romanticism & independent music

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David V. Kimball

Dr. Webster

British Literature II

6 April 2013

Romanticism & Independent Music

Throughout the early 21st

century, the independent or indie music movement exploded.

Indie is a genre of music that has its roots in the 1980s and was originally known simply as a

type ofband that wasnt signed-on with a record label. Since then, however, the term indie has

grown into a lifestyle. During the post-World War II era in the United States, socialism was

fought against and individualism became more prevalent (Bannister xvii). Musical conventions

were questioned, and new genres were developed. As grunge died, the rejection of mainstream

alternative rock and 90s candy pop wrought the beginning of independent rock. Some of the

earliest indie bands include R.E.M., The Smiths, 10,000 Maniacs, and Pixies (Husker Du 27). As

indie music became more prevalent, the indie vibe was born. Themes of genuineness,

sincerity, revealing true feelings, wearing ones heart on ones sleeve, and an honesty of human

emotion were pervasive throughout the indie movement. The uncool became cool, expression

for expressions sake was encouraged, and forms of order were questioned. These heavily

Romantic ideas existed since the dawn of independent music and continue to be themes seen in

the genre today. The culmination of these themes brought about an elevation of human

experience never expressed in musical genres before.

Many indie songs focus on allowing ones passions to govern ones decision-making.

Indie rock band Rilo Kiley takes on a Byronic persona with More Adventurous. In

contemplating her relationship, the songwriter idolizes love from her significant other, And if


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you banish me from your profits, and if I get banished from the kingdom up above, I'd sacrifice

money and heaven all for love. Let me be loved, let me be loved.Notice the writer denies both

eternal life and earthly riches for love here. She goes on to make a statement about human

existence, saying she thought about how we are all as numerous as leaves on trees, and maybe

ours is the cause of all mankind; Get loved, make more, try to stay alive. Here she is making a

profound thesis about life: that it is, in essence, merely about being loved, reproducing, and

staying alive. When she writes, For you to be saved and me to be brave we dont have to walk

down that aisle, she is challenging the conventional ideas about marriage. More Adventurous

is attempting to prove that love is more powerful than any societal construct (including Heaven,

which she regards as just an idea). Home by indie folk band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic

Zeroes carries a similar message about the power of love. Like Rilo Kiley, their message is that

the power of love is greater than hot and heavy pumpkin pie, chocolate candy [and] Jesus

Christ. Consistently, the metaphysical realm is acknowledged, but always regarded as

secondary when compared with the experience of human love and passion. The writer continues

by saying that Home is wherever Im with you, elevating a human relationship above all else.

Denial of a relevant deity in favor of human love is a notable theme in indie music. In

Building Glair by orchestral folk band Hey Marseilles, the idea of an intervening deity is

scoffed at: we dont need a god to make-believe, we will be all that each other needs. This line

subverts the role of God and equates Him with make-belief, and in addition, the writer claims

that his romantic interest is adequate for salvation. Another Rilo Kiley song, Absence of God

explains that if you ignore God, you will be set free, The absence of God will bring you

comfort. Societal norms are questioned with the line I say theres trouble when everything is

fine. Where everyone else finds peace, she still seems to see discrepancy with the norm, and


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feels the need to shake it up every time to find answers.She claims all of your failures are

training ground, but continues to search for redemption elsewhere, Ill teach you how to swim,

if you turn the bad in me into good again. She looks to human experience as her salvation, and

purposefully ignores the presence of a deity to allow her to be more free. Indie folk rock band

The DecemberistsWe Both Go Down Together explores the idea that the only true form of

escape is suicide, And while the seagulls are crying, we fall but our souls are flying. A wealthy

man allowed his passions to overcome him to meet a poor peasant girl initially, and forced an

intimate encounter with her, I laid you down on the grass of a clearing. You wept but your soul

was willing. Not only does the man in the song feel justified unbridling his urges, but he

became convinced that, to avoid the shame he would receive from his parents (my parents will

never consent to this love), killing themselves was the only freeing option he had. In this song,

it seems the metaphysical world (including heaven and hell) as a whole is simply not accounted

for in his decision and that, again, human love is the answer.

Agape and Storge love are also examined in many independent songs. In indie rock band

The Submarines song Peace & Hate, the songwriter recalls the trials hes faced with his bride-

to-be on his wedding day, You had your doubts we had our rows, said our goodbyes: but now

were taking vows. He believes that staying with and serving his bride is the only viable

solution, I learn its not your fault, breaking down could not be cured by breaking up. The

writer understands that problems will exist in their relationship, but decides he will continue to

love his future wife through all peace and hate. In The Gambler by indie pop band Fun, a

wife is recalling the love for her husband and the story of their family, I knew nothing of

romance, but it was love at second sight. She celebrates their love further by talking about how

her husband aimed to buy her an entire flower shop instead of just a rose, and that he will never


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leave her side. She mentions their children, and what successful young adults they have become.

This part of the song seems to be echoing Elizabeth Barrett BrowningsXLIII.How Do I Love

Thee? Let Me Count The Waysby explaining that love is expressed through the day-to-day

acts of kindness and intentionality. In indie rock band The Shins song Simple Song, James

Mercer is explaining his appreciation for his wife, inviting her not to try and deal with the

struggles of life on her own (You sure must be strongDont think you gotta be tough, and

play like a stone), but rather to rely on each other as a union or, as he puts it, this little home.

Human companionship is heavily emphasized, and Mercers conclusion at the end of the song

looks at his experience anew: Loves such a delicate thing that we do, with nothing to prove,

which I never knew. Mercers experience with his wife has taught him what love really is, that

its about authenticity and daily deeds, with no hidden agenda.

While human experience is an aspect of Romanticism explored by some, other indie

bands approach the subject at different perspectives. Indie band The Hush Sounds song We

Intertwined deals with the tragedy of fleeting experiences and feelings, and longs forsomething

that lasts. The writer recalls his earliest memories with the girl he loved, Innocence was the key.

I was locked up, never free Like vines we intertwined, carelessly growing up and growing

old. He continues to reminisce, and talks about how he doesnt wish to face the reality of the

present, I wake up and I feel alone; I was just asleep. Right where I belong, inside this sad, sad

song. A comparison to Romantic poet T.S. Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrockcan be

made here, as Prufrock is dealing with regret and pondering whether or not his life amounted to

anything. Like Prufrock, the songwriter of We Intertwined is yearning to find the woman for

him, inside my head she is somewhere. Indie rock bandThe New Pornographers song Mass

Romantic simply makes fun of romantically-inclined individuals and their tendency to believe


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they are completely original, when in reality they are like everyone else: Mass romantic

foolauthor ofMy Life Among the Kids Who Go to Shows. This is not the way. The writer

decries the petty fights over originality and stolen virtue near the end of the song, Now this

romantic duel is into the streets, bon apptit, you've eaten me alive, you realize. This critique of

romanticism and romantic sensibilities is ironic since The New Pornographers have written many

other songs filled with romantic themes (irony in and of itself, of course, being yet another trait

of romanticism).

The presence of Romantic themes in indie music has served as the perfect vehicle for the

genre. Freedom and variety of expression is encouraged, current social conventions are

questioned, and a conveyance of an authentically-human experience are overarching aspects of

indie music. While this paper merely scratched the surface of examples1, it is evident that the

indie genre is full of these key facets of Romanticism. Even as the indie culture is shifting, we

are continuing to see new forms and expressions and a continual questioning and re-questioning

of values. As independent music becomes more popular, the question remains: will the indie

counter-culture movement because theprominentculture? What will indie mean anything

anymore? Will a popularity shift cause the genre to be rendered obsolete? However the genre

develops and evolves, at its roots it will remain an emphatically Romantic genre: an exploration

of what it means to be human in this life, and beyond.

1 Other examples of Romantically-inspired indie songs include Were On The Run by Gold Motel, Someone to

Love by Hey Marsilles, Tatooine by Jeremy Messersmith, I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for

Cutie, Such Great Heights by Postal Service If You Find Yourself Caught in Love by Belle & Sebastian, and

On A Whim by Flying Machines.


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Works Cited

Bannister, Matthew. White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock.

Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2006. Internet resource.

Decemberists, The. We Both Go Down Together.Picaresque. 2005. MP3.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Home.Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

2009. MP3.

Hey Marsilles. Building Glare.Lines We Trace. 2013. MP3.

Hush Sound, The. We Intertwined.Like Vines. 2006. MP3.

Husker Du, A. Earles. The Story of the Noise-Pop Pioneers Who Launched Modern Rock.

Voyageur Press, 2010. Internet resource.

New Pornographers, New. Mass Romantic.Mass Romantic. 2000. MP3

Rilo Kiley. Absence of God & More Adventurous. More Adventurous. 2005. MP3.

Shins, The. Simple Song.Port of Morrow. 2012. MP3.

Submarines, The. Peace & Hate.Declare a New State! 2006. MP3.

"Romanticism." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011. Web. 8 May 2011.

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