Thursday, May 3, 2012

Malaise of Adolescent Existentialism

Detail from the cover image of the Cure's album, Pornography (1982)

Put on your black clothes, smudge on the thick make-up, and get your inner Goth goin'!

Today, we're celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the Cure's Pornography, a classic work of goth rock. Seriously, how can you beat lines like "It doesn't matter if we all die" or "Everything as cold as life" or "The atmosphere rots with time"? There's some hardcore existential angst in those lyrics, intensified by the rough and moody instruments.

I was still a youngster when this album came out, but my aesthetic sense was starting to take form. Although I was never a Goth, the dark romanticism of this music certainly made a mark. Later, when I began studying the English Romantic poets and the French Existentialist writers, around 1987, the seeds of this record bloomed in my own creative vision.

Yeah, I never took on the style, but the Goths and I were kindred souls. ;-)

Let's listen to some music.

"A Strange Day" (1991, London)

"Hanging Garden" (1984, Glasgow)

"Cold" (2002, Berlin)


Enjoy!!!

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