(9:45 PM) | Adam Kotsko:

The Role of the Father in Contemporary Rock Music: Or, Freud Schmeud

I intended to write this post on Father's Day, but I was happily indisposed. (I will also have you know that unlike Jared, who only claimed he was going to do so while intoxicated, I arguably did go out and watch the summer solstice -- I was out driving during the sunrise and the sunset, thus effectively experiencing all the extra daylight that I would not otherwise have experienced.)

I want to know the role that the "father" plays in rock music lyrics. The approach to be used here will be basically Derridean -- pick a topic, then read everything you can think of that addresses that topic, then pick out the patterns. Easy. I plan to start with music with which I am most familiar in my investigation of the role of the father. I will amass a small amount of evidence off the top of my head, but I not only expect but demand that others contribute their own examples in the comments. I assume that most readers will be familiar with the songs in question and so will only provide the barest context. So here goes:

• "Talk about your family / Your sister's cursed / Your father's old and damned" -- Pavement, "Silence Kit"
  
• "Worse than your lyin' / Caught my dad cryin'" -- Pavement, "Rattled by the Rush"
  
• "Like father! / Stepfather!" -- Weezer, "Say It Ain't So"
  
• "Pack and get dressed / before your father hears us / before all hell breaks loose" -- Radiohead, "Exit Music (For a Film)" [research question: Does Radiohead directly mention a male parent anywhere else in their body of work? I'm thinking no.]
  
• "Tell me why, dad, / the beautiful ones are always crazy" -- Sparklehorse, "Someday I Will Treat You Good"
  
• A more extensive quote:

  And your mom would stick a fork right into daddy's shoulder
  And your dad would throw the garbage all across the floor
  As we would lay and learn what each other's bodies were for
  
  [...]
  
  And your mom would sink until she was no longer speaking
  And dad would dream of all the different ways to die
  Each one a little more than he could dare to try -- Neutral Milk Hotel, "King of Carrot Flowers, pt. 1"

• I guess we can't avoid mentioning Pearl Jam, "Jeremy," even though it's a shitty song
  
• "Daddy, what'd you leave behind for me?" -- Pink Floyd, "Another Brick in the Wall, pt. 1" ["daddy" does not play any role in the rest of the album, nor in Pink Floyd's other work from what I can remember]
  
• "My old man told me one time / You never get wise, you only get older / And most things you never know why, / But that's fine" -- Dandy Warhols, "Big Indian"

That should be enough to help you see what kind of thing I'm looking for: first of all any mention of "father" or any synonym thereof, then maybe implicit references to fatherhood if we have time (as in "Fitter, Happier," where they mention a baby in the back seat). I'm already starting to notice some patterns, but I shouldn't trust my own limited sample, since maybe I'm unconsciously drawn to music that portrays fatherhood in a certain way.

One limitation of my musical experience that stands out is that I don't listen to female artists enough, so Robb should probably fill in that gap, since he's an expert in that field.

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