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Goth is an alternative subculture which is both a style of music and a fashion, like Punk. Lovers of the music don’t necessarily dress in the style and conversely people who look like goths don’t necessarily like the music either! Many of the metal fans have adopted the goth look which causes a fair degree of confusion. Herein lies the issue with gothic culture. It is an ambigious title used by people that don’t really know it’s true meaning.
There are things that are gothic that many goths abhor such as vampires and interest in death. Conversely there are things that are not considered gothic (such as Industrial or Classical music) that many goths like.
Where did the name come from?
The name originally came from a Germanic tribe (ie the Goths). The Romans regarded them as barbaric and uncultured. “Gothic” was later applied to a style of medieval architecture by critics who regarded it as similarly barbaric and uncultured. The term was later applied to a late 18th/early 19th century style of literature which had a fascination with death and the supernatural.
The term “Gothic” was first applied to the music which is now considered “goth” in about 1979 with the release of the song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus. Many youngsters were captivated by this mysterious sound and a new culture was born.
What is the “Gothic Look”?
What does Goth music sound like?The early goths looked similar to punks except that the main colours were black for hair & clothing (with the occasional touch of navy blue, deep red or purple) and silver for jewellery. They also tended to spout a lot of fishnet (more usually on the arms for men) with a unique style of makeup consisting of white faces with lots of black eyeliner (for both sexes). Hair was usually dyed black, very light blonde or red).
At first the hair was usually fairly short for men, backcombed up, but by the mid-to-late eighties long black hair became fashionable. Goth makeup remains an integral part of the look but goth mens clothing has diversified in the sense that some people now wear clothes influenced by 18th or early 19th century styles whilst others wear bondage or fetish fashion in the form of PVC, leather, latex and rubber.
The first goth music grew out of punk, and some of the early bands were very lively, characterised by tribal drumming. Things changed in the mid-eighties, mainly due to the rise of the Sisters of Mercy, probably the most well-known of the goth bands. As time went by there was some crossover with the Industrial scene. Goth clubs are an integral part of the scene with every large town either having a dedicated club or a weekly Goth night.
In the late 90s, “cybergoth” became very popular. It was essentially a mix of goth-style vocals with an upbeat tempo. There is also a fair bit of “ambient” goth characterised by subtle instruments and captivating female vocals.
Lyrically, goth tends to be on the dark side with dark lyrics and a doomy sound are fairly typical of most goth these days. Goth video also tends to be very dark as to be expected.
As an illustration of how far the scene has come there are also many Google Gothic variants on the internet. After more than thirty years the goth scene is very much alive and flourishing.
