’s lengthy and has plenty of examples to really drive the points home. This article sets a good foundation for the idea that we have as much influence on the narrative as the creators themselves.

The core of the ideas mentioned stem from spurious correlations, or when we make connections between two unrelated things and create a mini-narrative about them, such as films that Nicholas Cage appears in and consumption of margarine (see the above article). So, if we take lyric A and lyric B – even if they are unrelated – we begin to concoct a micro-narrative about them. This, in essence, becomes our interpretation of the story, and is also why it is so important that the music work in concert with the ideas being presented to more effectively convey intent.

The simplest examples of this can be found on any list of tracks with misunderstood meanings. Hit songs such as “ Imagine ”, “ Hotel California ”, and “ Closing Time ” (which is actually about childbirth, fun fact) all have a divide between the intention of the artist and common interpretations. This is magnified when the concept of the narrative is expanded to be much grander, spanning multiple songs and following various characters. With careless writing, it may be hard for the listener to effectively connect the dots, and while it can be fun to puzzle out meaning in something that is densely complex, it is equally frustrating to have a story that you cannot follow from one minute to the next.

In some cases, these gaps can work wonders in providing room to find your own meaning in something with the depth to support introspection. Returning to “Escalator Shrine” from Riverside , the stage for the scene the track paints in a literal sense is of a post-apocalypse in which people trudge day after day to pray at a shrine of escalators, presumably at a dilapidated shopping mall like the one depicted in the cover art, and the internal conflict of the collective. The song’s final few lines are as follows:

‘ We sense we’re almost there But the night comes too soon And we crawl in the dark Not ready to face up To unknowing lies We ache to go back But we can’t stop So we walk ahead ‘

There is a lot of room here to interpret the feeling of those struggling day after day, night after night. While some of the subtext regarding the current state of society is a little heavy-handed, the piece about crawling in the dark and aching to go back could mean many things. Is society in the dark now, leading to this dystopian vision, or is the dystopia itself the dark? Does the collective wish to go back to the way we have it now, or to before we began like this? Are we already on the path and this a simple caricature of us as we already are? It is undoubtedly a warning, but there is nuance in its context.

The trudge here is aptly conveyed by the sustained keys and slowed tempo of the drums alongside the shift to focus on the bass line. The guitar repeats the riff and the tone briefly touches a major scale before returning to a droning, repetitive minor riff that closes out the song. The music is in line with our expectations, a simple compliment, but its melancholic nature and repetitive drone help ensure we take this as foreboding and not optimistic or determined. It helps sell this as a fearful outcome that we have agency in.

Painting a picture

“Escalator Shrine” handles the execution of narrative well by touching on many of the points discussed in this article. It creates an aural narrative through tonal shifts and deliberate phrasing in instrumentation; its lyrics and music are aptly complimentary, and it provides enough gaps for the listener to fill in on their own. It uses the tools mentioned above to paint a picture, and hands a brush to the listener for the final finishing touches.

All the music mentioned in this article follows suit, using various techniques, styles, and approaches to craft unique emotive and story-based narratives. In turn, this narrative architecture ushers the listener in and puts the concept, ideas, and beliefs on a pedestal for the audience to take at their leisure. Narrative then becomes the crux of how this music is created, and more importantly, how it is experienced.

This was a long one, a hefty read, and I thank you for making it to the end. There is a whole lot more that can be said about this topic, but we will leave it here for now. We hope you took something away from this discussion, and if you would like to read more like this in the future or if there is a topic that you would like to see covered, make sure to let us know.

Tyler Caldas

Loudest noise.

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Kurt Cobain and Me: The Gen X poster child and rock legend is my Gen Z hero, too

My parents love nirvana, too. but i have my own relationship with cobain's music and persona, by gabriella ferrigine.

The boys spilled out of the locker room in a gnashing horde.

They pitched their bodies into the air and flung clumps of sweaty hair from their faces, headbanging in line with the stomping bass that had just cracked across the gym’s sound system.

Full of flowing hormones and covered in dried sweat, the entirety of my high school gym class began to move to the music — each individual in their own way — enraptured by its energy and still thrumming with adrenaline from 2v2 basketball scrimmages.

For a few fleeting minutes, social stratification was entirely dismantled by one rotating guitar riff. Sports jocks, guys who stuffed their bottom lip with dip in the back of class, girls who smelled like vanilla and bright artificial fruit, and reticent wallflowers, all churning together.

By the time the bell rang, prodding us toward precalc or a quiz on “The Sound and the Fury,” it did, in fact, smell like teen spirit.

We filed out of the gym, buzzing and bedraggled. A shared ecstasy lingered, if only until the next period began.

Experiencing that subtle, shimmering solidarity, the threading of different social subgroups together, is intrinsic to my attachment — as a member of Gen Z , not X — to Kurt Cobain, frontman of the iconic '90s grunge rock band Nirvana.

Since the genesis of the band in 1987 — and Cobain’s subsequent, seismic fame, then tragic death by suicide — he’s functioned as something of a talismanic leader for generations of morose, angsty and disaffected fans. Some of this posthumous cultural longevity is surely due to his premature death, which preserved him in amber, devoid of a flop era and safe from cancellable offense. But that doesn't entirely explain his enduring appeal. Cobain’s emotional melancholy is something members of Gen Z — widely understood as prone to trauma-dumping on the internet and hyper-sensitivity — can find particularly relatable.

Raised by Gen X parents like mine whose early adulthoods were largely defined by Nirvana and Cobain, his music became part of a shared, familial identity they could pass down to us. In a recent essay for The Guardian, writer Hannah Ewens opines that “Just as the Beatles defined the construct of a rock band, Nirvana redefined what a band was — both in the public consciousness and to other musicians: unpretentious, tough and sensitive, embraced by the system while threatening it.” It's not particularly rebellious to embrace your parents' definition of good music, but over time, I forged my own relationship with Kurt Cobain, distinct from theirs.

In all honestly, I’ve always felt several standard deviations away from what feels normal (an entirely subjective term). I know this sounds moderately insufferable, but bear with me. My life has been overwhelmingly positive in so many ways. And yet, setting aside personal conflicts and a heady amalgam of ADHD and anxiety, much of it has also felt very different to me than how it’s appeared outwardly to others. I don’t have a complex, philosophical explanation for this discrepancy. I don’t think you always need one. Cobain's music gives me a language for reconciling my own contradictions. We aren't the same by any means: I've had no meteoric rise to fame, no heroin addiction. But there was still a person named Kurt before all that happened to him.

During my first years of college, like many, I struggled with finding my sense of self. Flush with insecurities of every kind, I tried on different personalities (and some bad outfits) in an effort to, if not wholly reinvent myself, at least discover something about myself that I actually liked or felt secure about. It was a process that ultimately backfired — by trying to be someone I wasn’t, I inadvertently jettisoned some of the most fundamentally defining pieces of myself. And all the while, I was still as sullen and angsty as ever. That all changed on Christmas Day, 2018, when my parents gave me my first pair of Doc Marten boots.

Laugh if you will, but getting my Docs was like finding my glass slipper. At nearly 6 feet tall, I’d always felt something like Cinderella’s stepsisters, trying to cram my oversized foot into a tiny, dainty, acceptably pretty and interesting shoe. I wear them most days now. Aside from being comfortable, they're equipped with a steel-toed tenacity ideal for navigating New York’s perpetually crusty streets.

And yes, Docs were a subcultural fashion item of the ‘90s — my dad still owns the pair he wore moshing at a Nirvana show with my mom at the now-shuttered Roseland Ballroom in New York in 1993. While Cobain wore Converse for that particular performance, I’m certain he laced up his boots often too. I often find myself gravitating toward those looks: slouchy pants, oversized jackets and knitwear, the occasional grandpa cardigan. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become increasingly confident in myself and my fashion choices, aware that the old adage is true: What you wear is truly a reflection of who you are. I’m sure that’s what Cobain was trying to convey every time he opted for a skirt or floral-patterned dress for a live performance. That has always been an inspiring exemplar of unabashed confidence to me.

But carrying yourself with confidence in public doesn’t necessarily equate to comfort with — or suitability for — fame, as Cobain's conflicted relationship to the celebrity status that accompanied his artistic success showed me. Regardless of whether he sought to be an international star before it happened, the “slings and arrows” of fame that writer Michael Azerrad wrote about in part for the 2021 New Yorker essay, “My Time With Kurt Cobain,” underpinned the rocker’s mental and emotional health struggles.

It's not particularly rebellious to embrace your parents' definition of good music, but over time, I forged my own relationship with Kurt Cobain, distinct from theirs.

In all likelihood, I’ll never be famous, and that’s OK. It’s not exactly something I aspire toward. But the essence of Cobain’s fame has always been incredibly relatable to me. There’s something so vulnerable and real — in an attention economy that demands performance from us all — about someone trying to keep a firm foothold in two warring worlds simultaneously, straddling the ever-oscillating line of what the public sees and what it can't. (“I’m not like them, but I can pretend,” resonates.)

This tension that seems innately bound into Cobain's persona — and Nirvana more broadly — is accurately reflected in the band’s lyrics. Dark, atmospheric themes abound — anger, personal struggles, violence, real and figurative — and while the sometimes disturbing subject matter can be difficult to take, I found the messages braided into them intriguing. His lyrics reflected Cobain’s chaos and mystique, which is to say, I didn’t necessarily understand them all, especially as a kid. All I knew was — mingled with his raspy voice and the band’s splintering sounds — they made me feel at an entirely unprecedented level. And some latent part of me was drawn to that brooding sentiment.

It came as no surprise to me when I learned that he was also a Pisces.

Whether you believe in astrological signs or find it all to be a bit hokey, I find that Cobain embodied the compassion, sensitivity and emotional profundity that have come to be associated with the symbol of two fish swimming in opposite directions. That division between fantasy and reality — a liminal space I constantly turn to — is one that Cobain ostensibly occupied just as frequently. It’s something like the Vitruvian man, constantly splayed in different directions by our thoughts and ever-shifting emotions. It’s an identity Cobain internalized so intensely that he even carried it with him into his death in April of 1994, writing in his suicide note that he was a “sad little, sensitive, unappreciative Pisces, Jesus man.”

I’ve always known that finding comfort in the music and fashion of my parents’ generation, specifically the elements of it that have since become canonical, is a byproduct of my close-knit and large immediate family. It’s an idiosyncratic, shared existence — something that makes me feel comforted and protective at once. And yet, I’m my own person. While I would be remiss to ignore the inescapability of influence, my relationship with Cobain and his work could never precisely mirror theirs. And I think that’s part of his legacy. He was able to transcend space and time so seamlessly, so acutely, that his aura — which has spoken to my mom and dad for nearly 40 years — now screams to me from a stage set in an entirely different void.

So consider me influenced, if that’s what becoming secure in my tastes and personhood means. I won’t be running from that anytime soon.

If you are in crisis, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

about Nirvana

I'm not like them, but I can pretend (Obviously, this is an essay about Kurt Cobain and Nirvana)
Kurt Cobain's daughter marks the 30th anniversary of his death with a loving tribute
"Nevermind" 30 years on — how Nirvana's second album tilted the world on its axis

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

narrative essay about rock music

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